weight and balance carry on gps equipment

[nellycopter]

Hi,

looking for a little help here, i am trying to calculate my weight and ballance for R44 Raven II - to include 7lbs of Gps & Zaon xrx mounted on the instrument panel.
looked everywhere on the net to obtain how far the datum point is - from the front of the aircraft -
the way i see it as i cant get to the rotor shaft to measure exactly - its somewhere between 2 and 8 inches infront of the nose ???
so that i can measure backwards and get the long arm !!

anyone know how far out front the datum point really is ????

[VeeAny]

I can't remember where the Datum is exactly in relation to the nose, but the pedals are 16.8 inches Aft of Datum is that close enough to either use or measure from ?

The moment for a 7lb weight even if you are 2 inches out will only be wrong by 14 inch lbs. When you are dealing with a helicopter moment in the region of 148,000 - 245,000 inch lbs it wont' make that much difference if you are out by that much. Chances are unless you weigh yourself and what goes under the seats you will be out by a figure bigger than that in day to day operations anyway.

Sorry I was typing this while Torquestripe added his.

GS

[nellycopter]

Thanks for that guys,
sometimes the really obvious answer is staring you in the face -
never thought of looking at the removable pedal arm........

which is just about bang on inline with the gps mount..

cheers

[sycamore]

Nelly, just carry a `map`,one of those folding bits of paper;looks professional if you fold it right too ..!
ps,you can carry 2 maps, just in case one flies out of the window..

[nellycopter]

ah well see,
have to have the latest and greatest of everything, and being a bit gadget mad i'm working me way through the gps range.
latest addition is the garmin 695 which is pretty good but i still like my flymap L best. so i've got both on the go !
along with the old faithfull extra set of eyes - zaon xrx.
just got rid of av80r - as it was a bit small, flymap flyangel is on its way to a new owner when i find one.......
so why have paper maps when you can have the muts n**s in the cabin with you ???????

[nodrama]

Because when your GPS stops working, and you don't know where you are........you're f*@!#d.

[rotorspin]

toooooo true Nodrama...

so carry some spare batteries, and at least one spare GPS, then leave that heavy fold up map on the pad...

[JimBall]

And if you get Fed-checked they will not like the absence of a chart. Mind you, if it's the new South half-mill issued last week it's next to useless with the amount of errors.

What a lovely summer it will be on the south coast now that they've issued a chart with not just the wrong freqs, but swapped freqs between adjacent ATC units........

[VeeAny]

For those who are interested its Solent and Bournemouth the errata is here
Amendments for England South - Edition: 13, 12/02/2009 | Aeronautical Charts | Airspace Policy

[nellycopter]

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit !!!
why some of you people have to be so arrogant beats me !!!!!!!!!!!!!

i asked a simple question about weight and ballance -
at no time did i say i dont fly with up to date charts nor did i say i totally rely on my gps !!!!!!!!!

some (most) people on here have always been very helpful when a genuine question is asked... others just take the P_**

[Whirlygig]

And if you get Fed-checked they will not like the absence of a chart.

Why did I read that as "Fred-checked"??

Cheers

Whirls

[nodrama]

Nelly

I take it you're not one for a bit of bar room/ crewroom banter then?

[rotorspin]

actually nelly, I wasn't being sarcastic - I was agreeing!

[n5296s]

My reaction to this thread is "who cares". If you're running so close to the limit that you have to worry about the arm of something that weighs less than your arm, you're already in trouble. When you do your CG calculations, do you base it on the cyclic being full forward, mid-position, or fully back? What happens if you autorotate and then go past aft CG limit in the flare due to the arm of your arm? I mean, this could be important... (but it isn't very likely). Which brand of battery are you using? Full or half-charged? (e=mc^2 so there must be a weight change as they discharge).

n5296s

[Chairmanofthebored]

The pedantic nature of Poms and PPL's smash headlong here to morph into one long thread about stupidity. Frankly - adding your GPS to your W&B is a great idea, just not really relevant. Did you remove a dash mounted GPS that Robinson fitted? If so, its all considered in your A/C W&B.
Best you weigh yourself incase you had a big steak the night before and have changed your weight and need to take a dump...

[Whirlygig]

Nah, he just wants to show off his new GPS unit and drop the gentle hint that the old GPS units are for sale.

Cheers

Whirls