How is the weight of the loaded aircraft found?

[Guest 737pilot]

Hello,I am wondering how the total weight of the airplane can be found, once all passengers have boarded and all the suitcases and catering items have been brought in.On a flight in real life, after boarding, it was found that the airplane was a few kg too heavy. Therefore the crew had to unload some of the catering, like water etc.How can the aircraft weight its own weight? I have never seen a weight in the airport, either.Also, how can the crew know the weight of the passengers, and know which passengers sit in which side of the airplane, so that they can compensate for any differences?Thanks in advance to anyone who has the answer.Kind regards,Nico

[ronzie 21]

On many large real aircraft, there can be sensors on the gear supports which can give some indication of weight and balance.Cargo manifests and passenger manifests also can be used with an average weight indication per passenger. Cargo masters know how to distribute luggage properly in the cargo hold, and baggage is weighed and tagged at passenger check-in/ticket counter from which the total freight load is calculated.There is a utility called AC Loader, payware by Scott Campbell, that may be of interest to you, that can actually affect your flight dynamics by modifying your aircraft.cfg files before you fly.http://www.fsflightdeck.com/acloader.html#infoI have not purchased it . . .yet, but thought you might want to know about it.

[Guest 737pilot]

Thanks for your reply and tip!Regards,Nico