Mass and Balance TKS

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MarkO
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Mass and Balance TKS

Post by MarkO »

My typical mission is likely to have just two pilots and fuel in the main tanks. My aircraft has TKS, which, when full, has the effect of putting the C of G through the front limit. I need about 40kg in the rear to return it to the envelope. How do people manage this practically, i.e. do people carry around ballast on the rear seats and if so, what? Trying to find an elegant solution. Thanks in advance.
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Colin
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by Colin »

I know quite a few pilots that carry a bunch of water in the luggage area to solve this problem. Very easy to move it forward, very easy to leave it behind somewhere if you have to.
Colin Summers, PP Multi-Engine IFR, ~3,000hrs
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mfdutra
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by mfdutra »

A 5-gallon TKS container in the back baggage compartment helps quite a bit with CG as well. Two of them even better.
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Chris
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by Chris »

I tend to carry a couple 2.5 gallon jugs of TKS fluid, similar to what Marlon suggested. I find the smaller jugs easier to manage, and if I use one of them to refill the TKS tank during an extended trip, I can refill it with water (and mark the jug as no longer TKS!) to still have some ballast. One of the guys I read on Beechtalk carries a cheap bag of landscape rock from Home Depot and just dumps it out road-side if he doesn't need it for the return trip.
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photoSteveZ
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by photoSteveZ »

MarkO wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 1:42 am My typical mission is likely to have just two pilots and fuel in the main tanks. My aircraft has TKS, which, when full, has the effect of putting the C of G through the front limit. I need about 40kg in the rear to return it to the envelope. How do people manage this practically, i.e. do people carry around ballast on the rear seats and if so, what? Trying to find an elegant solution. Thanks in advance.
Mark, does your new 62 not have the a/c option? Mine does, and with the compressor’s weight behind the aft bulkhead I never have to carry more than one 2.5gal jug of TKS in the rear baggage. When we were flying the demo 62 at Diamond Canada (no a/c), I noted they kept two large containers of water in the footwell behind the middle row of seats, and left them behind in the hangar when we flew it with four on board.
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MarkO
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by MarkO »

Hi Steve - yes I do have a/c. Thanks, everyone for the suggestions - I think the water or TKS will be the way to go. Bit of a nuisance but manageable.
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NDCDA62
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by NDCDA62 »

Until I retrofitted my DA62 with Aircon, I used 5 x 8kg dumbbells which worked very well indeed, adjusting the weight dependent upon payload and placing into a foldable container.

Clean and simple.
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ultraturtle
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Re: Mass and Balance TKS

Post by ultraturtle »

Minimum dispatch TKS level for flight into known icing is 3/4 full. I never fill more than that. Makes a huge difference in CG.
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