I took off from Parker in Arizona in a 172 on 4th of July weekend 1992 heading for Burbank through the desert route, it was 126 degrees on the ramp, we climbed out at at a blistering 150fpm and did not reach altitude until Goffs!!! at 7500 ft msl the outside air temperature was still 85 degrees! Density Altitude can be a Killer!
I learned my lesson long ago about density altitude when taking off from an Arkansas airport short runway 90 degree heat in a Cherokee 140. I should have departed in the morning cooler air. The extra cooler full of caught fish didn’t help either.
Anyway, I maneuvered around the big trees at the end of the runway and sweated milking it clear of the branches.
I should have written a ‘Never Again’ story about that experience.
You need a VSI calibrated in furlongs per fortnight.
“Density Altitude can be a Killer!”
Density Altitude IS a Killer!
Between 1975 and 1981, I lived and flew out of Flagstaff, AZ, which is 7,000 feet above MSL.
In the summer, density altitude IS a problem, and it was not unusual for “flatland furriners” to get in trouble. There were a few fatal accidents in that 6 year time span, and more than one aborted take off! All due to DA!
You make a case for an STC for water injection and nitrous oxide for hot days only. Now getting the GAS to grant the STC is a different story....