[LoadMasterC141]

Last summer I flew a 172 with 4 people and enough bags for us to overnight on the Texas coast. I asked for advice on JC and within the flight school I rented from. Most JC'ers sensibly said to always fly it within limits. A few mentioned they had flown it a bit overweight and had no issues. The flight school manager said the plane will fly with whatever you put in it.

After my time in the Air Force as a weight and balance expert, I decided the right thing to do was plan for nothing more than the rated max weight of the airplane. I made the 1 hour flight with barely 2 hours of fuel onboard.

The plane was performing noticeably poor on climbout, but climbing fine nonetheless. Upon landing, I kept an approach speed of 80 knots and only slowed to 75 near the threshold. Everything was fine.

I have no doubt the Kemper accident was not caused by an overweight aircraft. Rather, it was a factor, but shear complacency killed the pilot and crew.