cjohngraham
Member
Getting ready for our airworthiness inspection, we weighed our RV-7A yesterday, and came up with a puzzle:
My understanding of a gross weight calculation is that you load your spreadsheet until you run into the Van's recommended GW limit (1800) or some other limit. Another parameter is the FAA's "standard" passenger weight of 170.
I tried three alternatives that put the CG at aft limit; none got to 1800 lb. When I plug in two people at 170 plus 100 lb. of baggage, total weight is 1725 and just within aft CG. Using pilot and passenger weights of 207 and 208 with 83 lb in baggage gives 1783 lb total at aft CG. Using full baggage weight of 100 and people at 175 and 170, weight is 1730 with CG at aft limit.
So the question is, which to use and what's my gross weight limit. 1783 lb seems to be the max possible, but that disregards the FAA's 170 lb standard. Also, these cases are takeoff W&B, and CG is out of limits as soon as fuel's burned. Should I use more conservative pax and baggage weights and GW to show, say, CG at aft limit with an hour fuel reserve?
My understanding of a gross weight calculation is that you load your spreadsheet until you run into the Van's recommended GW limit (1800) or some other limit. Another parameter is the FAA's "standard" passenger weight of 170.
I tried three alternatives that put the CG at aft limit; none got to 1800 lb. When I plug in two people at 170 plus 100 lb. of baggage, total weight is 1725 and just within aft CG. Using pilot and passenger weights of 207 and 208 with 83 lb in baggage gives 1783 lb total at aft CG. Using full baggage weight of 100 and people at 175 and 170, weight is 1730 with CG at aft limit.
So the question is, which to use and what's my gross weight limit. 1783 lb seems to be the max possible, but that disregards the FAA's 170 lb standard. Also, these cases are takeoff W&B, and CG is out of limits as soon as fuel's burned. Should I use more conservative pax and baggage weights and GW to show, say, CG at aft limit with an hour fuel reserve?