13.

CENTRE OF GRAVITY ESTIMATION

The weight of an airplane changes in the flight due to consumption of fuel and
dropping off / release of armament or supplies. Further, the payload and the
amount of fuel carried by the airplane may vary from flight to flight.
These factors lead to change in the location of the center of gravity (C.G) of the
airplane. The shift in the C.G location affects the stability and controllability of
the airplane.
The weight of entire airplane can be sub divided into empty weight and useful

load. The empty weight can be further subdivided into:

(i) structures group

(ii) propulsion group and

(iii) equipment group.

The structures group consists of the following components:

- wing
- horizontal tail /canard
- vertical tail
- fuselage
- landing gear - main and nose/tail wheel
- nacelle, engine pod and air intake

The propulsion group consists of the following components:

- engine as installed
- reduction gear
- propeller for piston and turboprop engines
- cooling provisions
- engine controls
- fuel system and tanks

The equipment group consists of the following items:

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 - flight controls
- auxiliary power unit (APU)
- instruments
- hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, armament, air conditioning, anti-icing
- avionics
- furnishings in passenger airplanes

The useful load consists of:

(i) Crew
(ii) Fuel - usable and trapped
(iii) Oil
(iv) Payload - passengers, cargo and baggage in transport airplane;
ammunition, expendable weapons and other items in military airplanes .

Approximate group weights method:

(Reference: “Aircraft design: A Conceptual Approach” by Daniel P. Raymer)

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The aim of estimating the weights of individual components and their C.G is to
obtain the location of the C.G of the airplane. Then, the shift in the airplane C.G
is examined under various conditions.
At this stage of preliminary design, the weights of individual components are
estimated using simpler method like using the table above.
The gross weight of the airplane estimated is 84907 kg
The weights and C.G locations of various components are estimated below:

Wing:
S = 142 m2 b = 36.63 m
bsemi = (36.63/2) – (3.76/2) = 16.435 m
cR = 6.2 m cT = 1.55 m
Fuselage width = 3.76 m
mac = 4.34 m
Location of L.E of mac from L.E of wing = 0.45 m
S(exposed)wing = 142 – (6.2x3.76) = 118.7 m2
From the table, the weight of the wing is,
Wwing = 118.7 x 49 = 5816.3 kg
Wwing / W0 = 6.8%

From the table, C.G of the wing is at 40% of mac

Hence, the location of the C.G of wing from the leading edge of the root chord
is, 0.45 + 0.4x4.34 = 2.186 m

Horizontal tail:

btail = 14.35 m
Stail = 32.8 m2
cR ,h.tail = 3.38 m
cT, htail = 1.18 m
mac, htail = 2.29 m
S(exposed)tail = 27.88 m2

From the table,

Weight of Horizontal tail = 27 x 27.88 = 752.76 kg
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Wht / W0 = 0.887%

From the table, C.G of the h.tail is at 40% of mac.

Hence, the location of the C.G of h.tail from the leading edge of the root chord
of h.tail is, 0.45 + 0.4 x 2.29 = 1.37 m

Vertical tail:
The contribution of dorsal fin to the weight of v.tail is ignored at this stage of
preliminary design.
Sv.tail = 26.40 m2
From the table,
Weight of vertical tail = 27 x 26.40 = 712.8 kg
Wvt/W0 = 0.84%

From the table, C.G of the v.tail is at 40% of mac.

Mean aerodynamic chord of v.tail = 3.7 m

Hence, the location of the C.G of v.tail from the leading edge of the root chord
of v.tail is 1.45 + 0.4 x 3.7 = 2.93 m

Engine:
The weight of each engine is 3796 kg
From the table, the installed weight of two engines is,
Wengine = 1.3 x (2 x 3796) = 9869.6 kg
Wengine / W0 = 11.62 %

For gas turbine engines the location of C.G from the engine inlet is between 30
to 45% of engine length.
In the present case the engine length is 3 m.
The engines are located at 3.06 m from the wing root and the inlet is at 2.5 m
from wing leading edge.

Hence, the location of C.G of engine from L.E of the wing is,
= -2.5 + (0.4 x 3) = -1.3 m i.e., 1.3 m ahead of the L.E of root chord of wing.

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Landing gear:
From the table, the weight of the nose wheel plus the main landing gear is 4.3%
of W0. i.e., 0.043 x 84907 = 3651 kg
Out of this total weight, the nose wheel and main wheel account for 15% and
85% respectively.
Hence, nose wheel weighs 0.15 x 3651 = 547.65 kg
And the main wheels weigh 0.85 x 3651 = 3103.35 kg.

With regard to the locations of the C.G’s of nose wheel and main wheels, it is
recalled that the nose wheel and main wheels share respectively 10 % and 90 %
of the airplane weight.
Wheel base is 17.17 m.
Hence, the C.G of the nose wheel is 0.9 x 17.17 = 15.45 m ahead of the C.G of
the airplane.
The C.G of the main wheels, as a group, is:
= 0.1 x 17.17 = 1.717 m behind the C.G of the airplane.
Fuselage:
An approximate estimation of fuselage wetted area is,
= 0.75 x perimeter of fuselage x length of fuselage
= 0.75 x π x 3.76 x 42
= 372.1 m2

(Wfuse + Wsyst)/ W0 = (Wempty/W0) – [(Ww/W0) + (Wht/W0) + (Wvt/W0) + (We/W0)

+ (Wlg/W0)]

(Wfuse + Wsyst)/ W0 = 0.5375 – (0.068 + 0.00887 + 0.0084 + 0.1162 + 0.043)

(Wfuse + Wsyst) = 0.2932 x 84907 = 24894.73 kg

From the table, the C.G of fuselage and systems is, 0.45 x length of fuselage
= 0.45 x 42 =18.9 m from the nose of the fuselage.

Wing location and C.G of the airplane:

The wing is chosen such that the C.G of the entire airplane with the gross weight
is at 25% of the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing.

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The distance of the leading edge of the root chord of the wing from the nose of
the fuselage is denoted by xlew. The 25% of the mean aerodynamic chord (mac)
of wing is 1.5 m behind xlew.
Hence, the chosen location of the C.G of the entire airplane is at (xlew + 1.5) m
from the nose of fuselage.

Item W (kg) x (m) W.x (kg.m)

5816.3xlew +
12714.43
Wing 5816.3 xlew +2.186
752.76xlew
+1031.28
H.tail 752.76 xlew+1.37
712.8xlew +
2088.5
V.tail 712.8 xlew + 2.93
9869.6xlew –
12830.48
Engines 9869.6 xlew - 1.3
547.65xlew –
8461.2
Nose wheel 547.65 xlew – 15.45
3103.35xlew
+5328.45
Main wheel 3103.35 xlew + 1.717

Fuselage & syst 24894.73 18.9 470510.4

20800.9xlew +
512964.34
Ʃ 45696.89
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The location of wing from nose of airplane is,

45696.89(xlew + 1.5) = 20800.9xlew + 512964.34

xlew = 17.85 m

Hence, the C.G of the airplane is at 17.85 + 1.5 = 19.3 m from nose of
fuselage.

Since, C.G lies at A.C of wing, aerodynamic center also lies at 19.3 m from
nose of fuselage.

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