I have noticed that the OEW used by PMDG is 344224lbs while the Boeing document for airport planning give an OEW of 320000Lbs.

 

Why is the PMDG aircraft so much heavier?

 

All the other weights appear to broadly fit the Boeing document (http://www.boeing.com/boeing/commercial/airports/777.page)

 

Rgds Ron

I've wondered the same thing.  I also looked at the OEW for the United Airlines 777 fleet and the average out to around 330k as well.  344k is a big deal.  I changed it to 330k in the Aircraft CFG file and the FMC took it.  

 

 

I have noticed that the OEW used by PMDG is 344224lbs while the Boeing document for airport planning give an OEW of 320000Lbs.

 

Aircraft all have different weights. Even within the same fleet aircraft can have different weights. This is because, much like cars, aircraft have different options.

 

Ever get on one airline's aircraft and notice one has more seats than another? As an example, SWA and UAL have different configurations for their 737-800s. This will cause the weight to be different.

 

All aircraft are not a single weight, and the weight can vary significantly. Think about it...how much do you think the weight of an additional galley is? An extra lavatory? Different engines (which isn't really the case here because it's a common engine type, but just as a reference, the difference in dry weight of the Trent 800s versus the GE90-77Bs is about 4,000 pounds total for the 777-200ER)?

 

 

 

United Airlines 777 fleet and the average out to around 330k as well.  344k is a big deal.  I changed it to 330k in the Aircraft CFG file and the FMC took it.  

 

You just changed the 777LR/F to match the aircraft which UAL flies which isn't an LR/F (it's a 200ER - very different plane). You really shouldn't be modifying things like that. This is especially true when you're getting information from the wrong source.

 

Heck, even the 200ER tells the story some:

OEW of 200ER: 305,000

UAL 772 OEW: 330,000

Difference: 25,000

 

Why? Options.

 

The difference between the quoted OEW and PMDG's modeling should now be clear.

The PMDG OEW weights were taken from real flying A/C. As Kyle specified, weights vary by airline and by aircraft. I can attest to that statement; just did a search for the OEW on a 77W, and it says 370,000. My W&B calculations for one of our aircraft yesterday utilized an OEW of 390,600. In the end, that is the figure that counts.