New member here - thanks to all you MAAM guys for the great aircraft and Mark's templates.I'm working on a weight and balance load sheet (probably an Excel spreadsheet) for the DC-3/C-47 using FS8 with the MAAM-SIM R4D 5th ed. specifically for the BEA cargo aircraft.1. I have graphically determined from DC-3 engineering drawings that the 25% MAC is pretty close to STA 256.0" (ref. datum nose 000.0") which I am taking as the empty aircraft CoG. I assume this would be the aircraft.cfg empty_weight_CG_position= -0.7, 0.0, 0.0. Do you know if there is location data for a real C-47 aircraft empty CoG?2. I would also like to verify the exact location of fuel tank CoG, the two main tanks, the aux. tanks and the long-range tanks installed in the cabin of WWII C-47s.3. And a minor point, the STA for the engine oil reservoir. Is it forward of the engine firewall?I like to work from actual aircraft engineering data for frame station, butt line and water line then offset these to the FS coordinate system. Any reference to engineering drawings, weight and balance calculation methods, load sheets, or specifications would be extremely helpful.I have made AutoCAD drawings of relevant features with measurements from old DC-3 engineering drawings I got from www.douglasdc3.com. If you are interested, I can send anyone the .dwg file. I can convert to bitmap or .jpg if you don't have AutoCAD.If I am reinventing the wheel here, please let me know.

Here I am talking to myself again. I found the fwd and aft CG load limits in a accident report for a DC-3 to be 239.6 and 263.1. Assuming these are at the 11% MAC and 28% MAC limits I read somewhere and with the MAC being 140" (aircraft.cfg wing_root_chord= 11.666667 ft), that would put the CG close to STA 259.0. There is a major frame station at 258.5 that meets with the center wing spar. I'll bet my CH flightstick that is the nominal empty aircraft CG. So either the CG is at 27% MAC or my graphics are off 2.5" take your pick. Anyway, I'm going with 258.5.

According to FAA AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATION NO. A-669, the CG limits are +47.1 and +70.6 (datum ref. leading edge of center section of wing). (+ is aft, - is fwd) Assuming these are the same CG limits stated in the accident report, 239.6 and 263.1 (datum ref. nose of aircraft), this makes the FAA datum ref. 192.5

RobertJust a quick note to congratulate you on your very thorough research. Most of the MAAM-SIM team are smelling the flowers just now, this wonderful summer weather being with us, and I've certainly had no time to play with your numbers personally as yet.Do you run FS9 also? Most of our users have moved on to this version, it seems, and now FSX is just around the corner. It's unlikely that we'll be able to continue to support previous versions of the sim with future work. It's just too time-consuming. The good news, though, is that the FS9 birds should work well enough in FSX. There is some work needed to take full advantage of what FSX will have to offer, for sure, but the beavers are already beavering on this.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

Thanks, MarkThe woods smell nice up here by Mt Hood too. Yes, I know this talk of FS8 is pretty retro for you guys. But, I live in a retro world up here in this cabin. I just got electrical power two weeks ago after running a Honda generator for the last six years to power my old 450 MHz PIII. That

Sorry, typo try:http://williams.best.vwh.net/avform.htm

I found what I was looking for!!! Weight and balance charts and procedures for the British Dakota Mark IV a.k.a. C-47B at the DC-3 Aviation Museum http://www.centercomp.com/dc3/ go to Technical Data, Airframe, Weight and Balance for Dakota Mark IV. It