Weighing your luggage and other items you want to take with you doesn't require a sophisticated electronic scale like the one pictured, but it does make your calculations more accurate. Using your household bathroom scale is just as effective, though you may need to hold the item and stand on the scale for it to register, and then subtract your own weight, of course.
The item's weight is one important value; where it goes in the airplane is the other. Figuring out the item's arm and moment is fairly simple with a typical four-seat single but can get vastly more complicated with heavy singles featuring nose baggage compartments and, especially, twins, which often have storage space in wing lockers in the nacelles.
After loading it all and doing the math, it all must be secured so it doesn't bounce around and shift during the flight. —J.B.
Photo Credit: Mike Hart
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