www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22001256
Seems fair enough to me. Might be a few arguments at weigh-in.
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I see WP has already posted the same link.
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My mother remembers passengers being weighed for load/balance purposes before boarding a Dragon Rapide from Lands End to the Scillies in 1958.
Twenty years later Britannia Airways were doing the same at Leeds/Bradford where the 737-204ADV was 'tight' for the then 5400 foot runway.
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If memory serves didn't a small jet pile in because weight/cofg issues in the 90s?
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I think that was a small domestic airline in the USA. I seem to remember there was a mistake when calculating the weight which meant not enough fuel on board or something.
They still do calculate the weight now, but it is always based on averages. I wonder if the air stewards etc do count how many fat people there are though!!
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There have been problems with charter flights to (cough) US police or Mafia conventions having trouble getting off the runway despite no more than the usual number of passengers.
I mean, who wants to die in flames just because porkies overeat? Seems good sense to me.
:o}
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Pardon my scepticism, AC, but really? It's an amusing idea, of course, but I've not heard of it and a little googling didn't find any such reports. Do you have one you can point us to?
I have been in half-full planes where we've been told to stay in our allotted seats for takeoff and climb, to keep the balance right. But these were biggish ones - A330s and 767s - where the fuel load greatly outweighed the passengers and the point was to keep the cg right until there was enough space in the tanks to adjust it with fuel instead.
The Samoan link refers to inter-island flights, presumably in much smaller planes, which are much more sensitive to such things, right down to my microlight-flying friend, who can carry one passenger - unless it's me, because then he wouldn't have enough weight left for fuel.
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I dont blame them, Samoans as a race can be, not to be too polite about it, huge great lumps of lard.
We had to declare passenger weight when booking a trip on a Helicopter into the Grand Canyon. I was put in the middle!
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We had to declare passenger weight when booking a trip on a Helicopter into the Grand Canyon. I was put in the middle!
It is nothing new.....a plane or helicopter can only lift so much and the weight has to be balanced.
We routinely weigh our passengers as well as their kit at our heliport on the way to oil rigs in the middle east. .
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Airlines assume an average weight for males and females - A lack of women on a flight can end up with an overweight aircraft.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264921/easyJet-passengers-forced-whip-round-pay-people-leave-overweight-plane.html
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As it would result in women, on average, paying less than men, simply by virtue of weight, it would probably be viewed as indirect discrimination here.
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Easily sorted. Just charge according to percentage of average male or female weight. If you are 100% overweight you pay double the fare. Bi-Sexuals might be a problem I grant. Might need a more thorough examination than presently carried out at security although I suppose you could use the male /female average. Anorexics would be able to afford more holidays though which would surely be a good thing.
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Here's a thing to ponder...
Passenger 1 - 100kg with 20Kg luggage = 120Kg
Passenger 2 - 50Kg with 25Kg luggage = 75Kg
Passenger 2 - gets charged for excess baggage.
Could be argued it doesn't seem right. Hot potato though !
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Exactly why we need to move to a weight system. Baggage and body weighed together.
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Nicole would love that, she weighs 2 stone wet through, and thinks that 20 kilos is an absurdly small amount of luggage.
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Similar position in this household Z. I've been travelling by air regularly all my life and I can usually manage to get everything I need in a carry on bag. I loath airports and will do almost anything to minimise the time I have to spend in them. Even for holidays. Additional T-shirts are available for purchase in most places if required. Mrs D'B however...
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Have always longed for this, but don't think it's going to happen in the UK.
There are no CG issues in flight even if everyone does move to the front or the back of the aircraft (it does change, obviously, but remains within the acceptable envelope at either extreme). However, since the stabiliser trim is set for take-off using on a calculation based on known seating positions, this is why you're asked to stay in the seat.
Doesn't always work, which you can feel during the rotation as the thing either staggers into the air while you haul back on the sidestick with eyes bulging and sinews straining, or it leaps off like a scalded frog and transitions into a drunken wobble at about 15 degrees pitch as you panic about clonking the tail on the runway.
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Must be worse at Manchester, Gatwick and Liverpool airports FF? Strikes me on the odd occasions I've subjected myself to those zoos that most other passengers add about 10Kg in consumed beer before take off !
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Wed 3 Apr 13 at 09:13
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I try and do the same with small as possible bags, but I suppose it depends on how long you go for? I can manage a week with carry on, usually end up with loads when the trip is weeks/months.
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If I'm going for a long trip and need more kit I'll just ship a bag the day before to my destination hotel with DHL or similar. Saves a lot of hassle and as my employer has good rates with some companies it's not that expensive.
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A pair of boxers, a toothbrush and a box of condoms - all fits in my pockets.
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Leave out the Johnnies - get a snip - lighter on two counts!
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>> A pair of boxers, a toothbrush and a box of condoms - all fits in
>> my pockets.
didn't know they made condoms that small, but hey ho.
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i read somewhere about the B1 bomber test flight, the pilot set the wings to the swept back position before transfering the fuel that was in the wings at the time, as the wings moved back the planes centre of gravity was altered and became uncontrollable....all the crew were lost
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There was a B1 test flight crash in 1984 where they had turned off the auto fuel transfer that normally operates as the wings are moved. In this case they were moved forward for low level flight and the extra lift without the matching fuel transfer caused the aircraft to rear up and stall. The crew fired away in the cockpit/escape pod but sadly the chutes didn't operate correctly and it hit the ground hard. The test pilot died on site and two others were badly injured but lived.
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The Samoans (and other Pacific Islanders) produce fearsomely big Rugby players!
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Coming to Ryan Air Shortly? - CGNorwich
