Manufacturer-Furnished Information

Manufacturer-Furnished Information

When an aircraft is initially certificated, its empty weight
and EWCG are determined and recorded in the weight and
balance record such as the one in Figure 2-21. Notice in
this figure that the moment is expressed as “Moment (lbin/
1000).” This is a moment index which means that the
moment, a very large number, has been divided by 1,000
to make it more manageable. Chapter 4 discusses moment
indexes in more detail.

An equipment list is furnished with the aircraft, which
specifies all the required equipment, and all equipment
approved for installation in the aircraft. The weight and
arm of each item is included on the list, and all equipment
installed when the aircraft left the factory is checked.
When an aircraft mechanic or repairman adds or removes
any item on the equipment list, he or she must change
the weight and balance record to indicate the new empty
weight and EWCG, and the equipment list is revised to
show which equipment is actually installed. Figure 2-22
is an excerpt from a comprehensive equipment list that
includes all of the items of equipment approved for this
particular model of aircraft. The POH for each individual
aircraft includes an aircraft specific equipment list of
the items from this master list. When any item is added
to or removed from the aircraft, its weight and arm are
determined in the equipment list and used to update the
weight and balance record.

The POH/AFM also contains CG moment envelopes and
loading graphs. Examples of the use of these handy graphs
are given in chapter 4.