Weight and Balance Documentation

Weight and Balance Documentation

FAA-Furnished Information

Before an aircraft can be properly weighed and its emptyweight
center of gravity computed, certain information
must be known. This information is furnished by the
FAA to anyone for every certificated aircraft in the Type
Certificate Data Sheets (TCDS) or Aircraft Specifications
and can be accessed via the internet at: www.faa.gov
(home page), from that page, select “ Regulations and
Policies,” and at that page, select “Regulatory and
Guidance Library.” This is the official FAA technical
reference library.

When the design of an aircraft is approved by the FAA,
an Approved Type Certificate and TCDS are issued. The
TCDS includes all of the pertinent specifications for the
aircraft, and at each annual or 100-hour inspection, it is
the responsibility of the inspecting mechanic or repairman
to ensure that the aircraft adheres to them. See pages 2-
7 through 2-9, for examples of TCDS excerpts. A note
about the TCDS: aircraft certificated before January 1,

1958, were issued Aircraft Specifications under the Civil
Air Regulations (CARs), but when the Civil Aeronautical
Administration (CAA) was replaced by the FAA, Aircraft
Specifications were replaced by the Type Certificate Data
Sheets. The weight and balance information on a TCDS
includes the following:

Data Pertinent to Individual Models
This type of information is determined in the sections
pertinent to each individual model:

CG Range

Normal Category

(+82.0) to (+93.0) at 2,050 pounds.
(+87.4) to (+93.0) at 2,450 pounds.
Utility Category
(+82.0) to (+86.5) at 1,950 pounds.
Straight-line variations between points given.