weight&balance 2

weight

force exerted by gravity

maximum weight

total weight of the aircraft, equipment, passenger, baggage, and fuel

taxi or ramp weight

additional weight such as fuel

takeoff weight

greatest amount of weight that the aircraft is safely capable of lifting from the ground

landing weight

greatest amount of weight within which the aircraft can land safely

empty weight

weight of the airframe engine and all the equipment that has a fixed location or installed in the aircraft

operating weight

used on transport types of aircraft where certain items are always carried on the aircraft

useful load

empty weight of the aircraft subtracted from the maximum weight of the aircraft

datum

imaginary line on vertical plane which is horizontal measurement on the aircraft are taken for weight

arm

horizontal distance that an item is located from the datum, forward the datum is negative and aft the datum is positive

moment

product of the weight multiplied by the arm, measured in inch pounds

center of gravity

point at which the nose heavy moments and the tail heavy moments have equal magnitude

center of gravity

the point at which the aircraft should be suspended without having any tendency to become nose or tail heavy

mean aerodynamic chord

average distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the wing

tare weight

weight of chocks, blocks, stands, and other equipment used in weighing an aircraft which is deducted from the gross weight reading to obtain the actual empty weight

moment index

moment divided by a constant to reduce the number of digits, allows the moment to be read directly from a graph

loading graph

graphical representation used to determine the moment for various loads in the aircraft aiding in weight and balance calculations

center of gravity moment envelope

diagram that illustrates the limits of CG various loading conditions ensuring that the CG remains within safe operational limits

center of gravity range

the allowable distance between the forward and aft center of gravity limits for safe flight operations

general aviation aircraft

small general aviation aircraft cg range is often between 25% to 40% of the msc

transport aircraft

larger aircraft cg limits are more specific and vary significantly based on loading configurations

forward cg limit

typically closer to the nose aircraft, enhance stability but may lead to increased control forces

aft cg limit

generally towards the tail, reduce stability and may lead to control difficulties