CAMO - Weight & Balance

The practical guide how to get things done!

Why does the aircraft needs to be weighed?

First, we need to make a difference between a privately or commercially operated aircraft. A privately operated aircraft will be weighed after manufacturing of the aircraft and then only if there was maintenance done on the aircraft which affects the weight & balance characteristics. For example, new painting of the whole aircraft, interior refurbishment, modifications where parts are removed and/or installed. For commercial operated aircrafts the regulations require weighing of the aircraft every 4 years additionally to the criteria of a privately operated aircraft. The aircraft maintenance programme will include the weight & balance requirements for your aircraft.

How is it done?

When a new weight & balance will be performed by the maintenance facility the whole aircraft will be "emptied" which means the aircraft will be brought into the status which is stated in the equipment list. The equipment list states what should be on board the aircraft for the weighing. Everything else like pillows, cutlery, etc will be removed. This is very important to have the same configuration for every weighing you do and you can compare the changes. For this reason, great care needs to be taken when preparing the aircraft. There are 2 options for the weighing itself:

1. weighing on jacks or

2. weighing on platform scales

Option 1 is usually used for business jets where the 2nd option is more for the airliner. Once you got the results there is a form for each aircraft (see picture for an example) to write down the measurements and calculate the new basic empty weight and center of gravity. This form is used by the pilot and operations department to calculate any flights.

"Please note this is a practical guide and for information only. Please refer to your company procedures and official documents."

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