weight and balance

[2FlyAgain]

I also was not around for the 2007 discussion of weight and balance. To those of you that were...thank you for your patience with the rest of us!

 

Tom, thank you for explaining the empty weight center of gravity range. I had never heard that term before and it is always good to learn something new. Not ever having had A&P training, I will assume that your definition of concept is correct. I checked and the empty weight moment arm for my aircraft is within the empty weight CG range.

 

If so, then maybe I need to question Flight Design about their use of the term. Because I would not consider myself alone in my plane with full fuel and no baggage going out to do some touch and goes as a "non-standard" loading.

 

Until I get the definitions more clearly understood...I will just keep my ballast in the baggage compartment for my own piece of mind.

 

 

Thanks again to everyone for the discussion!

 

--Mark

[Ed Cesnalis]

...Regardless if your plane shows an empty weight CG or not, all that matters is the CG with your actual flight configuration, so that's what I would worry about....

 

We all have an empty weight CG it is the 1st line on your W&B, the starting point. You begin empty with your CG to far foward but then add anything aft of fuel, like pilot/passenger and luggage and you move your empty CG aft and arrive at a loaded CG that is within the envelope. If you didn't know your empty CG how would you calculate the CG loaded?

[Runtoeat]

I'm learning some things here which I had taken for granted. CT wrote me a note where he made the observation that "the charts were more restrictive than my spreadsheet". At first I didn't understand his statement, then I went back and studied the C.G. envelope which came with my CTSW. I believe CT and MovingOn's comments refer to the forward C.G. limit changing based on weight of the aircraft. I've added a simple graph to my chart which shows some points I picked off the factory C.G. envelope graph and changed a few other things. If I am not correct on this, please let me know.

 

Note: I removed the spreadsheet due to revisions and addition of a C.G. envelope chart. After revisions, It will be reposted.

[Tom Baker]

Empty Weight Center of Gravity

The empty weight center of gravity for an aircraft is the point at which it balances when it is in an empty weight condition. The concepts of empty weight and center of gravity were discussed earlier in this chapter, and now they are being combined into a single concept.

One of the most important reasons for weighing an aircraft is to determine its empty weight center of gravity. All other weight and balance calculations, including loading the aircraft for flight, performing an equipment change calculation, and performing an adverse condition check, begin with knowing the empty weight and empty weight center of gravity. This crucial information is part of what is contained in the aircraft weight and balance report.

 

Empty Weight Center of Gravity Range

For some aircraft, a center of gravity range is given for the aircraft in the empty weight condition. This practice is not very common with airplanes, but is often done for helicopters. This range would only be listed for an airplane if it was very small and had limited positions for people and fuel. If the empty weight CG of an aircraft falls within the empty weight CG limits, it is known that the loaded CG of the aircraft will be within limits if standard loading is used. This information will be listed in the Aircraft Specifications or Type Certificate Data Sheet, and if it does not apply, it will be identified as “none."

 

These were copied and pasted from here http://avstop.com/ac/Aviation_Maintenance_Technician_Handbook_General/ch4.html . There is a whole bunch on weight and balance

[WmInce]

The CTLSi header tank design ensures the fuel injection system has a steady and forceful supply of fuel down to the last gallon. The two wing tanks fuel first pass thru the Fuel Selector then to the header tank.

 

A fuel pump (not the aux pump) delivers header tank fuel to the fuel injection system. The Gascolator is a seperate drain point leading from the wing tanks.

 

The header tank has its own drain point. The header tank is in the baggage area on the left side, a sight tube is provided on the header tank to check for dirt and fuel. The drain for the header tank exits its own hole in the underbelly.

 

What's the association of this post relative to weight and balance? . . . . .