Fly Synthesis Texans over factory empty weight?
 

CASA recently advised that some LSA Texans built by Fly Synthesis in Italy have been found to be in excess of 100Kg over their factory published empty weight. How can this be?

Most aircraft if not all are sold through agents. The aircraft may leave the factory as a basic model and without the many options that can be added later by the agent as a buyers option. The POH/Flight/Owners pre-printed manual will provide the data for the basic factory model. The weight and balance report of the modified aeroplane is therefore the overriding document and is inserted within the manual. If the aircraft is sold by the factory as a completed ready to fly aeroplane they will also provide the actual W & B report including the modifications the buyer has stipulated.

I'm not sure from which you quote but I suspect the heads up was issued to remind owners to always refer to the W & B report and not the manual alone.

Consider what document this would be. If it's a sale brochure, it'll be very optimistic, for dreaming only. What you're looking for will be a weight and balance document serialized to that particular plane. That should be signed by someone authoritative in the company, and state that a weighing was done on date x. Thereafter, when equipment is added (or removed) there should be an amendment to the W&B, which may just be a mathematical calculation, but still signed by someone.

If CASA is advising this, they're either saying that the factory made an error on a number of airplanes, (incorrect scale calibration), or people are referencing the wrong document - sales brochure. If in doubt, reweigh the plane. An airplane flying at an uncertain weight, is most likely also flying at an uncertain C of G position, which could be every bit as serious a situation.

Would you have a source for that? While on the one hand the a few Italian manufacturers have a bad reputation for "creative" interpretations of the weight figures, 100 kg seems quite a lot for "creativity".

And I have heard testimonies - by importers! - confirming @Fl1ingfrog 's story of weight figures shifting along their trade path.

I hope that pilots are not using a sales brochure for flight planning - but nothing will surprise me. Sometimes the manufacturer will offer a fully equipped aeroplane with a suite of all possible equipment and the W&B report for that condition may well be included in the pre-printed POH format for that model with dated signatures. However, this isn't always the case and many aircraft will be provided with the absolutely minimum equipment possible and a W & B report for that condition. The manufacturer may offer all kinds of extras and for which they provide an STC free of charge. These could range from long range tanks, right seat toe brakes and to a purchasers customised choice of radio equipment. As Pilot DAR says these will require a re-weighing or a recalculation of basic weight/ C of G. and a new W & B report issued even for a new aeroplane. This is the report that should be used not the original. So, a worthwhile reminder by CASA.

I agree with Jan that a 100 Kg error for a LSA/Microlite/Ultralight is a massive error. Shocking if true.

I've seen the same on a French aeroplane that, strangely enough, failed to gain approval through an airworthiness office I was in charge of at the time.

Put bluntly, there are people out there who don't have the level of integrity that should be there in our industry.

G