Best place for CG along roll axis

After constantly struggling with a heavy nose in several aircraft it
occurred to me that having a fat pilot in front and nothing else was
moving the CG forward. I put some weight in back and moved the CG
further back over the wings, and handling improved greatly. Is there
a way (other than consulting a manual each time) to determine exactly
where over the wing is the best place for the CG? MSFS is kind enough
to show me a diagram with the current CG marked, but I don't know how
far back I should try to place it.

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It sounds like you need to spend some time with a good instructor just
going over weight and balance for your airplane/s. I am not saying that
you need to do one every time but once you have done it for yourself
and realize it isn't letting the airplane handle the way you would like
then you can do some experimenting and try to get the plane to handle
like you would like. You also have to remember that there are pros/cons
for both forward and rearward cg. Also dangers to the extremes of both.
Take some time and work through it with your local instructor that
knows teh plane. If he tries to tell you not to worry about it find a
new instructor!!
Matt tiberii
Comm ASEL ASES AMEL
CFI CFII
Mxsmanic wrote:
After constantly struggling with a heavy nose in several aircraft it
occurred to me that having a fat pilot in front and nothing else was
moving the CG forward. I put some weight in back and moved the CG
further back over the wings, and handling improved greatly. Is there
a way (other than consulting a manual each time) to determine exactly
where over the wing is the best place for the CG? MSFS is kind enough
to show me a diagram with the current CG marked, but I don't know how
far back I should try to place it.

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He doesn't fly at all- he sits in front of a computer and makes
pronoucements and contrary arguments without any actual flying experience.

His questions should really be on a gaming newsgroup regarding MSFS, not one
for piloting.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

After constantly struggling with a heavy nose in several aircraft it
occurred to me that having a fat pilot in front and nothing else was
moving the CG forward. I put some weight in back and moved the CG
further back over the wings, and handling improved greatly. Is there
a way (other than consulting a manual each time) to determine exactly
where over the wing is the best place for the CG? MSFS is kind enough
to show me a diagram with the current CG marked, but I don't know how
far back I should try to place it.

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot? That's kinda neat. I wish I
could do the same in real life!

The diagram you see probably represents the CG envelope, which is what most
pilots use too. As long as you're in the envelope, you're safe. Front side of
the envelope is more stable, rear side is less stable. Think of an arrow - if
you weigh down the tip it will fly straighter, if you weigh down the feather
it will fly faster.

This is all basic flight training stuff. I would recommend the book "Stick
and Rudder" as a good starting place.

The original poster is talking exclusively about MS Flight Sim.

IMO, he should go hang out in the simulation groups or websites where
the types of questions he asks would be more appropriately answered
for his frame of reference. But that's just me.

On 24 Sep 2006 04:53:15 -0700, "Huck"
wrote:

It sounds like you need to spend some time with a good instructor just
going over weight and balance for your airplane/s. I am not saying that
you need to do one every time but once you have done it for yourself
and realize it isn't letting the airplane handle the way you would like
then you can do some experimenting and try to get the plane to handle
like you would like. You also have to remember that there are pros/cons
for both forward and rearward cg. Also dangers to the extremes of both.
Take some time and work through it with your local instructor that
knows teh plane. If he tries to tell you not to worry about it find a
new instructor!!
Matt tiberii
Comm ASEL ASES AMEL
CFI CFII
Mxsmanic wrote:
After constantly struggling with a heavy nose in several aircraft it
occurred to me that having a fat pilot in front and nothing else was
moving the CG forward. I put some weight in back and moved the CG
further back over the wings, and handling improved greatly. Is there
a way (other than consulting a manual each time) to determine exactly
where over the wing is the best place for the CG? MSFS is kind enough
to show me a diagram with the current CG marked, but I don't know how
far back I should try to place it.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

Is there a way (other than consulting a manual each time)

NO. Pilots must calculate weight and balance prior to each flight.

"Judah" wrote in message
. ..
Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot? That's kinda neat. I wish I
could do the same in real life!


The FAA says I weight 170 lbs. Who am I to argue?

Steve Foley wrote:
"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

Is there a way (other than consulting a manual each time)

NO. Pilots must calculate weight and balance prior to each flight.

And helo pilots have to do it for two axes.

Judah writes:

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot?

It depends on the aircraft. Some just have one station for which you
set a total weight. Others have many stations for which you can set
individual weights. For example, in a Baron 58, you can set the
weight of the person in each seat, plus the baggage at the back.

For large commercial jets there is sometimes a complete planning page
where you can set weights at many different stations in the aircraft.

That's kinda neat. I wish I could do the same in real life!

It makes it easy to set weights in the aircraft, but unfortunately it
doesn't tell you how to get everything balanced correctly.

The diagram you see probably represents the CG envelope, which is what most
pilots use too. As long as you're in the envelope, you're safe. Front side of
the envelope is more stable, rear side is less stable. Think of an arrow - if
you weigh down the tip it will fly straighter, if you weigh down the feather
it will fly faster.

That's what I seem to notice, but it took me a while to realize why
some aircraft were pitching upward on their own and others were
pitching downward.

One thing I wonder is this: If I'm alone in the aircraft, in the left
seat at the front, can I put an counterbalancing weight in the rear
seat on the right, or would putting weight in a diagonally opposed
position make the aircraft unstable? If it works, it would be easier
to balance things; I could throw some sandbags in the right rear
corner of the aircraft to balance my weight.

This is all basic flight training stuff. I would recommend the book "Stick
and Rudder" as a good starting place.

I looked for it at the pilot's store Thursday, but I couldn't find it.
It's hard to find English specialty books here.

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Steve Foley writes:

NO. Pilots must calculate weight and balance prior to each flight.

And they all do this methodically?

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