Hey girl, how much do you weigh?

AirDC

AirDC

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Andrew
I have a caribbean flight coming up in a rented 182t and am trying to figure out weight+balance for four adults (two guys, two girls). We'd be over W+B with full fuel, so need to figure out exactly how much fuel I can take.

How do you guys go finding out the real weights of passengers when pressing up against the limits? Do you just ask them and take their word? Add a X amount of pounds to buffer? Make them get on a scale before departure? Tell the girls to talk amongs themselves and give me a total weight of the rear passengers?
 
AirDC said:
I have a caribbean flight coming up in a rented 182t and am trying to figure out weight+balance for four adults (two guys, two girls). We'd be over W+B with full fuel, so need to figure out exactly how much fuel I can take.

How do you guys go finding out the real weights of passengers when pressing up against the limits? Do you just ask them and take their word? Add a X amount of pounds to buffer? Make them get on a scale before departure? Tell the girls to talk amongs themselves and give me a total weight of the rear passengers?
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Ask them, then add 20 pounds since women are incapable of telling the truth re: weight, even when their lives depend on it.
 
I'd just take a good guess and then add 15lbs. Possibly ask your FBI girlfriend to make the estimation. They teach that in LEO school I believe. Then, when the girl asks how you came up with those numbers, you have a scapegoat. Give them a weight limit for their suitcases in advance.

If you're really worried about it, you can just ask. Tell them its FAA rules to have actual weights on everyone for light plane calculations. The airlines get to use a fixed number because they carry a bunch of people and it averages out.
 
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If it's a couple, I get around this by asking them how much they both weigh combined; that allows them to not be as subconscious about the number.
 
Challenged said:
If it's a couple, I get around this by asking them how much they both weigh combined; that allows them to not be as subconscious about the number.
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That was my first thought. But the guy would be up front with me and the girls in the back. I'd prob be out of rear CG with couples seating.
 
I like your PC option of asking them to talk among themselves and come back with a total, except they might lie to each anyway. So how about this, if the women are definately lighter than their male companions, (Ie; no porkers) have everybody drop a slip of paper into a hat with their weight written on it. Then assume the lower responses are your back seat passenger
 
I just find a moment in private and ask point blank; I also use the weight I'm given.
 
Andrew I suggest you ping Ed Frederick (EdFred) on this board he has that all figured out.
 
:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

Although, I would suggest that women who do "fudge" their response by however many pounds when asked their weight are also those who are self conscious about not being a healthy weight for their height. :)
 
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AirDC said:
I have a caribbean flight coming up in a rented 182t and am trying to figure out weight+balance for four adults (two guys, two girls). We'd be over W+B with full fuel, so need to figure out exactly how much fuel I can take.

How do you guys go finding out the real weights of passengers when pressing up against the limits? Do you just ask them and take their word? Add a X amount of pounds to buffer? Make them get on a scale before departure? Tell the girls to talk amongs themselves and give me a total weight of the rear passengers?
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Put everything on a Wal Mart scale as it goes in the airplane, have an official looking clipboard and form with a picture of a graph and they will not resist. Now you know what is really going in the plane.
 
Henning said:
Put everything on a Wal Mart scale as it goes in the airplane, have an official looking clipboard and form with a picture of a graph and they will not resist. Now you know what is really going in the plane.
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I like this answer. Step on scale or stay home.
 
Take your best guess and call it good. It's a 182 for goodness sake. I know many here will crucify me for my suggestion or call me reckless or dangerous. I didn't say to take the matter lightly or forget about it all together, but lets be realistic here. I think you've dated enough women in your life to guess the weight of the passenger and be within 10-20 pounds. Do you really think even a 20 pound error is enough to have a significant impact on the performance of your 182?
 
I ask (but not in open conversation), and if it doesn't seem right, they get on a scale. Baggage I can estimate pretty well by heft (Groucho's "You take the blonde, I'll take the brunette" notwithstanding).
 
Does your town have a cotton gin or a sale barn? If so, just take everybody for an afternoon spin in your car and pull onto the scales for a minute with the explanation that you must have your car weighed for an upcoming inspection. Then dump them off and roll through the scales again.

Then you'll have gross and tare and the rest is simple subtraction.
 
I look them in the eye and promise that no one will know but me and them. Worked for my wife and mother in-law. They saw that I was obviously crunching numbers. They both got on the scale. I then did a tare on all baggage using my weight.
 
But this is clever too.

wabower said:
Does your town have a cotton gin or a sale barn? If so, just take everybody for an afternoon spin in your car and pull onto the scales for a minute with the explanation that you must have your car weighed for an upcoming inspection. Then dump them off and roll through the scales again.

Then you'll have gross and tare and the rest is simple subtraction.
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wabower said:
Does your town have a cotton gin or a sale barn? If so, just take everybody for an afternoon spin in your car and pull onto the scales for a minute with the explanation that you must have your car weighed for an upcoming inspection. Then dump them off and roll through the scales again.

Then you'll have gross and tare and the rest is simple subtraction.
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You can also do this at some landfills. My favorite sunday afternoon drive!
 
Lat time I needed to do this I told the couple my payload and weight. I told them how much gas weighs. I then asked them how much gas I could carry.
 
wabower said:
Does your town have a cotton gin or a sale barn? If so, just take everybody for an afternoon spin in your car and pull onto the scales for a minute with the explanation that you must have your car weighed for an upcoming inspection. Then dump them off and roll through the scales again.

