Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Basic Empty Weight (Oil) – Archer vs Warrior

Asked by: 832 views Aerodynamics, Aircraft Systems, FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, General Aviation

Given: we know Empty Weight excludes the weight of the crew and payload, but includes the weight of all fixed ballast, unusable fuel supply, undrainable oil, total quantity of engine coolant, and total quantity of hydraulic fluid (Ref: FAA).

Question: Why does the PA28-181 (Archer) include full oil in the empty weight calculation (Ref: POH VB-760 REV5 para 6.3.a.4) while the PA28-151 includes only undrainable oil?  (Ref: POH VB-535 Page 5-3)? 

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.

3 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Jul 31, 2023

    I don’t have those two manuals available but are they both using the full term “basic empty weight”?

    There are three similar GAMA POH weights, “basic empty,” “standard,” and “licensed.” Of the three only “licensed” uses undrainable oil. The others use full operating fluids. All three and their differences are discussed in PHAK Chapter 10.

    The two things I can think of off the top of my head for a difference. One of the manuals is old enough to pre-date GAMA standardization. Remember that the modern POH and the standardization of sections and language across makes and models came from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, not the FAA.

    Or, for some reason Piper chose to use different terms.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Mark Kolber on Jul 31, 2023

    “Basic empty weight.”
    “Standard empty weight.”
    “Licensed empty weight.”

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. dudebro311 on Jul 31, 2023

    Thank you for directing me to PHAK Ch10- I’m sure that’s where the answer resides! Cheers!

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 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.