C172 PLT AND AT LEAST ONE PAX EXPERIENCE LIMITED CLIMB PERFORMANCE UPON TKOF FROM HIGH ALT ARPT. PROCEED TO SHOOT TOUCH AND GO AT ANOTHER ARPT WHERE CLIMB PERFORMANCE WAS SUCH THAT THEY PASS OVER POPULATED AREAS AT ONLY +/- 200 AGL.

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ON TKOF; THE C172 WAS SLUGGISH AND COULD CLB PERHAPS ONLY 300 FPM. YET; WE WERE LIGHTLY LOADED; A TOTAL OF 430 LBS IN THE CABIN AND FULL FUEL. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WELL MORE THAN 200 LBS BELOW MAX TKOF WT AND THE TEMP WAS AROUND 45 DEGS F. WE CLBED TO 7500 FT AND HEADED TO DO A TOUCH-AND-GO AT BJC. WE WERE CLRED TO TOUCH-AND-GO ON RWY 29L. IT LOOKED SHORTER THAN ITS 7000 FT LENGTH. I APCHED USING NO FLAPS AND FLOATED DOWN A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THE RWY. AS SOON AS I BRIEFLY TOUCHED THE RWY; I GAVE THE CESSNA FULL THROTTLE. WE BARELY CLBED AND ONCE SETTLED DOWN A LITTLE. THE END OF THE RWY WAS TOO CLOSE TO STOP ON THE REMAINING RWY; SO I MANAGED ATTITUDE TO HOLD 70 KTS AND WE CLBED BARELY MORE THAN 200 FPM. BY THE TIME WE WERE OVER A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT 1/2 MI OFF THE END OF THE RWY; WE WERE PERHAPS 300 FT AGL. I BANKED SLIGHTLY TO THE L TO MAXIMIZE CLRNC WITH A 4-STORY BUILDING JUST BEYOND THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONTINUED TO CLB TO CLR A RIDGE BY PERHAPS 200 FT AND ABOUT 1 MI FROM THE RWY END. THEN THE GND FELL AWAY; THE PLANE CONTINUED TO CLB; SLOWLY; AND EVENTUALLY AFTER 1 MIN OR SO; WE HEADED BACK S WHERE WE LANDED AT ZZZ.