Sources: FAA-H-8083-30B weight and balance chapter, and FAA-H-8083-1B, the Aircraft Weight and Balance Handbook, which goes further. Both public domain. Pointers only.
Chapter and section verified against FAA-H-8083-30B (2023) and FAA-H-8083-1B (the Weight and Balance Handbook — this page named it without its revision letter, and -1B supersedes the 2007 -1A) on 28 August 2026. Page numbers are deliberately not cited: they move between printings. Checked by our handbook citation check against our index of the handbook's chapters and sections.
-1B is not the whole of the current edition. The FAA has issued a MOSAIC addendum to it, which states that until -1B is revised the addendum "is considered part of the current edition of the handbook". It revises the first paragraph of Ch. 2 — Manufacturer-Furnished Information, cited below for
S11–S13, and it retitles Ch. 4 to "Weight-Shift-Control, Powered-Parachute, and Amateur-Built Aircraft—Weight and Balance Control". Nothing here cites Ch. 4, so no citation breaks; our index of the handbook's chapters and sections indexes the handbook's own titles and still carries the old one, so do not cite Ch. 4 from the index without reading the addendum first. The addendum is vendored alongside the handbook itself, and the link above is where it came from. Found byfetch-sources.py --currencyon 30 August 2026.
| Element | The ACS asks for | In the handbook | Where in FAA-H-8083-30B | Where in FAA-H-8083-1B | What it does not give you |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
K1, K3, K4, K8 |
Terminology; weighing procedures and the weighing area; arm, moment, CG and moment index; empty weight configuration | All of it, thoroughly | Ch. 6 — Weight & Balance Terminology; Datum; Arm; Moment; Center of Gravity (CG); Procedures for Weighing an Aircraft; Empty Weight Center of Gravity (EWCG) | Ch. 2 — Arm; Moment; Basic Weight and Balance Equation; The Law of the Lever · Ch. 3 — Preparation for Weighing; Weigh Clean Aircraft Inside Hangar; Scale Preparation; Weighing; Empty Weight Center of Gravity · Ch. 5 — Moment Indexes | The weighing area — GEN-C Concepts §6. Moment index — GEN-C Procedures Procedure 2 |
K2, K5, K6 |
Purpose of weighing; weight and CG limits; purpose of determining CG | Descriptively | Ch. 6 — Requirements for Aircraft Weighing; CG Range; Operating CG Range | Ch. 2 — CG Range; Empty Weight CG Range (EWCG); Maximum Weights | Why a limit fails differently at each end. GEN-C Concepts §3 |
K7, K9 |
Adverse loading; ballast placement | Formulae and worked examples | Ch. 6 — Adverse-Loaded CG Checks; Ballast; Permanent Ballast; Temporary Ballast; Use of Ballast | Ch. 7 — Adverse-Load CG Checks; Forward Adverse-Load CG Check; Aft Adverse-Load CG Check; Ballast; Ballast Formula; Permanent Ballast; Temporary Ballast | — |
K10, R1 |
Jacking an aircraft | Jacking procedure and precautions | Ch. 6 — Jacking the Aircraft | Ch. 3 — Jacking the Aircraft | Which unit owns this. GEN-C Concepts §5 |
R2, R3 |
Weighing procedures; use of scales | Weighing practice | Ch. 6 — Scales; Preparing an Aircraft for Weighing; Weighing Points | Ch. 3 — Equipment for Weighing; Scale Preparation; Preparation for Weighing; Leveling the Aircraft | — |
R4, R5 |
Aerodynamic effect of out-of-limit CG; effects of excess weight | Briefly | Ch. 6 — CG Range; Loading an Aircraft for Flight | Ch. 2 — CG Range | The mechanism. GEN-C Concepts §3 |
S11–S13 |
Locate weight and balance information, datum, placarding | — | Ch. 6 — Weight and Balance Equipment; Equipment Change & Aircraft Alteration | Ch. 2 — Manufacturer-Furnished Information | The aircraft's own documents are the object of these skills |
S16 |
CG range from aircraft specifications, TCDSs and aircraft listings | Where each document comes from | Ch. 2 — Type Certificate Data Sheets (TCDS); Aircraft Specifications | Ch. 2 — CG Range; Empty Weight CG Range (EWCG) | Aircraft listings are indexed but not described in FAA-H-8083-30B. GEN-C Procedures Procedure 7 |
S1 |
Research and explain the procedures for weighing an aircraft | The full procedure — preparation, leveling, scales, reading | Ch. 6 — Procedures for Weighing an Aircraft; Preparing an Aircraft for Weighing; Weighing Points; Scales | Ch. 3 — Preparation for Weighing; Equipment for Weighing; Scale Preparation; Leveling the Aircraft; Weighing | This is a Locate element: the aircraft's own weighing instructions govern, and they differ on jacking points and leveling means |
The operative sources
The aircraft's own records govern everything in this unit:
- The type certificate data sheet — datum location, CG range, maximum weights, and what is
required equipment (
S16,S14). - The weight and balance record — the current empty weight and empty weight CG, and the
history of changes (
S11). - The equipment list — what is installed and at what arm (
S5,S14). - The placards (
S13), and 14 CFR part 91 for what must be placarded.
Nothing in a handbook tells you the datum of a particular airplane. That is what S12 is
about, and the answer is always in the aircraft's documents.
The relationships
| Moment = weight × arm | Everything else follows from this |
| CG = total moment ÷ total weight | |
| Weight shift | CG change = (weight moved × distance moved) ÷ total weight |
| Weight addition | Weight to add = total weight × (new CG − old CG) ÷ (added arm − new CG) |
| Moment index | Moment ÷ reduction factor (such as 100 or 1,000) |
License
CC BY-SA 4.0 (Licensing).