Dick Eimert

WEIGHT-AND-BALANCE measurements on a full-scale aircraft is required after manufacture and periodically thereafter, depending on the use of the aircraft and when major repairs or modifications are completed. The resultant empty weight center of gravity (CG) becomes the starting point for the pilot to properly load the aircraft with fuel, passengers, and cargo and remain within the center-of-gravity limits dictated by the designer of the aircraft. (The fore-and-aft CG is the concern of this article.) With the trend toward larger models, actual weight-and-balance measurements can be accomplished using the same procedures and formulas as those used on full-scale aircraft. The procedure requires at least one good scale (with weight capability of at least 1/2 the weight of the aircraft), a sensitive bubble level, a steel scale, and a carpenter's square.