Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

Weight and balance for a C172P

Asked by: 2664 views Flight Instructor

I am getting ready to instruct in a C172P.  Reviewing the wt and bal section, I noticed that the moment graph for the front seats stops at 400lbs.  I have always been told at Flight Safety that you can not extropolate any lines to include the moment chart.  If the front seat occupants weigh more than 400 lbs, without extropolating, how can one be legal to fly?  There is no limitation indicated in the POH.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers



  1. Dan S. on Dec 04, 2015

    I’ve never heard of a loading graph line being a limiting factor in computing W&B. If you compute the weight in the front seats using the station arm, and it’s within the CG envelope, then you’re complying with CG limits. Unless there is a limitation of weight for a particular station, you’re good to go.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.