Then you'll have gross and tare and the rest is simple subtraction.
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:idea:How about a set of scales you just roll the whole dang plane on, one axle at a time, as we come up on the runnup pad.:dunno:
 
pilot117 said:
Take your best guess and call it good. It's a 182 for goodness sake. I know many here will crucify me for my suggestion or call me reckless or dangerous. I didn't say to take the matter lightly or forget about it all together, but lets be realistic here. I think you've dated enough women in your life to guess the weight of the passenger and be within 10-20 pounds. Do you really think even a 20 pound error is enough to have a significant impact on the performance of your 182?
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I don't know. I'm a 150tt pilot, so I'm assuming that 1lb over gross and we are going to crash.

Andrew
 
ajstoner21 said:
I like this answer. Step on scale or stay home.
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:yeahthat: Last year, I took my nephew and his girlfriend for a short flight in a 172SP, so I wanted to know how much fuel I could take. I'm 6ft 200lbs and I knew they both weighed more so I pulled out the scale:rofl:

She actually had no problem getting on it.
 
pilot117 said:
I think you've dated enough women in your life to guess the weight of the passenger and be within 10-20 pounds. Do you really think even a 20 pound error is enough to have a significant impact on the performance of your 182?
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LOL what do you do with the women you date? "Come upstairs... but first step on this scale real quick. My bed has a pretty narrow weight and balance envelope"

I don't think i've had a single one get on the scale in front of me.
 
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I flew a C182 back from El Paso to Omaha with 4 full size adult males(all over 200 pounds) , luggage and full tanks and the aircraft wasn't even labored.
 
dell30rb said:
LOL what do you do with the women you date? "Come upstairs... but first step on this scale real quick. My bed has a pretty narrow weight and balance envelope"

I don't think i've had a single one get on the scale in front of me.
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ha ha...:rofl::rofl: Good one..:lol:

my personal policy is anyone I go out with has to have a smaller waist size then me.... if I can fit in their jeans then I am not interested.:no::no:

It is kinda hard to date in this day and age cause I wear 34 size pants. :(:rolleyes2:
 
N801BH said:
ha ha...:rofl::rofl: Good one..:lol:

my personal policy is anyone I go out with has to have a smaller waist size then me.... if I can fit in their jeans then I am not interested.:no::no:

It is kinda hard to date in this day and age cause I wear 34 size pants. :(:rolleyes2:
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
N801BH said:
ha ha...:rofl::rofl: Good one..:lol:

my personal policy is anyone I go out with has to have a smaller waist size then me.... if I can fit in their jeans then I am not interested.:no::no:

It is kinda hard to date in this day and age cause I wear 34 size pants. :(:rolleyes2:
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Is this wishful thinking?

"If I can get into your jeans, we're definitely not flying today!"
 
silver-eagle said:
Is this wishful thinking?

"If I can get into your jeans, we're definitely not flying today!"
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Good point..:yesnod::wink2:

There is a difference between "fitting" in their jeans and "getting" in their jeans though.:D:wink2: IMHO.:popcorn:
 
You can always weigh them with their luggage, then later weigh the luggage separately.;) post pics, and we'll all guess their weights.:D
If she looks like your prom queen, she's probably 110-125 depending on height.
If she looks like a "normal" size girl, maybe 125-140 again depending on height.
If she looks like she could start on your high school offensive line, figure 200.:yikes:
:D
 
I've not really had any issues, and I've had plenty of odd sizes and shapes on board as a CFI. I'm frank and honest with them and tell them I need an equally honest answer. Some guys are just as bad, BTW, and I've told at least two customers that if they wanted to fly, they should get motivated to lose weight. It's not really cool to be flying with someone that needs part of your seat... one was at LEAST 400 lbs and no-one told me that before he showed up.

Ryan
 
If you are professional about it and explain that it's important for the safety of the flight and you won't tell and then DON'T smirk or smile when they answer then you will likely get a cooperative answer. Surely these women are attractive and smart, play to the smart .... And they will respond in kind I would hope.
It's easier for me because I'm a woman and I say look, with clothes on and these shoes etc I weigh 138 what do you weigh and don't you lie...
 
dell30rb said:
LOL what do you do with the women you date? "Come upstairs... but first step on this scale real quick. My bed has a pretty narrow weight and balance envelope"

I don't think i've had a single one get on the scale in front of me.
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"Grab your bags and step on the scale."
 
One other approach that keeps everything confidential.

First, as others have said, express the importance of honesty..."you lie, you die". Also, let them know that they need to give you their weight fully clothed. That can be 10# right there.

Then write down a number on a piece of paper that is your weight plus...say 150#

Hand it to a passenger, tell them to add their weight and write new total down on a new piece of paper, toss the old one, and pass the new total on to the next person.

This process goes through all four people, the total number is returned to you, you subtract 150# and that's the total weight of you and your passengers. Then later, you can ask your buddy in private what he weighs and it becomes an easy calculation to determine what the girls weigh in the back seat.

You might want to pass the paper a second time with a different fictitious starting total just to make sure you wind up with the same answer and thus confirming that everyone is capable of simple addition...which is not a given these days.

You might also want to still add a fudge factor.
 
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