Is there a chart or standardized procedure for loading cargo onto the 744F? I mean, for a given total cargo weight, how does one know how much to put on the main deck, and how much in the lower cargo bays? More importantly, when the main deck is only partially filled, would you cluster as much as possible in the center of the plane, or spread it out evenly from front to back?Andrew

>would you cluster as much as>possible in the center of the plane, or spread it out evenly>from front to back?Obviously when only pure physics is involved clustering as much as possible close to the center (CG) would be beneficial since it reduces longitudonal bending forces in the fuselage (this would be equivalent to positioning the heaviest load in your truck close to the axle). But there may be other practical considerations that I am not aware of.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/for...argo_hauler.gifhttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg

Don't forget the tail stand when loading.It would be interesting to know if there is a particular loading system with regards tothe physical loading. Are certain bays loaded first to provide a stable center of gravity? Or is it a case of whack it all in as fast as possible.

All good questions. For me personally, I am interested in the placement of cargo in an aircraft that is not full. I fly for Globe Cargo, VA, and we are often get charters with assigned amounts of freight. There is a lot of flexibility on how to load cargo through the load manager, and I often find myself guessing at how this should be done realistically. I understand the basic concepts regarding center of gravity, but there must be other considerations as well. I suppose the smaller lower bays are ideal when a portion of the cargo is temperature sensitive, such as fish or meat. But what else should we consider. It would be interesting to hear a professional's opinion on how this is done.By the way, speaking of CG, it would also be very nice if there was an active CG indicator in the load manager that would move as cargo/fuel was placed on board.Andrew

As far as I know the load manger is just a graphical way of loading the aircraft. The aircraft.cfg only specifies one point for each cargo hold (i guess the center) so no matter how you load it in the load manager it has no real affect in the aircraft.For being the complex aircraft the B747 is, I felt the real let down was with the load manager/s :( but I still love her and fly her anyway :(

Interesting/disappointing. I did not know that. IN any case, the info would still be fun to have, since nothing is stoping us from making the graphical depiction accurate when we load it just for the sake of procedure.Andrew