General Weight And Balance Demonstration Training Calculator
This calculator requires the use of Javascript enabled and capable browsers. This utility is designed to calculate weight and balance of our mythical trainer, the Silver Gullwing, a large 8 place single engine airplane. Please note... Weight and balance calculators are for SPECIFIC airplanes; each plane is different to some degree. (Our pictures are NOT reflective of any information in this calculator; we just happen to like Beechcraft.) It is up to the pilot to make the final determination of airworthiness as this is a general indicator for training purposes. The empty weight does NOT include the pilot; it does include the unusable fuel, all hydraulics and engine oil. Enter the weight and arm of the empty aircraft. Enter the weights of the other appropriate fields in the left column, except for fuel. Middle seats are for Normal Seating, and Club Seating; for our training, you may use BOTH. Enter (or change) the arm for each station. Enter the USEABLE quantity of fuel in US Gallons (usable is almost always different from the total gallons on board). Some aircraft also have extended range or tip tanks as well as the main tanks. Left to right axis as well as forward aft axis for weight and balance is also critical. Use of fuel is assumed to be generally equal for left to right balance; although much closer to the axis, seating and baggage within the cabin from left to right should also be given consideration. Fuel is calculated at 6 pounds per gallon of useable fuel. All moments are calculated based on the station arms and the weight. Click on Calculate to process the data or on Clear Values to reset the calculator to the default values. In our trainer, You will NOT be able to manually change calculated fields but you can change the station position; in most live weight and balance calculators, you cannot. Compare the balance and moment data to the CG envelope and published gross weight in your owner's information manual. You MUST ALWAYS know the specifics of the airplane you are flying to check weight and balance. That includes empty weight, arm and moment of the plane, all stations arm data, front and aft CG limits and the CG envelope data for the specific type and category of aircraft you are flying. Be sure to click on Clear Values to reset the default conditions if you do more than one calculation. If you change the values in a field from a positive value to "no entry", be certain there is a zero (0) in the field. You may use ALL baggage fields but do a close guess of the arm of the station where the baggage is located. Also be aware that there is a finite combination of all entries that keeps you under the gross weight; virtually all baggage compartments have a maximum weight due to the center of gravity. PLEASE NOTE: You should calculate weight and balance for take-off, mid-flight and landing configurations as a MINIMUM! Please keep in mind the fact that not only weight is critical but distribution of that weight is just as critical. IT MUST be checked for the CG situations of different time periods in the flight BEFORE the flight! It is VERY possible to be well under useful load and be out of CG due to distribution! Do NOT guess; check it prior to each flight! UTC, Coordinated Universal Time, popularly known as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), or Zulu time, and local times are displayed to authenticate you calculation should you wish to print it. Local time differs from UTC by the number of offset (the last number in the Zulu display field), + (TO) or - (FROM), hours of your timezone. Offset times that are + (or no indication) are added TO the local time to yield UTC. Offset times that are negative are subtracted FROM the local time to yield UTC.
Disclaimer: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
The pilot is solely responsible for
accurate weight and balance calculation of his aircraft.
|
|
Updated: 8/17/11
|
