80 lbs over gross TOW
I was supposed to take a couple up for a one-hour sightseeing flight tonight. Guy was 230, me 250, and she was 140 - the couple is friends with the family that owns the FBO/Flight School/Charter company where I am a part-time instructor. The plane had 36 gallons of fuel on it. It is a 1999 172R with a 160HP engine. I ran a W&B and ended up 80 lbs over gross weight.
I found the chief pilot and he said it was too hard to drain fuel out of the plane (all the mechanics had gone home). The couple said they would come back next week. I didn't have any means to drain fuel from the plane so I relented. (The plane was supposed to have less fuel in but it didn't fly this morning because of VCTS and mechanical issues).
About 20 minutes after the couple left the FBO I got a call from the owner and he yelled at me for 20 minutes saying I made the FBO look bad. He said I needed to 'use common sense' when it came to aviation. He asked, "Do you ever drive 70 on the highway instead of 65?" He said sometimes you just need get the job done and that I was splitting hairs because '50 or so pounds hardly makes a difference' - but I can't help thinking that I didn't want the NTSB or FAA to reconstruct my fiery wreckage and cite 'pilot error' if the worst were to happen.
I understand that measuring fuel and such isn't 100% accurate but 80 lbs is well beyond the 'fudge factor'. I feel that since the owner and his ex-wife planned this demo flight that they should have made sure the line guys didn't 'tab' the fuel right before I was supposed to go flying. I pride myself on being a conservative and safe pilot - did I do anything wrong here?
I should add the Density Altitude was 3100' but the runway is about 8100'. There was a small convective cell 5 miles north and a line of TS about 60 miles west. To me it just didn't add up to a great day to push the envelope - not to mention it was Friday the 13th!