Have others increased the Sk Jabiru MTOW

[Herm]

I just wanted to ask if others have increased thier MTOW from 430kg to higher? I know this may be old info, but I have just finished a brand new one and have just had it signed off to a higher weight. Just wanted to know from others what they operate at and how they found it effected performance etc. I really want to here from owners that have done this rather than opinions on the matter from those that have not done this.

 

I have an SK short fuse 2.2

 

Regards

 

Mardy

 

 

[diablo]

Hello Marty,

 

i run an sk in the uk and would like to know what MTOW tour sk was signed off at. We seem to be stuck at 430kg here as there are reservations on wing holds on fuselage. Any info that may help getKung uk sk's up rated would be welcome.

 

regards

 

dean

 

ps: I love mine. Following a couple of hours familiarisation, I was away. Great flying and performance at a very reasonable price.

 

 

[Herm]

Hello Marty,i run an sk in the uk and would like to know what MTOW tour sk was signed off at. We seem to be stuck at 430kg here as there are reservations on wing holds on fuselage. Any info that may help getKung uk sk's up rated would be welcome.

 

regards

 

dean

 

ps: I love mine. Following a couple of hours familiarisation, I was away. Great flying and performance at a very reasonable price.

Hello Dean. My SK is signed off at 540kg. I am sure I will never load the aircraft to this weight, but can do so if needed. It sure allows for me to now carry two passengers, fuel and lunch without being overweight.

 

To get the balance I have needed to fit a 3kg lead balast in the tail that is removable. When I need to I can remove the weight when additional weight is needed rear of the COG. I also need to point out that I have the heavy undercarrage and bigfoot wheels fitted to my aircraft. When we did the weights and measures we had several datum points that allowed us to calculate weights at different positions so that a simple program could be written to make it easy when calculating the load. Its really like the diagram that is in your operating manual that allows for fuel burn etc. I have an Exel spredsheet that is on my ipad and iphone that allows me to calculate this anytime at the aircraft.

 

This was all done and the Operations Manual was re-written to allow for these changes. It is important so that if the aircraft changes hands the new owner understands the aircraft weights and limits. I then had to contact Jabiru Australia and supply them all the calculations and excel sheet for them to look over to make sure that the Airframe was able to handle the loads as well as keeping the aircraft within the legal stall requirements. Once that was done I was supplied with a letter from the factory that I could submit with my Aircraft registration. It did take a bit of back and forth with Jabiru to ensure that we had all the calculations correct. They were very helpfull with the process and were happy to give advice and assistance. I know of a few SK's that have been weight increase and I also lent on these people when I needed to do mine. I think also if you do a search on this forum you will also find more information on this. I found a letter written to RaAus a few years ago with an approval for the weight increase.

 

If you want to send me a private message with your E-mail I am happy to send you a copy of the spreadsheet. It shows my weights and datums and the green areas are the only parts that you can edit. That is where you add you passenger weights, luggage at tank etc etc.

 

Regards

 

Mardy

 

 

[diablo]

Hello Mardy,

 

not sure if you got my email. Thanks for the info. Yes, I would be interested in the excel spreadsheet with calculations. Copies of the correspondence from jabiru may also help. If I have sufficient evidence backing up the weight increase, it will make it far easier to get the request through the LAA. Thank you.

 

 

[Guernsey]

Nice looking SK Jab you have there diablo.

 

Alan (Herm's dad).