In everyday flight operations, some pilots look at weight and balance limitations as gospel. Others look at them as mere guidelines—if the door closes, it’ll fly. And then there are ferry pilots, those who strap down a fuel bladder in place of the rear seats and launch on 12-to-15-hour overwater legs, usually with some paperwork allowing over-gross operations.
Of course, the average personal airplane usually operates well below its gross weight, carrying a pilot, a few bags and full fuel. Every now and then, though, we try to fill all the seats, stuff bags under some of them and then spend quality time with the AFM/POH, determining how far we can go on the small amount of fuel it says we can carry. Inevitably, we’re tempted to fudge things a little—what’s an extra 25 or 50 pounds, as long as it’s within the center-of-gravity (CG) limits? Does it really matter if the fuel burn puts me slightly outside the aft limit at my destination?
