Weight & Balance Calculator
Enter your aircraft's empty weight, arms and limits once — then load the seats, fuel and baggage and read your takeoff and landing CG against the envelope, live as you type. Your aircraft profile saves in this browser.
W&B-1 Loading Computer
| Station | Weight / qty | Arm (in) | Moment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takeoff | — | — |
Simplified envelope. This draws a rectangular envelope from your forward/aft CG limits and max gross weight. Many POH envelopes taper at the forward limit — always confirm your points on the actual chart in your POH. CG = total moment ÷ total weight; remember that burning fuel moves the CG, so both takeoff and landing must fall inside the box.
How Weight & Balance Works
Weight and balance confirms two things before every flight: that you are at or under maximum gross weight, and that your center of gravity (CG) sits inside the manufacturer's limits. Load an airplane too heavy and it won't climb or stop in the distance the book promises; put the CG too far forward and it may not rotate or flare; too far aft and it can become unstable and unrecoverable in a stall. This calculator does the arithmetic, but the method is worth knowing by heart.
Every item you load sits a certain distance — its arm — from a fixed reference line called the datum. Multiply each weight by its arm to get a moment. Add all the weights for your total weight, add all the moments for your total moment, and divide: CG = total moment ÷ total weight. Compare the result against the forward and aft limits in your POH. Because fuel has its own arm, burning it in flight moves the CG — so a legal takeoff can still land out of limits, which is why this tool shows both.
Using Your Own Aircraft
The presets are typical numbers to get you started — they are not your airplane. Open your POH (Section 6, Weight & Balance) or your specific aircraft's equipment list and enter the real empty weight, empty-weight arm, station arms, maximum gross weight, and forward/aft CG limits. Those values differ by model, by year, and even by tail number after equipment changes. Once you save the profile, it stays in this browser for next time. For the full method with a worked example on paper, see the printable kneeboard cards, and for takeoff and landing distance at today's conditions use the all-aircraft performance calculator.