I enjoy your very good magazine quite a lot, but...I just read your editorial in November's issue, "Bravo Foxtrot Delta," as well as your reply in December's UNICOM. You discuss in both cases the added weight's effects on unusable fuel for empty weight only. Clearly the bigger issue is the added weight's effects on full-fuel takeoff weight and useful load. My 160-hp PA-28-161 Warrior Ⅱ holds 50 gallons of fuel. Clearly, the new weight and balance (W&B) calculation for unleaded fuel will now add 12 1/2 pounds to the fuel load. For a modestly powered airplane, 12 1/2 pounds is not negligible. It's more than my flight bag and all the coats and emergency kit, and a lot more than all of the pencils, pens and detritus in the airplane. The sales person at the car dealer has a similar argument for explaining the extra four percent fee above MSRP (extra $2000 or more) as being negligible. Your article, after explaining that four percent is negligible, added that, in fact, yes, you do need to calculate a different W&B for the new fuel. Well, yes of course, because in fact it's not negligible.
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