CG-4A Hadrian: Editing aircraft.cfg to meet minimum weight and balance load

CG-4A: getting the “minimum crew/passenger load” into the sim

You can definitely “meet the handbook requirement” in the sim, but the important bit is how you do it.

In most FS-based sims, adding more “people” is really just adding weight at a defined station (arm). So you don’t actually need visible passengers or extra crew models; you need the correct stations defined, then load them (or hard-code a minimum).

1) Make a backup first
Before you touch anything, copy the file somewhere safe:

...\SimObjects\Airplanes\...\aircraft.cfg

(Exact path depends on which sim you’re in and how it was installed.)

2) Find what’s already there
Open aircraft.cfg and look for these sections:

• [weight_and_balance]
• [station_loads]

In a lot of older models, you’ll see something like a pilot entry only (one station), and maybe one generic “payload” station.

3) Add the missing stations (crew + cargo compartment seats)
What you want is:

• Pilot
• Co-pilot
• Cargo/passenger positions representing “first two seats each side” (so usually 4 stations back in the cabin/cargo area)

Practically, that means adding additional station_load.x lines. Example format is typically:

station_load.0 = weight, longitudinal, lateral, vertical, description

The numbers (arms) matter a lot:

• Longitudinal arm = forward/aft position (this drives CG the most)
• Lateral arm = left/right (helps avoid a constant left/right imbalance)
• Vertical arm = up/down (less critical, but still part of the math)

If you don’t know the correct arms from the Clawson model or the handbook, you can still set this up sensibly:

• Keep pilot/co-pilot lateral arms opposite each other (left negative, right positive).
• Put the 4 “minimum cabin/cargo” passengers at a reasonable aft arm consistent with where those seats are in that airframe.

4) Decide whether you want this “enforced” or just “available”

There are two common approaches:

A) Make the stations available, and set the minimum load via the sim’s payload manager
This is the cleanest and most flexible way. You add the co-pilot + 4 pax stations at 0 lbs by default, then you load them in the sim before flight.

B) Hard-code the minimum load so it always spawns legal
You can set the default weights in those station lines so it always loads with pilot + co-pilot + the equivalent of 4 passengers. Downside: you’ve now baked in that requirement even if you want an empty ferry/glider-handling scenario.

5) Watch out for two common gotchas

• Max gross weight: If you add a bunch of default station weight and the aircraft’s max_gross_weight is set too low (or already tight), you may suddenly be overweight in-sim.
• CG limits: You can “meet the handbook load” and still end up outside the model’s defined CG envelope if the station arms don’t match the flight model. You’ll feel that immediately as weird pitch stability/tow behavior.

6) Quick sanity check after edits
After saving the file, load the glider and check:

• Total payload matches what you expect (pilot + co-pilot + 4 pax equivalent)
• CG sits within the aircraft’s allowable range (whatever the model is using)
• No constant wing-heavy tendency (lateral arms balanced)

A couple of targeted questions so we can give you exact lines to paste

• Which sim are you using (FSX, Prepar3D, MSFS, X-Plane), and which version?
• Can you paste your current [weight_and_balance] and [station_loads] sections from this aircraft’s aircraft.cfg?
• Do you have the handbook station arms (pilot, co-pilot, and the first two cargo-compartment seats each side), or just the minimum required load statement?

If you post those two sections, I can help you lay out the station numbering/arms cleanly so the CG and gross weight stay sensible and you’re meeting the handbook minimum every time.