Gaston444
On a slightly similar thought... I flew aircraft with nearly rigid wings, like the Hermes and Britannias which were fitted with periscopic sextants, this was in the 1960-70s.
Today's aircraft have flexible wings and no sextant mounting, unfortunately, but it might be of interest to measure the amount of wing flexing at a variety of weights and speeds ( Mach and CAS, I'm not sure which would be better) I suppose that this would give the actual wing loading during the course of a flight as fuel is burnt off. If the aft fuel trim tank was full, some of the total A.U.W. would be carried by the tailplane, allowing the wings to operate at a higher, more efficient flight level, sooner.
I recall that the B707's Optimum cruising level increased by about 1000ft per hour (restricted by other factors, of course).
When possible, as SLF I try to see the wing-tip lift (between V1 and VR, I estimate) through a window on the opposite side of the cabin. But it is not calibrated, sadly ! And sometimes the curtain has been drawn.)
On a Britannia baggage was normally stowed 2/3 forwards, 1/3 aft. It ought to have been the other way round with a full load of passengers.
Last edited by Jetdriver; 11th Jan 2013 at 14:17.