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Weight & balance · Piper

Piper PA-28-181 Archer weight and balance calculator

Enter the empty weight and CG from your aircraft's weight-and-balance record, then the people, baggage and fuel. The calculator works out the moment for each station, the takeoff, landing and zero-fuel CG, and plots them on the Piper PA-28-181 Archer CG envelope.

StationWeightArm (in)Moment
Basic empty weight138,400
Pilot and front passenger80.527,370
Rear passengers118.10
Baggagemax 200 lb142.82,856
Fuel (usable)= 240 lb (6 lb/gal)95.022,800
Takeoff2,200 lb87.01191,426
Landingburn 2,128 lb86.74184,586
Zero fuel1,960 lb86.03168,626

CG = total moment ÷ total weight = 191,426 ÷ 2,200 = 87.01 in.

Piper PA-28-181 Archer CG envelope with takeoff, landing and zero-fuel points80828486889092941,1001,3001,5001,7001,9002,1002,3002,5002,700CG (inches aft of datum)lbNormal · max 2,550 lbTakeoffLandingZFW
Takeoff and landing are inside the normal envelope. Forward limit at this weight 83.98 in, aft limit 93.00 in; 350 lb below maximum weight.

Piper PA-28-181 Archer loading stations

From the POH section 6. Front seats at 80.5 in, rear seats 118.1, fuel at 95 (48 gal usable), baggage at 142.8 (200 lb). The datum is 78.4 in ahead of the wing leading edge. Maximum weight 2,550 lb.

StationArm (in aft of datum)Limit
Basic empty weightfrom your W&B record—
Pilot and front passenger80.5—
Rear passengers118.1—
Baggage142.8200 lb
Fuel (usable)95.048 gal usable

Piper PA-28-181 Archer CG envelope

Normal category — maximum 2,550 lb

  • Forward limit: 82.0 in from 1,200 to 2,050 lb, then a straight line to 88.6 in at 2,550 lb.
  • Aft limit: 93.0 in at all weights.

Worked example

With the sample numbers above — pilot and front passenger 340 lb, baggage 20 lb, fuel (usable) 240 lb and an empty weight of 1,600 lb at 86.5 in:

  1. Moments: 1,600 × 86.5 = 138,400; 340 × 80.5 = 27,370; 20 × 142.8 = 2,856; 240 × 95.0 = 22,800 (lb-in).
  2. Totals: 2,200 lb and 191,426 lb-in, so the takeoff CG is 191,426 ÷ 2,200 = 87.01 in.
  3. At 2,200 lb the envelope allows 83.98–93.00 in, so the takeoff point is inside the limits.
  4. After burning 12 gal (72 lb at 95.0 in) the landing weight is 2,128 lb with the CG at 86.74 in — still inside. Burning fuel moves this airplane's CG forward, because the fuel sits behind the CG.
Piper PA-28-181 Archer worked example on the CG envelope80828486889092941,1001,3001,5001,7001,9002,1002,3002,5002,700CG (inches aft of datum)lbNormal · max 2,550 lbTakeoffLandingZFW

The empty weight and empty CG differ from one PA-28-181 to the next — always use the current weight-and-balance record for the tail number you are flying. Fuel is 6 lb per US gallon (avgas).

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In TOGA EFB you register each tail number's empty weight and CG once; the loading sheet, envelope check and briefing sheet use it from then on — offline too.

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