Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Marty Shapiro writes:

Not too noticeable until about 8,000'. Then it gets noticeable. Above
11,000' it gets very, very noticeable. Go to Pike's Peak and see what
happens!

Yesterday I tried flying a Piper J-3 and a Cessna 172 over the top of
(I think) Mount Rainier (the tall mountain near KSEA), and they both
seemed to struggle as we approached the altitude of the peak. I
turned around and went back when it became obvious that I wasn't going
to make it. Not sure if it was engine power that lacked, or just air
density that was too low, or what. I was flying for fun and did not
check the altimeter.


I was talking about modern automobiles with fuel injected engines and
electronic ingnition sensors which automatically adjust the fuel/air
mixture to compensate for altitude.

Mt. Rainier peak is 14,410' MSL, which, IIRC, is about 300' above the
service ceiling of a C-172N, but about 1,500' below the absolute ceiling.
Wikipedia states the Piper J-3 service ceiling is 11,500' MSL.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)