Weight and Balance

Knowledgebase Article

Calculating Weight and Balance


Having a weight and balance that is within limits is crucial for all pilots, regardless of the aircraft. Calculating your center of gravity is critical and affects the aircraft's manuvering and stall speeds.
Refer to your aircraft's Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) / Operating Limitations. This data is usually found in Section 6 of a standard POH.


Doing Your W & B






Step 1

Locate your aircraft's POH and find the section Weight and Balance. Check Section 6. You should find something like this:

Step 2

To do this manually, get out a piece of paper or a device you can write on. First, we will learn to calculate W & B manually, and then by using software.

Create a table like the one below:


Aircraft Maximum Gross Weight:

Item Weight (lbs) Arm Moment
Basic Empty Weight
Pilot
Front PAX
Rear PAX/Backseat
Baggage
Fuel
Ramp Weight
Takeoff Weight
Takeoff Center of Gravity CG: Within Limits? Y / N
Landing Weight
Landing Center of Gravity CG: Within Limits? Y / N

Note: There are multiple ways to calculate a weight and balance. This is one way.


Step 3

Locate the following charts in your POH to fill out the W & B sheet. Multiply each item's weight by the arm for each station given and record the moment in the right column. For the Basic Empty Weight, use the moment provided.
Note: Your aircraft's BEW will likely be different than in the sample loading problem. Make sure to attain a correct number for these calculations.



Step 4

Calculate the weight and balance for your aircraft. Here, I did a sample calculation based on the sample POH and an in flight burn of 20 gallons.

Aircraft Maximum Gross Weight: 2300 lbs

Item Weight (lbs) Arm Moment
Basic Empty Weight 1454 lbs 57,600
Pilot 155 lbs 37 5,735
Front PAX 190 lbs 37 7,030
Rear PAX/Backseat 140 lbs 73 10,220
Baggage Area 1 10 lbs 95 950
Fuel (30 gal) 180lbs 47.9 8,625
Ramp Weight 2,129 lbs 90,160
Start and Taxi Fuel -10 lbs 47.9 -479
Takeoff Weight 2,119 lbs 89,681
Takeoff Center of Gravity CG: 42.32 Within Limits? Y / N
In Flight Fuel Burn -125 lbs 47.9 -5,987.5
Landing Weight 1,994 lbs 83,693.5
Landing Center of Gravity CG: 41.97 Within Limits? Y / N

CG = Moment / Weight



Step 5

Verify that your calculated Center of Gravity is within the moment CG envelope on your chart, as pictured above. If your "dot" is placed outside of the moment window, you will have to adjust your weight and/or loading to ensure you are under the max gross weight and are within allowable limits. This is very important - failure to do so can be fatal.