Handheld W/B Program?

[low&slow]

Anyone know of a good weight and balance program for a handheld PC. I've looked around at a few, and the best I can find so far is the FlightCalc program. It is just a bit short of what I need, though. Any suggestions would be helpfull.

l&s

 

[Andy Neill]

What is it you find lacking in the existing programs?

Does your PC accomodate Excel programs? If so, I can send you a simple spreadsheet that will allow 15 station and weight entries (that number can be expanded to any number, really) and will provide the total weight, total moment, and resulting C.G. If this will do the trick, I would be glad to e-mail it to you. If you need more than this, I'll let others chime in.

 

[low&slow]

Specifically what I was looking for was one the would compute the actual C.G. range. I have played around with excel spreadsheets that I created, but I don't know enough about excel to figure the C.G. range.

 

[InHot]

Co-pilot.com

I used Co-pilot.com (fpr plalm operating systems) and was pretty happy with it, although it does have a limited number of stations. Works well for small citation jets.

http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?sid=80499920000512195437&prodID=7184

 

[A Squared]

Specifically what I was looking for was one the would compute the actual C.G. range. I have played around with excel spreadsheets that I created, but I don't know enough about excel to figure the C.G. range.

I don't follow what you mean by "compute c.g. range" The c.g. range is given in the operating limitations. You compute the c.g. location. If the computed location is within the acceptable range you're good to go. What are you asking?


regards

 

[low&slow]

ok, specifically what the forward limit is and what the aft limit is. I have seen an excel spreadsheet that someone created where they were able to create the graph, and have it plot the CG location on the graph, and then indicate the forward and aft limits. That is what I am looking for, either a program that does it or someone more genius then I am that can figure out how to integrate the graph into excel.

Any better?

 

[A Squared]

Ahh, ok I see what you mean now .... I'm not too up on the graphical capabilities of excel I'm not much help, sorry.

 

[bigD]

Do the majority of you guys use mobile Windows devices like the iPaq, or some Palm derivative?

I ask because I'm giving some thought to taking a couple of days and writing a W&B program on my own, and was curious what platform would be the most useful to write for. Do you have any suggestions for features that you can't find in the W&B programs already out there?

I haven't given this a lot of thought yet, but if I could get a good idea of a feature set that would be useful to everyone, as well as an interface that's easy to use, it wouldn't take me too long to write one.

 

[FearlessFreep]

I have written spreadsheets for the weight and balance of a SA-227 used in the cargo configuration. I had it configured so that it with a defined pressure altitude, temperature, and fuel load it would calculate the max payload, required runway (with and without water injection) and the V speeds for takeoff and landing. It also was configured for maximum weight limits per compartment and bending moment restrictions and all the pertinent W & B information required for flight. The other thing I did was have it give me a percentage of CG range, I used this for presetting the trim. (There are no preset procedures on this aircraft, but my method worked pretty well).

All this runs on a Palm Pilot III

There was a fair amount of challenges involved with it, though it is not impossible. I am no math whiz but if I can figure it out pretty much anyone can.

I did use a formula that set the CG limits in situations where the CG limit varies with gross weight. I took this information off the graphed CG envelope and plugged it into the spreadsheet. So I guess I did integrate the graphed information into the program. I would have to look back through the 'sheet to see how I did it. I just remember it was not that hard.

Hammer away at it, spreadsheets can do a fair amount of stuff. Having something personalized for your need is probably the best way to go. The only problem that I have with it is dealing with time inputs. I have yet to get a good handle on that.

Overall, of all the spreadsheets Weight & Balance is probably the easiest.

 

[dmspilot00]

Simple Answer: If you want a spreadsheet/program that gives you the allowable CG range of an aircraft, you would need data specific to each aircraft. You cannot "compute" it.