Weight and Balance issues on a PA28-140

[Bob Noel]

hmmmm, a friend of mine (who was my CFII) had a 140 for years. He was able
to prevent the nose from slamming down without using ballast.

It can be done... I'm not good at it, but it can be done.

 

[steingar]

I did it yesterday with no difficulty. I do only come in with 20 degrees of flaps, unless I really need to squeeze it in.

 

[ScottM]

I did write a little W&B spreadsheet for our plane to keep us honest.

Steve,

If you use Golden Eagle, free from Duats, you can load in your specific W&B envelope and do the calculation on that piece of software when you do your flight planning. I have my W&B envelope in it, I just have to update the weights for the specific places that stuff/pax are sitting which is done a little spreadsheet that pops up, and viola! I get the full fuel CG and the CG at the end of the flight.

I am attaching the W&B from my last XC flight so you can see how it looks once it is set up. It is very handy and a nice feature of Golden Eagle.

 

[Steve Job]

If I had known about the free app from DUATS, I wouldn't have spent as much time on my little spreadsheet! Thanks!

I definitely see an improvement in the way this plane flares with the CG a little more aft, but I'm just a 300 hour pilot. I'm sure my technique could be better, but my CFII co-owner also sees the improvement.

Thanks again for everyone's contribution!

Steve