Had mine weighed. With full fuel, i could have a six pound pilot.
Went back to the pencil whipped calculated weight. It was a 135hp plane.

Isn't there a 135 HP STC?

Does it increase the GW?

A C141 would be almost the same, right?

Mike C.

And you can take your C140 with you inside the C130 in case you want to go get a $100 hamburger.

I used to own a 140 with the 135hp conversion. It climbed like a homesick angel but I don’t recall any gross weight increase.

None of the engine STCs for the 120/140/140A have an accompanying GWI. That’s one of the reasons the 135 HP STC is such a trade off - the O-290 is so much heavier than a C90 that your useful load is significantly limited.

My ragwing '46 140 flies just fine with current FAA standard weight(ish) pilot & copilot and full fuel in the middle of the Memphis summer. Full electrical system.

None of the legacy two-place tailwheel airplanes have any realistic useful load on paper.

My j3 cub has 485 lbs UL. Plenty. Anyone too heavy can’t fit in the front seat anyway.

Do you have a C-140 with a metal or rag wing? A C-85-12 or a C-90-12? I thought there was a wheel extension kit, like for the Luscombe that allowed an increase in Maximum Gross weight, though the C-140a I owned was a dog even within weight limits. Found the same issues with an Ercoupe.

How many of us remember flying C-150s almost always over MGW?

If I still had a C-140, I would for sure do the Don's Dream Machine conversion of the C-85-12. Did that on my Aeronca Chief on Floats and what a difference.

Bob

The wheel extension doesn’t affect the gross. It’s stated purpose is to reduce the likelihood of tripping when the airplane stubs its toe. The actual effect is to make a nice looking airplane ugly in the legs.

I have enough flight time in a C140 to make me prefer a C170 as a more practical airplane, for more than one person.

And enough time wrenching on C140's to know that it doesn't have the structure to support a higher GW.

But wasn’t the 140 certified in the utility category? Couldn’t a paperwork STC (if one were to exist) move it to the normal category with a bump in G.W.?

Our C140 was legal with half fuel and both of us. Stock engine. Miserable aircraft in Socal summer with two crammed in and tired underpowered. The one I borrowed years later had an O200 100 HP fire breathing screamer we never did a W&B. Have not flown a tail dragger since.

The Don's Dream Machine conversion of a C-85-12 gets you 115 hp with no increase in weight over the stock motor.

Bob