Weight And Balance

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Weight And Balance
This does not supercede ANY official document.
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What to Know

• Useful Load
• Empty Weight MINUS Gross Weight
• Aircraft Empty Weight
• Full oil (after a certain date), unusable fuel,
  all onboard equipment, and full operating fluids.
• Maximum Gross Weight
• Maximum weight at the beginning of the takeoff
  roll.
• Pay Load
• The amount of weight an aircraft may safely carry
  with full fuel.
• Fuel weighs 6 lbs/gal (approx)

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WARNING

• EVEN WHEN OVERLOADED, THE AIRCRAFT MAY TAKEOFF.
  THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE TO FLY. ASSUMING
  THAT YOU MAKE IT OUT OF GROUND EFFECT, STRUCTURAL
  FAILURE MAY OCCER IF THE AIRPLANE IS FLOWN
  THORUGH AREAS OF TURBULENCE OR INCURRS EXCESSIVE
  LOADS. EXCESSIVE LOADS ON AN OVERLOADED AIRCRAFT
  INCLUDE ANY NORMAL MANUEVERS THAT WOULD BE
  CONSIDERED SAFE IN A SAFELY LOADED AIRPLANE.

4
Stall with a CG too far aft. Difficult to
impossible to recover.
Stall with a CG too far forward. May recover but
stall again.
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Finding Weight and Balance

• Use the charts for that specific aircraft.
• Dont round numbers or results to fit into an
  envelope.
• BE PRECISE

• DO
• A WB before EVERY flight
• Factor in your flight bag and other light
  objects (even 20 extra pounds can put you out of
  limits)
• Factor in ALL fuel, not just usable fuel
• Be precise
• DO NOT
• Guess or figure what a load will weigh. If in
  doubt, WEIGH IT!
• Use charts specifically designed for other
  aircraft, the results will be incorrect.
• Round or change numbers to fit into an envelope.
  The fact is that you will still be OUT OF LIMITS!

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• Given
• 103 gallons of fuel
• 190 pound pilot _at_
• 50 inches
• Empty weight1200

DATUM PLANE (your ref. point)
-40.16 inches
207.99 inches
60.27 inches
36.45 inches
0.00 inches
ARM The distance in inches from the datum
plane. MOMENT A measurement (in pound/inches) of
the tendency for a weight to cause
rotation around a fulcrum. (teeter-totter)
Acceptable
Unacceptable
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Unless POH dictates otherwise
NOT FOR WEIGHT AND BALANCE --TRAINING PURPOSES
ONLY--
Limited aerobatics not approved
Limited aerobatics approved