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91.103

Asked by: 1634 views Flight Instructor

This might be a dumb question. But for an intro flight, do you ask the client for their weight so you could comply with 91.103 to be able to calculate takeoff and landing distances? The reason why I'm asking is because on all the flights that I've gone on while I wasn't PIC (such as an intro flight), the instructor never asked me for my weight, so it wouldn't have been possible for them to comply with 91.103.

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1 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Russ Roslewski on Feb 04, 2022

    Aviation is full of rules of thumb and making safe assumptions. They didn’t weigh you the last time you were on an airliner, either.

    Many people, myself included, if they will be flying a particular airplane a lot, will run a series of weight and balance calculations with typical loads. For example, you may determine that if you are carrying one other person in a 172, in the front seat, they can weigh up to 300 pounds and be well within the envelope. So if you take up someone who obviously weighs less than 300 pounds, there’s no real need to calculate anything.

    If, though, you are loading up 4 people and bags, you do a little more calculating.

    As for performance, if the performance numbers at max gross weight work out, then you know you’re okay at any weight less than that.

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