I realize the KR series aircraft are small and resemble RC aircraft, but come on guys. Performing a proper W&B just isn't that difficult. We will be conducting a W&B seminar at the KR Gathering in September. Initially, I thought that would be a waste of time. However, after reading the discussions here, I can see that it may be much more appropriate than I thought and I will spend some time preparing an educational seminar.
Perform your W&B with your aircraft in an all up ready to fly configuration minus usable fuel, baggage, handheld devices and passengers to get an empty weight and empty CG. Add in the moment arm for the positions for the passengers, fuel and baggage. It's simple multiplication, addition, and division. This is a necessity to do before the FAA issues an Airworthiness Certificate, and a necessity if you plan to live long enough to enjoy flying your aircraft. I don't know whether we plan to weigh any aircraft or not, but we will work with some realistic numbers and perform several classroom W&B calculations. We will also have some discussion about the handling characteristics of aircraft flown out of CG, as bad things happen whether it's out of balance either Forward or Aft. -Jeff Scott Los Alamos, NM
