Since we're talking electronic sensors...

G'day,

I've been enjoying the AoA thread and it is kind-of related to another
idea which has been floating around in my head since the Emirates near-
disaster a couple of months ago. Basically, an Emirates A340 used every
inch (and a bit more!) of the 12000 foot runway at Melbourne airport
because the crew mistakenly entered the weight as 260 tonnes instead of
360 tonnes.

The question was asked in another forum: why doesn't the aircraft have
sensors in the landing gear so that it knows it's exact weight? It would
also be able to calculate it's centre of gravity if such sensors were
installed.

Yes, I realise the genesis of this question has nothing to do with
homebuilt aircraft BUT to my mind (having no electronic skills or
experience whatsoever) this should be a trivial problem and if such a
system were developed all aircraft, homebuilt and otherwise, would
benefit. Besides, the people with the skills to tackle this problem
reside in this newsgroup

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts!

Michael