"Newps" wrote in message ...

At the recent AYA convention there was a chap who had flown a
Tripacer all over South America, including through a 12,000 ft
pass in the Andes. Service ceiling on his plane was 10k, they
circled for an hour and a half in a thermal until they got
the altitude they needed. Amazing story, wish I'd gotten to
hear more of it.

Service ceiling is a gross weight number. Get under gross and many things
are possible.

Apparently they were at or close to max gross weight (what I assume you mean).
It was all lift.

I believe it -- two people, full fuel, sensible emergency supplies, tools,
some parts, etc for a several months trip sounds like max gross weight
in a Tripacer to me.

Cheers,
Sydney