With my airworthiness inspection right around the corner, it is time to do my final weight and balance.
The bathroom scales I purchase are not the most accurate so I took three different measurements. Each time I rotated the scales to a different position effectively giving me three different measurements for each position. This didn't seam to help my tail measurement; I measure 22#, 30#, and 38#. (At a latter date I verified my tail weight at 29.5# with a shipping scale I borrowed from my office.)
My empty weight came out to 556.5#. This is 146.5# more than the 410# Rans specs for the S-14 with a Rotax 582 engine. Some of the items that gave me my extra weight include: HKS engine, BRS parachute, battery, clear coated wings and tail, extra instruments, fabric interior, door shock, trim tab, wheel pants, jury strut fairings, strobe, gascolator, electric fuel pumps, adjustable lift struts, second fuel tank, and beefed up electrical system.
My CG turned out to be at 107". The CG range for the plane is 101" to 110".
After completing the weight and balance, I did a thorough inspection of the entire plane.
