Flying with tall pax or how tall are you and feel comfortable in a DA42?

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Wilfried
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Flying with tall pax or how tall are you and feel comfortable in a DA42?

Post by Wilfried »

Does somebody of you have experience flying with tall passengers?

I want to fly a 3h leg with a good friend of mine on the co-pilot seat. We've never flown together before and he measures 6,6ft (or 2,02m).
Are you in that size and feel comfortable in a DA42 or carried pax that tall?

Please let me know.
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Chris
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Re: Flying with tall pax or how tall are you and feel comfortable in a DA42?

Post by Chris »

I'm only 6'2", but I carried a 6'4" person a few months ago and they were rather uncomfortable in the co-pilot seat. It was manageable by reclining the seat back a bit, but even then he seemed to have his legs wedged up against the panel. I don't think I'd even try it with somebody who is 6'6".
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Mdm0515
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Re: Flying with tall pax or how tall are you and feel comfortable in a DA42?

Post by Mdm0515 »

42 is same cabin as a 40NG in which I did my IFR - my instrument instructor was 6' 6" and he managed just fine through our approx. 35 hours together during training. I think height is less of an issue as bulk and ratio of legs to torso also important. If he hadn't been a lean guy it might have been less enjoyable. The shoulder to shoulder width constraint can be difficult regardless of height
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dmloftus
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Re: Flying with tall pax or how tall are you and feel comfortable in a DA42?

Post by dmloftus »

I'm a shade under 6'5" and it's a tight fit in my DA40 XLS (same as DA42 as I understand). I think I'm about middle of the road in legs/torso ratio Matt mentions. Unfortuantely my seats do not have a recline feature. I usually have my head cocked forward just a bit to keep the headset from banging the headliner ridge just behind the canopy, and my headset contacts the canopy if I sit up straight. My head definitely bangs the ceiling in decent turbulence. The cabin doesn't provide much room to move knees side to side, maybe a few inches, although I have no problem with the rudder pedals. I've managed ok on several cross-country flights but always a bit stiff at the end of the day.
Not sure how close of friends you are, but I'll mention the toughest part of being tall on a long flight is if you need to use a pee bag. Maneuvering a long body with a center stick and keeping the sheepskins dry takes some skill ;-)
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dant
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Re: Flying with tall pax or how tall are you and feel comfortable in a DA42?

Post by dant »

but I'll mention the toughest part of being tall on a long flight is if you need to use a pee bag. Maneuvering a long body with a center stick
One thing I've never really seen spoken about such things is you should really first practice at least once on the ground in a chair that isn't a part of a super expensive airplane.
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