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Ground School Topics:
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Weight & Balance:
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FAA Pilot Handbook - Chapter 10
 
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You can learn more about this topic in chaper 10 of the FAA's Pilot Handbook
 
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Weight and Balance for our planes:
 
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Weight & Balance Sheets (entire fleet) - Empty Weight Sheets- (updated - May 2017)
 
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Why is it important?
 
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Weight and balance is one of the most important factors affecting safety of flight. An overweight aircraft, or one, whose center of gravity is outside the allowable limits, is inefficient and dangerous to fly. The responsibility for proper weight and balance control is the responsibility of the pilot in command at the end of the day.
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Terms and Definitions
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- Basic Empty Weight (or Empty Weight)
   
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Airframe, engines, and fixed equipment. Includes optional & special equipment, fixed ballast, hydraulic fluid, unusable (residual) fuel, and full engine oil (some older aircraft only include un-drainable residual oil)
   
- Usable Fuel
   
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fuel available for flight planning (1gal = 6 lbs)
   
- Unusable fuel
   
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remaining fuel after a runout test is completed - fill lines or trapped in the sumps
   
- Fuel load
   
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Expendable part of the load of the airplane. It includes only usable fuel, not fuel required to fill the lines or that which remains trapped in the tank sumps.
   
- Useful load (payload)
   
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The weight of the pilot, copilot, passengers, baggage, usable fuel, and drainable oil. It is the empty weight subtracted from the maximum allowable gross weight. This term applies to general aviation aircraft only.
   
- Max Ramp Weight
   
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Max weight approved for ground maneuvers
   
- Max Takeoff Weight
   
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Max weight approved for start of takeoff roll
   
- Max Landing Weight
   
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Max weight approved for landing touchdown
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- Center of gravity (CG)
   
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The point about which an aircraft would balance if it were suspended - the mass center of the aircraft or the theoretical point at which the entire weight of the aircraft is assumed to be concentrated Þ (The plane rotates around the CG during flight)
   
- Center of gravity limits (range / envelope)
   
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Forward and aft points within which the CG must be located during flight. These limits are indicated on pertinent airplane specifications.
   
- Center of gravity range
   
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Distance between the forward and aft CG limits indicated on pertinent airplane specifications.
   
- Center of Pressure
   
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Point on the airfoil where lift is concentrated.
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- Datum (reference datum)
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Imaginary vertical plane or line from which all measurements of arm are taken. The datum is established by the manufacturer. Once the datum has been selected, all moment arms and the location of CG range are measured from this point.
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- Station
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Location in the airplane which is identified by a number designating its distance in inches from the datum. The datum is, therefore, identified as station zero. An item located at station +50 would have an arm of 50 inches.
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- Arm
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Horizontal distance in inches from the reference datum line to the center of gravity of an item. The algebraic sign is plus (+) if measured aft of the datum, and minus (-) if measured forward of the datum.
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- Moment
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Product of the weight of an item multiplied by its arm. Moments are expressed in pound-inches (lb-in). Total moment is the weight of the airplane multiplied by the distance between the datum and the CG.

 
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Study Questions:
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What is the Max Gross Weight for your aircraft?
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Where do you find W&B data for your aircraft?
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How do you find the CG? (Describe the process, terms, and equation)
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Performance Characteristics of being overloaded
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Performance Characteristics of a forward CG
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Performance Characteristics of an aft CG
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Standard weights - gallon of gas, one person
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Know how to calculate the CG and plot it based on information in chapter 6 of your POH
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