Multi-Seat Configurations
"Maximize Your Useful Load & Revenue"
Squeezing every pound of utility out of an aircraft is easily accomplished if you
know how to adjust the airplanes useful load to your advantage. As you may recall
from flight training, Useful Load is equal to the Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) minus the
airplanes Basic Empty Weight (BEW) with a formula as follows:
Useful Load = MTOW-BEW
For example, a 6-place aircraft will have a Useful Load of 1120 pounds if the MTOW was 3400 pounds and the BEW was 2280 pounds (3400 - 2280 = 1120). The 1120 pounds of Useful Load is the total amount of weight that can be loaded onto the aircraft through a combination of fuel, pilot, passengers and baggage.
So what does Useful Load have to do with multiple seating and cargo configurations? Everything! Let's continue with the same 6-place aircraft example from above and send a pilot with 3 passengers on a trip. The flight will last 4 hours so the pilot tops off the tanks with 444 pounds of usable fuel. The pilot and three passengers weigh another 640 pounds: two 180 pound males and two 140 pound females. The only item left to load onto the aircraft is the baggage but let's first subtract the weight of the fuel, pilot and 3 passengers from the useful load. Starting with the 1120 pounds of useful load calculated from above, we subtract 444 pounds for fuel and another 640 pounds for the pilot and 3 passengers. The calculations thus far result in a total of 36 pounds available for baggage amongst the 4 occupants (1120 - 444 - 640 = 36). Obviously, only 9 pounds of baggage per passenger and is totally unacceptable for a weekend getaway.
The trip isn't cancelled and nobody has to stay behind because all the pilot has to do is remove the rear two seats and increase the airplanes useful load by approximately 40 pounds (seat weights vary by make and model). With the seats removed there will now be 76 pounds available for baggage because the pilot just increased the useful load by 40 pounds (36 + 40 = 76). Keep in mind, if the pilot was flying with only a right seat passenger then he could also remove the middle seats and increase the useful load by yet another 40 plus pounds.
Don't get excited too quickly thinking you can just toss the rear seats on the hangar floor and be good to go! Removing seats will change the BEW and Useful Load and may also have a major effect on the airplanes Center of Gravity (CG). Therefore, removing airplane seats always requires recalculating the BEW and CG to make sure Forward and Aft CG Envelope limitations are not exceeded. The number crunching process of adding or removing seats can get complicated, especially for the inexperienced, and that is where eFlite software comes into play!
eFlite's multi-configuration feature is the easiest way for pilots to maximize their airplanes useful load per flight and leave all of the number crunching headaches to us. For a nominal fee, we will customize any number of configurations into your aircraft weight and balance software so then it is just a click of the mouse to adjust the seating or cargo configuration for a particular flight. Your eFlite software will remove the unnecessary seats and baggage areas from the loading diagram and automatically recalculate the Basic Empty Weight and CG per selected configuration. You are going to rest assured knowing the airplanes useful load was maximized with eFlite speed and precision!
