How does the Operator calculate the Dry Operating

Weight (DOW) and the Dry Operating Index (DOI)?

ATA: 00-00 FIN: Ref: 00.00.00017

A/C Type: A300 A/C Serie: Topic: First Issue 26-OCT-2011
A300-600 Date:
A310
A318
A319
A320
A321
A330
A340
A340-500
A340-600
A380
Part Number: Last Publication 13-JUN-2019
Date:
Supplier:
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Articles: Documentation:

Old Wise Ref:

EngOps-14782

Flight Operations and Training

First Issue Date: 26-OCT-2011
Last Publication Date: 13-JUN-2019

General Overview
The computation of the Dry Operating Weight (DOW) and the associated Dry Operating Center of Gravity (DOCG) and
Dry Operating Index (DOI) is the responsibility of the Operator.

The DOW/DOCG corresponds to the weight and Center of Gravity (CG) of the aircraft in service for a specific type of
operation, without usable fuel and traffic load.
In the Weight and Balance Manual (WBM) Chapter AWR (Aircraft Weighing Report), Airbus writes that the Operational
Empty Weight (OEW) and the Operational Empty Center of Gravity (OECG) is a basis for the calculation of the
DOW/DOCG.

For a single OEW/OECG, there can be hundreds of different DOW/DOCG values based on different "Operator's items"
installed. Each specific aircraft configuration (crew, catering, potable water, ACTs installed/removed,etc.) generates a
specific DOW/DOCG. Therefore, as these configurations are different from one flight to another, Airbus does not
calculate DOW/DOCG.
However, Airbus provides guidelines to calculate the DOW/DOCG.

The WBM and the Aircraft Weighing Report are the reference documents required for this computation.

 1. Definitions
 2. DOW Calculation
 3. DOI Calculation
1. Definitions
A short summary of the main data that are found in a Weighing Report are listed below:

1. The Manufacturer's Empty Weight (MEW) is the weight of the structure, power plant, furnishing, systems,
and other items of equipment (e.g. hydraulic fluid, etc.) that are an integral part of the aircraft configuration.
The weight of all "Operator's items" is not counted.
2. The Operational Empty Weight (OEW) is defined as the MEW plus "Operator's items" (i.e. the flight and
cabin crew and their baggage, unusable fuel, seats, engine oil, galley structures, catering, documents, etc.). In
order to calculate the OEW, Airbus selects standard "Operator's items".

The DOW is a customized OEW with specific "Operator's items" and/or different weights from the Airbus standard
"Operator's items". Therefore, the Operator must calculate the DOW for each flight depending on the configuration of the
cockpit, cabin attendants, galleys, and other specific items of the day.

In addition, each "Operator's item" addition/removal has an impact on the CG. The Operator must take into account
these CG variations accordingly in order to determine the DOCG. When the DOCG is known, the index formula is used
to perform the DOI calculation.

The Airbus index formula is as follows:

(𝐻𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚 ‒ 𝐻𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎)

𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝐼𝑡𝑒𝑚 × +𝐾
𝐶

Where:

- Weightitem: weight of the item

- Hitem: Horizontal arm (H-arm) of the item from the H-arm origin
- HRef sta: Horizontal arm of the reference station
- C: constant C
- K: constant K

CAUTION: The index formula values are different from one aircraft type to another. The table below provides the Airbus
standard constant C (C), constant K (K) and reference station (Ref Sta) values for different aircraft.

A300B2 A300-600 A318 A319 A330 A340-500 A380 A350

A320
A300B4 A310 A340 A340-600
A321
C (kg.m) 2 000 1 000 500 1 000 2 500 5 000 5 000 5000
C (lb.in) 200 000 100 000 40 000 100 000 200 000 500 000 500 000 500 000
K 50 40 50 50 100 100 100 100
Ref Sta
25 25 25 25 25 25 35 30
(%)

2. DOW Calculation
To determine the DOW, the Operator must remove, from the OEW, the weight of items that are not part of the flight
configuration . Next, the Operator must add the real "Operator's items".
The "Operator's items" weight summary (Chapter 2.10.08 / AWR-2-20-05 of the Weighing Report) provides an entire list
of items that are included in the OEW.

3. DOI Calculation
The DOI calculation is a process that is divided into 3 steps:

1. Determination of the DOW Moment

2. Determination of the DOCG from the DOW Moment result

3. Determination of the DOI from the DOCG.

3.1 Determination of the DOW Moment

Every item added to or removed from an aircraft has an impact on the CG position of the aircraft. Provided that the
respective weights and exact location (H-arm) of these items are known, it is possible to calculate their associated
moments (refer to the WBM and Weighing Report to find the data related to H-arms)

(𝐻𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚 ‒ 𝐻𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎)

𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝐼𝑡𝑒𝑚 × +𝐾
𝐶

Where:

- Weightitem: weight of the item

- Hitem: Horizontal arm (H-arm) of the item from the H-arm origin
- HRef sta: Horizontal arm of the reference station
- C: constant C
- K: constant K

The DOW moment is determined as follows:

NOTE: The corresponding moment of the OEW is published in the Weighing Report.

The following table is an example of DOW moment calculation, and is for information only.
3.2 Determination of the DOCG from the DOW Moment Result
When the DOW and its associated moment are known, it is possible to calculate the H-arm associated to the DOCG.

𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝐷𝑂𝑊
𝐻𝐷𝑂𝐶𝐺 =
𝐷𝑂𝑊

Where:

- HDOCG: Horizontal arm associated to the DOCG

- MomentDOW: Moment associated to the DOW
- DOW: Dry Operating Weight
The DOCG can be expressed in %MAC based on the associated H-arm:

(𝐻𝐷𝑂𝐶𝐺 ‒ 𝐻𝐿𝐸𝑀𝐴𝐶)
𝐷𝑂𝐶𝐺 =
𝑀𝐴𝐶𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ

Where:

- DOCG: dry Operating Center of Gravity (in %MAC)

- HDOCG: HDOCG: Horizontal arm associated to the DOCG
- HLEMAC: H-arm of the Leading Edge of the Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC)
- MACLength: Length of the MAC
The H-arm of the leading edge of MAC and the length of MAC are published in the WBM, Chapter CTL-GEN-Mean
Aerodynamic Chord.

3.3 Determination of the DOI

The index formula enables the Operator to compute the DOI from the HDOCG or the DOCG:

(𝐻𝐷𝑂𝐶𝐺 ‒ 𝐻𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎)

𝐷𝑂𝐼 = 𝐷𝑂𝑊 × +𝐾
𝐶
 (𝐷𝑂𝐶𝐺 ‒ 𝐶𝐺𝑅𝑒𝑓 𝑆𝑡𝑎)
𝐷𝑂𝐼 = 𝐷𝑂𝑊 × +𝐾
𝐶 × 100
𝑀𝐴𝐶𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ

Where:

- DOI: Dry Operating Index

- DOW: Dry Operating Weight
- HDOCG: Horizontal arm associated to the DOCG
- HRef sta: Horizontal arm of the reference station
- C: constant C
- K: constant K
- DOCG: dry Operating Center of Gravity (in %MAC)
- CGRef sta: Center of Gravity of the reference station (in %MAC)
- MACLength: Length of the MAC

CAUTION: To apply this formulae, Operator must check their operational C and K constants before.

Survey for the Flight Operations and Training section

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