Apps automate weight and balance process

Calculating weight and balance is an important task for pilots. After my Oct. 28, 2013, column on weight and balance apps, members sent in their personal favorites. These are not endorsements of any app.

CFI Tools Weight & Balance ($9.99 in iTunes and Google Play)—This smartphone app allows users to create customized weight-and-balance fields based on specific data for their aircraft. Users also can create generic data on aircraft including Cessna, Cirrus, Piper, and Diamond.

LSA Weight and Balance App ($1.99 in the Windows Store)—This smartphone app can help pilots calculate weight and balance for the Cessna Skycatcher, the Remos GX, and the CubCrafters CC11-160.

Weight and Balance by Appventive ($9.99 in iTunes and Google Play)—Users of this app can get support for most single-engine aircraft using U.S. and metric units, along with avgas and Jet A. It calculates the maximum fuel allowed for passengers and baggage and handles load balancing. No Internet or phone connection is needed to use the app and users can share data via email.

Aircraft Weight and Balance ($1.37 for ad-supported or free with ads in Google Play)—Developer Yeno has created an app that allows users to create a profile from the single-engine aircraft of their choice with data including empty aircraft weight, maximum takeoff and landing weight, and fuel capacity. It supports avgas and Jet A, and doesn’t need a phone or Internet connection to work.

Aviation W&B Calculator ($9.99 in iTunes)—This iPhone/iPad app allows users to build their own unique custom aircraft data or use a library of 247 predefined templates to handle weight-and-balance tasks. Templates can be shared, metric and U.S. units can be used, and you can export and back up aircraft data.

Please continue to submit your apps suggestions—especially on the Windows platform—here. I'm specifically looking for apps in the following categories: FBOs/services, fuel, instrument simulators, logbooks, maintenance, and radar. And have you developed an app? Send it to me. The complete list of apps I’ve highlighted can be found here.