ORIGINAL: daveopam
It's hard to calculate because it's hard to know the thrust of the engine. I have heard of guys hooking a fishing scale to the plane and try to measure it. But how accurate is the scale? Let's assume you can get an accurate measurement. IF your plane pulls 15lbs on the scale and weighs 10lbs. You have a 1.5:1 thrust to weight. For me I guess at the ratio. If the plane will hover at 1/4 throttle I would say it's 2:1. It's just a guess but I think it's close. This is assuming your engine is tuned and propped right. The more I think about this the more complicated it gets so I am going to quit.
David
that depends....if it hovers at 25% power then yes
if it hovers at 25% open carb....then no.
people brag "my plane hovers at 1.4 and pulls out at 1.2) but what people dont realize is that carb movement to power is not a linear relation. 50% open carb is most likely 70-75% power....just something to think about.
better way to calculate would be to calculate how many feet per second at full throttle your plane would climb...better in my opinion anyway.