REFLECTOR: Weight and Balance Leveling

Tue Nov 11 10:49:41 CST 2008

Brian,

It is available from Velocity.

Larry Coen
N136LC

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Brian Michalk" <michalk at awpi.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 9:08 AM
To: "Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list" <reflector at tvbf.org>
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Weight and Balance Levelling

> Where can I find the Velocity flight manual that has the weight and
> balance procedure?
>
> Terry Miles wrote:
>> Dear all,
>> Here below was a piece I posted when I did my wgt and balance.  I hope it
>> helps.  I am happy to talk further on this if somebody needs further 
>> ideas.
>> I used Ronnie Brown's program.
>> Terry
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear All,
>> I did my wgt and balance this week.  Here is the news and comments.
>>
>> First the news:  She came in at 1892.5 pounds and 136.7 aft of datum. I 
>> am
>> very happy with that.  Here are some particulars:
>> 300 HP Lycoming which is another 60 pounds more than the 260 HP
>> version.
>> Two full sized batteries in the nose,
>> All the seats, seat cushions, hooker seat belts, and the false fire
>> wall in place.  No carpet or headliner or trim.
>> A couple of headsets, and my backup handheld GPS and VHF/VOR ICOM
>> and a small fire extinguisher.
>> A final exterior paint job and some Zolatone on the gear legs, wheel
>> wells and ceiling beams
>>
>> I used locally borrowed certified scales.
>>
>> Minor irregularity:  I thought the "Owners Flight Manual and Wgt & Bal" 
>> book
>> was nicely done and provided me with some approximate figures.  That gave 
>> me
>> a reasonableness crosscheck as I started to get my own numbers.  I take
>> exception to one number in the Velo book on page 33 where it shows the 
>> sump
>> tank at 145 inches.  It is over 150 inches.  The reading comes from the 
>> fact
>> that the gas won't all drain into the sump so using gear wgt numbers on 
>> the
>> scales may not be the most accurate approach for this particular
>> measurement.  Especially in the RG where the sump is only half the size 
>> of
>> the FG.  Be aware that with any two known numbers you can calculate the
>> third.  I backed in my wheel numbers (moment)and used the known fuel 
>> weight
>> and the known arm.
>>
>> "Been There" Advice:
>> I made the mistake of pouring all the first 20 gal into one tank
>> thinking that it would level across wings in no time flat.  Wrong.  What 
>> I
>> did was introduce a heavy wing and small bank angle.  It would be better 
>> to
>> put the fuel in equally to each tank then wait a couple of minutes.  Pick 
>> a
>> slow time for the fuel truck man!  Then rocks the wings slightly.   Be 
>> sure
>> you are chocked.
>> I didn't measure the distances from datum to various key points
>> prior to putting the aircraft on the scales.  Points like wheel axel 
>> points,
>> aprox wgt centers for front seat, rear seat, spots you have earmarked for
>> Jepp bags, door cubbyholes, you name it.  (Like what's the exact 
>> measurement
>> of the aft lower corner of the entry door?)  It is much harder to do this
>> with the aircraft on scales.   All these can be done easier with a plumb 
>> bob
>> and marking spots on the hangar floor then record them all on a sheet of
>> paper before you begin.  All this for a reasonableness crosscheck as you 
>> do
>> the measurements.  You will need to know all the other distances the day 
>> you
>> load the airplane for a trip to grandma's.  Good idea to get them now.
>> Leveling:  My airplane as it sat empty on the hangar floor was nose
>> high.  I should have thought to shim the main wheels with a pc of plywood 
>> as
>> I mounted the airplane on the scales.  I didn't.
>> You can let air into or out of the tires within a range to get the
>> pitch and bank level numbers you need.  A friend on hand suggested that 
>> and
>> it worked great, with this exception.  If you have the nose tire down to
>> complete deflation as you add wgt the side walls will compress on you 
>> some.
>> The wgt change on the nose from empty to full is about 50 pounds.
>> I did my fuel probe calibration at the same time to include marking
>> my cabin sight gauges and a dip stick.  That's a lot going on at once. 
>> Make
>> yourself a checklist.  Or be ready with siphon pumps and barrel for
>> oversights!
