I would add 2 points:
- most dispatchers are trained properly and appreciate the requirements to spread the load to keep the aircraft in trim. However at certain airports there is little appreciation. The computerised loadsheets are generally so (too) 'accurate' that the movement of a single passenger may put the aircraft out of trim. If we do a manual loadsheet, the width of our pencil line on the appropriate graph means that things are necessarily less accurate. Believe it or not, in most cases there is really no problem and the aircraft will fly in either case!!
- the tailplane sits parked in whatever position we leave the trim set. Usually, on the ground it is reset to +7 or +8 during the turnaround checks. This will cause the position you observed. During the walkaround check we look up to confirm this against a scale marked on the front of the fairing.
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