Demo - Step 1

How It's Done

You must have a starting point. This varies depending on the type of aircraft you have. The simplest is the Basic Empty Weight or BEW. The BEW is the aircraft empty weight plus oil and unuseable fuel. Next, is Corrected Empty Weight or CEW. The CEW is the BEW plus items that you have in the aircraft for every flight (i.e., charts, magazines, catering, lav fluid, etc.). Also, there is the Basic Operating Weight or BOW. The BOW is the CEW plus flight crew. There are several variations of the three weights, but the BEW, CEW, and BOW are the most common.

STEP 1
The Lear 31A used in this example uses a BOW.

The BOW includes two 170 lb. pilots, flight charts, catering, aircraft stock, etc..

FIRST,we plot a BOW of 11,140 lbs at 20.0 % MAC (Mean Aerodynamic Chord), which is commonly used by larger aircraft. Other methods of measurement are sometimes used. CG in inches is another method commonly used by smaller aircraft.

American Aeronautics will also preprint the starting point on your graph. See the price list for further details.

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