Wing loading

[Blademan]

Hi Guys looking for some advice 

I have a 23² Dudek Nucleon WRC 2 it comes with a load recommendation of pilot take-off weight of 65kgs to 100kgs my weight is about 78kg with gear on the motor 19kg fuel 10kg wing 6kg a total of of 113kg

I am wondering what the pros and cons of going over the weight range is and has anyone out there done this and what are your views on the matter?

Thanks and looking forward to your response 

Edited June 14, 2017 by Blademan

[Casper]

The biggest consequence is that if you have a more aggressive reaction if you have a collapse, the kind that obviously can be fatal. 

It's even in the mainstream news so you should already be well aware about this.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/paramotor-weight-warning-after-fatal-crash-23sq8h8s7

Other than that, more aggressive handling, higher speed and bad fuel economy, more stress on the material.
Since you have a sporty wing in a small size, going over the weight limit will have a bigger impact then a a few kilos on a bigger wing. Do the math.

Still need any pros? Sell the wing and get a bigger one!

http://www.dudek.eu/en/safety/never-exceed-load-limits.html

[Blademan]

Thanks for your reply Casper 

Has anyone else got views on this subject they would like to share 

Edited June 15, 2017 by Blademan

[AndyB]

Get yourself a reserve, fly very high up and keep checking where that reserve handle is

[AndyB]

This might help your thinking re going over-weight.....

 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/paramotor-death-consistent-with-fall-says-air-accident-report-1.2933698

 

[custom-vince]

Your probably not going to find anyone recommending flying over the weight on a glider that is EN certified. Flying over the weight takes you out of EN certification. I would not say the incident reflected on above was due to a wing being over loaded. Spiralling is the cause of the accident weather caused by a malfunction or on purpose with the pilot blacking out.

 

I fly a 19m wing at 115-120kg, I burn 3.5lph of fuel. My wing is not EN certified so I am not over weight. I can of course fly an EN certified wing way over the weight limit but I am aware that the certification is then not valid. A bit like letting out the trims on your reflex, soon as you pass the little line, you are then not certified.

How do I get good economy? I fly mostly in slower trims only letting out to go a to b. My slow trim speed is similar to that of a larger wing trimmed out. We are both now flying non certified. My wing is flying heavily loaded but more efficient, the other wing is flying inefficient in reflex. I can still trim out and go faster, the other uses speed bar to keep up. I can still use speed bar

When comparing to a friend, distance to fuel used always worked out very similar, even when flying as slow as possible and getting fuel burn really low, he spent longer in the air but we arrived at LZ with same amount of fuel used. This is then a choice, do you want to stay up as long as possible for your fuel or go as far as possible in the time you have. I often fly after work so going further in less time is more enjoyable for me. My hour or so evening flight used to be next town and back, now I take in 2 or 3 town villages etc.

 

120kg / 28m = 4.28kg per square meter of cloth. Every meter of cloth is supporting 4.28kg

120kg / 19m = 6.31kg per square meter of cloth. At my weight according to DGAC report, it will resist damage to 8g, I don't do spirals and would pass out at 4g

The inflight weight range for PPG on my Ozone Freeride 19m is 75-150kg, I am not stressing the cloth. I see the bigger problem for wing structure is often line shrinkage and dragging the wing around on abrasive surfaces. My smaller wing is 4.4kg easy to launch, easy to handle, easy to carry and easy to pack so all in all it gets less dragging around.

 

Just another point of view. Many variations are specific to your wing, motor, loading and pilot skill.

 

 

[aljken]

I share Vince's view. I think flying way overweight on the official weight range on a wing is fine if you're aware of what you're doing. I do it and find the wings handle more to my likely as Vince described.