Republic of the Philippines

PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Piccio Garden, Villamor, Pasay City

ACTIVITY (Midterm Lab. Module 2)

Timeframe 10 - 15mins

I. Essay (10 items)

1. In your own understanding, discuss the ff. (5pts. Each)

a. Weight and Balance Control— Helicopter
b. Effects of Offloading Passengers an Using Fuel

Answer:
The weight and balance of a helicopter are similar to an airplane but with an
exception. Helicopters are far more critical than an airplane, and the weight and balance
of helicopters are limited. The engineers who design the engine determine the amount
of cyclic control available that allows the pilots to know that the helicopter is sufficient in
cyclic control for all flight conditions. When the CG is too far forward, it requires an
excessive landing distance because there may be not enough cyclic control authority to
allow the helicopter to flare during landing. And when the CG is at the aft of the
allowable limit, the helicopter flies with a tail low, and there is a high chance that the tail
boom will strike the ground because there is no enough cyclic forward control to prevent
the tail boom from hitting the ground. Although the helicopters are allowed to fly with a
specific maximum gross weight, it is still dangerous to operate in those kinds of
conditions because it affects the hovering, takeoff, climb, autorotation, and landing
performance.
The fuel tanks on some helicopters are behind the CG, causing it to shift forward
as fuel is used, and it affects the balance of the helicopter. The solution for this is the
loaded CG should be computed for both takeoff and landing weights. The lateral
balance of an aircraft is one of little concern in aviation. Some helicopters are sensitive
to the lateral position of CG, so the pilots refer to POH/RFM to see the helicopter’s
longitudinal and lateral CG envelopes, as well as information on the maximum
permissible hoist load.
Offloading passengers and using fuels can have an impact on the controls of a
helicopter. As we know the weight of an aircraft is different from its take-off to its landing
weight as the fuels from the fuel tanks consumed because of the flight. The helicopter
needs to have the right amount of fuel every flight, it is possible that there will not be
enough forward cyclic authority to maintain level flight if the fuel is too much. The weight
of the fuel also has a computation to determine the right amount of the fuel per flight
and to not affect its center of gravity.

AMT 1206 Aircraft Weight and Balance & Load Cntr’l Proc.
1|P ag e
 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Piccio Garden, Villamor, Pasay City

RUBRICS
CONTENT (70%)

Knowledge on The Topic C1 35%

Information Based on C2
Technical 25%
Manuals/Journals/Books
Quality of Information C3 10%
70%
FORMAT (30%)

Format Based on The Given F1 5%

Instructions
Grammar, Usage, Spelling F2 5%
Word Count& Quality of F3 20%
Writing
30%
Total: 100%

HONESTY CLAUSE:

As a student under the AMT Department of Institute of Engineering

and Technology (InET), with my signature and Parent/Guardian’s
signature below, I declared that my compliance with this
module/subject is my work and adequately documented.

_
Student’s Name and Signature Parent/Guardian’s Signature

AMT 1206 Aircraft Weight and Balance & Load Cntr’l Proc.
2|P ag e