Thursday, October 15, 2015

Weight & Balance

Another significant milestone: the plane got weighed on the 13th.   It’s a bit heavier than the example plane in the W&B worksheet, but I elected to put into the basic empty weight items that I won’t be flying without: fire extinguisher, headphones and the interior carpeting.

The wing tie downs got removed and replaced with studs that fit into jacks.  The tail was weighted down and the plane elevated above the height of the scales.  After setting on the scales, we deflated the nose tire (and had to squish it a bit) to level the plane in pitch.  Per The Book, the attitude was measured on the canopy rails.  We dropped a little bit of air from the left tire to level in roll.  A plumb bob was used to make a mark on the floor for the leading edge of the wing.  Lines were drawn on the floor at the axles of the wheels and then measurements were taken.  Finally, weights were taken from all three scales simultaneously.  The configuration was reversed and she got put back in the hanger.

 

IMG 4712

placing jacks

 

 

IMG 4713

Wheels up!

 

 

IMG 4714

setting onto scales

 

IMG 4716

level in pitch

 

 

 

IMG 4715

level in roll

No comments:

Post a Comment