My flight just announced that it will be pretty empty, and that it is important for everyone to sit in their assigned seats to keep the weight balanced. What would happen if everyone, on a full flight, moved to one side of the plane?
In: 8623
One side as in left right? Not much. One side as in front back? It could make a huge difference. Before each flight the weight of an aircraft is calculated and the weight distribution is adjusted. This decides how the cargo will be loaded, how the fuel will be loaded (there’s multiple fuel tanks on an airplane), and how the passengers are sitting is taken into account. If the passengers are not sitting where they’re supposed to, this can throw off the calculations, and the weight distribution of the aircraft. Since people, if they’re free to do so, will probably choose to mover further forward, this can make the aircraft nose heavy. Depending on just how many people we’re talking about this can create a situation where the nose of the aircraft will want to drop and the elevators at the tail (the horizontal fins that control the pitch of the aircraft) won’t be able to compensate for it, especially during landing when the aircraft is approaching slowly, and the slower it’s going, the less control authority and stability it has.
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