Balance in Microsoft Flight Simulator

Video Transcript

"DIXON GILLETTE: Welcome back to Expert Village, my name is Dixon Gillette and let's continue our tutorial on Microsoft Flight Simulator X. All right, now we're going to talk about the center of gravity. And the center of gravity can be best described as if you're imagining a seesaw. Now the center of gravity at the seesaw is that point where it's perfectly balanced right in the center, where if you had two weights that are completely equal, that seesaw will balance on that point. In an aircraft, it's similar except we're dealing with three axes. Typically, on a light aircraft that's a single engine, the center of gravity is going to be right at the aft of the engine compartment and right ahead of the cockpit. Pilots typically manage the center of gravity by adjusting fuel loads, or passenger, or ballast loads in the aircraft. If you have too much weight, too far aft at the CG, your aircraft will effectively go into unrecoverable stalls. Likewise, if your aircraft has too much weight far forward, the aircraft will have a constant nose down attitude, making your aircraft extremely unstable to work with. Likewise, if you have too much fuel in your left tank, your aircraft is going to be consequently banking to the left and consequently same thing to the right. So, making sure your aircraft is balanced is a proper procedure for a safe and effective aircraft maneuvers."