C of G and W & B is an interesting topic which I suspect is much overlooked, post PPL; when I initially approached my flying club to do a ppl, I did the 1st 2 lessons in a Trauma-hawk before someone pointed out that, with fuel to tabs, the CFI and I wouldn't get out of the airfield on an ISA day....so how was I ever going to sit my GFT?
I then bought a PA28 140 - which I loved to bits but, with full fuel and myself and another rugby player type in the front, it was noticeably forward of the C of G. I only did that once. How the Sandowne incident pilot thought he was going to leave the field on a hot day with 4 adults and full fuel, I'll never understand.
I now own an Arrow III and with 36 USG of fuel, you can load 4 normal adults, which removes a bit of the guesswork.
A PA28 235, by contrast, requires almost no thought to loading; With fuel to tabs, if you can physically fit it in the aircraft, it'll get off the ground.
The a/c which I think is hugely disappointing in this respect is the PA46 (in almost any guise) as you struggle to get 4 adults, bags and a decent fuel load, legally. What were piper thinking of?