After hearing about a couple rather corpulent Velocities, I was actually dreading putting my project up on the scales. I asked my local EAA chapter if we had scales – they said absolutely, come pick them up. My EAA chapter hangar is about a 1.5hr drive away, so I was considering just flying there with a C172, envisioning the scales would be the electronic sort in a nice briefcase. I’m glad I drove my truck to get them, instead. They are real old-school style scales. You can see them in the pictures – big heavy beasts. I had one electronic scale with a 400lb limit for the nose.
I jacked the plane up placed it on the scales, leveled it then checked the scales: 1403lbs! Fifty pounds over the factory suggested 1350lb for a 173RG, but I think that’s pretty good.
Here’s the empty W&B:
| Weight | Arm | |||
| Nose wheel: | 98 | lbs | 30.5 | in |
| Pilot main: | 653 | lbs | 132 | in |
| Co-Pilot main: | 651 | lbs | 132.5 | in |
| Total weight: | 1402 | lbs | ||
| Static CG: | 125.1 | in | ||
| Empty aircraft moment: | 175443 | in-lbs |
Here’s what its like with a 164lb sandbag pilot:
| Weight | Arm | |||
| Nose wheel: | 187.5 | lbs | 30.5 | in |
| Pilot main: | 721 | lbs | 132 | in |
| Co-Pilot main: | 667 | lbs | 132.5 | in |
| Total weight: | 1575.5 | lbs | ||
| Pilot weight: | 164 | lbs | ||
| Static CG: | 120.1 | in | ||
| Aircraft moment with pilot: | 189281.8 | in-lbs | ||
| Pilot arm: | 79.8 | in | ||
| CG with pilot: | 120.1 | in |
