Deck angle?

[Greg_Marlow]

Can someone with a 360 on the front with 26" goodyears measure the cargo floor deck angle while on the ground for me?

Thanks,
Greg

[JimParker256]

I can't help (don't have those tires), but you might also want to clarify which airplane (4-place, Patrol, or LSA) and which tailwheel you have. All those things would make a significant difference, I suspect!

[Greg_Marlow]

Sorry about that. Four place and Bob's tail wheel.

[JimParker256]

Which tires on the mains? And 8" or 10" tailwheel?

[Greg_Marlow]

26 inch goodyears and a 10 inch tailwheel.

[Zzz]

I'm on Desser 8.50s and an ABI baby bushwheel. What exactly is meant by deck angle? Just angle to the level floor surface of the cargo floorboard?

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I presume he wants to put a digital angle finder on the cargo floor and read the angle. 10, 20, 30 degrees from level?

[Battson]

It will change depending on the gross weight, like if you have a full load vs empty (vs no wings attached).

Each floor panel is on a different angle, the ones under the pilot's feet are about 20 degrees or so, less for the rear seat passengers, whereas at the very back of the cargo area the angle is almost zero.

What are you going to use this piece of information for, and thus how accurate do you want it to be?

[Zzz]

I presume he wants to put a digital angle finder on the cargo floor and read the angle. 10, 20, 30 degrees from level?

This is why aircraft use a level reference that is not the floor. The Cessna 170, for instance, uses the underside of the upper door frame as the level reference(at least for weighing the aircraft). Lift the tail until that is level and you can take all other relative angle measurements from there. It works for tires and tailwheels of all sizes and combinations.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

This is why aircraft use a level reference that is not the floor. The Cessna 170, for instance, uses the underside of the upper door frame as the level reference(at least for weighing the aircraft). Lift the tail until that is level and you can take all other relative angle measurements from there. It works for tires and tailwheels of all sizes and combinations.

That makes sense. Thinking of it from a more generic perspective, if I were to ask such a question, it would be because I would want to know something like:

• is my Coke going to tip over when I'm parked
• if I'm taking a nap laying in the back, with my head up against the back bulkhead, am I going to have a purple face when I wake up because all the blood pooled in my head
• is my generator going to leak fuel through the filler cap vent

So, that kind of thing. But I think the f weird things occasionally.

​​​​​​​But only the OP knows the reason for his question. Care to fill us in, Greg?

[Greg_Marlow]

Yes, the digital angle of the cargo floor, on the ground, in reference to the level hangar floor, with my tires, my tailwheel, general operating weight. Doesn't have to be perfect. I'm welding in a winch on a crane to lift my sit down segway, which i use to get around. Lost a leg in a motorcycle crash a few years ago.

Thanks for the help, again, doesn't have to be perfect, just close, so I don't have to fight too much gravity when loading or unloading the thing.

Greg

[jaredyates]

If you're still able to stop by on Friday we can probably measure it on mine and make corrections for the different mains and tailwheel.