>> Check BOTH tanks as you add fuel with the dowl stick from the
>> hardware store.  I had a wing to wing wgt imbalance as the night went 
>> along
>> that didn't affect the CG, but was a puzzle to me until I realized I had 
>> a
>> small wing droop (gear flex?)  that didn't show up much on my centerline
>> mounted digital level in the aft cabin.    For the XL: for me:   the dip
>> stick for me came out at 1 inch equals 5 gallons or close enough from 
>> empty
>> to full.
>>
>> Terry
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
>> Behalf Of Douglas Holub
>> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 11:39 AM
>> To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
>> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Weight and Balance Levelling
>>
>> Hi Brian,
>>
>> I'm planning on doing mine this week, too. I think I'll write down what 
>> I'm
>> planning to do just FYI, and also to help organize myself.
>>
>> My fuselage came with a fore-aft level line. When the work on the kit 
>> began,
>>
>> little plastic bubble levels were epoxied to the fuselage to make it easy 
>> to
>>
>> level the fuselage fore and aft. When it came time to prime the airplane,
>> before I removed those little plastic levels I leveled the plane and 
>> drilled
>>
>> two small 1/16" holes which were level and about 2 feet apart located 
>> below
>> the strake on the right side of the fuselage. Now when I want to level 
>> the
>> airplane, I stick two 1/6" drill bits in those holes and lay a 
>> carpenter's
>> level on them. (I got the idea from someone on the Reflector, but I 
>> forget
>> who.)
>>
>> I've already leveled the plane and used a tape measure and a plumb bob to
>> find the arm of the nose wheel axle and the main gear axles. Mine is 34.5
>> inches and 133.5 inches with the nose of the fuselage being zero.
>>
>> The W&B procedure in my Velocity Owner's Flight Manual says to weigh the
>> airplane empty with no fuel in the sump. Makes sense to me. I'm mildly
>> curious to know how the CG would be affected if I ever ran the sump dry.
>> I've got a 6.5 gallon sump, so it probably makes more of a difference in 
>> my
>> case than in yours. I've got an old Jaguar with two selectable 12 gallon
>> fuel tanks. We ran the car on one tank until it was dry. We'll drain the
>> fuel currently in the Velocity into the Jaguar and a gas can and weigh 
>> the
>> plane when it's empty, then use a siphon hose and the gas can to put 6.5
>> gallons of fuel back into the airplane and record those weights, then 
>> fill
>> the tanks up and record the weights again. I may also record the weights
>> when the tanks are half full, because I think the fuel tank moment might
>> change a little as the tanks are filling.
>>
>> The rest is easy.  While the plane is on the scales with no fuel on 
>> board,
>> I'll weigh my son and then sit him in the pilot's seat and record the
>> weights, sit him in the co-pilot's seat (it is staggered about 2" back 
>> from
>> the pilot's seat) and record the weights, then put him in the back seat 
>> and
>> record the weights.
>>
>> Doug Holub
>> Standard FG w/ electric nose lift
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Brian Michalk" <michalk at awpi.com>
>> To: "Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list" <reflector at tvbf.org>
>> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 9:44 AM
>> Subject: REFLECTOR: Weight and Balance Levelling
>>
>>
>>
>>> I'm planning on doing my weight and balance this weekend.
>>>
>>> I have not brushed up on exactly what needs to be done for the process,
>>> so I am starting here.
>>>
>>> 1)  I'm assuming I need to level the plane fore/aft.  What points do I
>>> use for levelling?  left/right is easy.
>>>
>>>
>>> 2) I plan on measuring with full sump as baseline.  Add fuel in
>>> increments.  Also do a W&B with pilots.  Of course all interior and
>>> accessories are installed.  The plane is close to a "flying condition".
>>>
>>> 3) A buddy is bringing over his Cessna 210, and we're going to use that
>>> for the fuel, and then return it after we are finished.  I have not yet
>>> done fuel flow testing, and did not want to mess with a full load of
>>> fuel in the plane.
>>>
>>> Any comments on procedure?
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>>
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>
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