Well I am pretty big - 18st of man, but good looking with it
My rules therefore need to be different to other people's!!
Essentially I don't fly two-seaters (sounds like the R22 is definitely a non-starter - shame as a mate at work witha PPL(A) has just started lessons in an R22 for the PPL(H) - I will tell him to convert to R44 ASAP!)...
I tend to look on "garden variety" 4-seaters (e.g. PA28-151 or PA28-161) as really a decent two-seater for me and a mate and liferaft and luggage and TABS fuel, without needing to make any calculations. I also know from experience that me + wife (much slimmer than me!) + twin 11yr old girls + TABS fuel works as well.
FOR ANY OTHER COMBINATION I GET THE W&B SPREADSHEET OUT! I am sure everyone by now has these in Excel format for their favourite aircraft, so it only takes seconds (I think the last time I did it by hand was when renting in the US, having left the laptop behind!)...
I guess that's why for longer trips / more people and luggage I am really such a big fan of the P28B Dakota (in particular, G-ODAK at BA/Wycombe) because it not only flies faster (135kts@65%) to get you there quicker, but also carries bigger loads: we have had 4x big blokes and luggage and full tanks for cross-channel trips (all checked on the spreadsheet of course!).
In short, do the calculations for what is typical for you and your friends and the aircraft you typically fly would be my advice before using anyone else's rules of thumb as they may not appply to you - and the consequences of being overweight (especially on the relatively short vs. US strips we have here) or out of balance might be dangerous, and risks invalidating your insurance.
Andy
