We were preparing to push back in Kansas City and we were heavy. The hot weather wasn't helping the takeoff figures much either.Full up on passengers, cargo and fuel, the gate agent was in the passenger cabin counting babies. Your average passenger is calculated at about 170 pounds (if I remember my ATP written questions correctly), and babies are supposed to weigh much less. So, when you have an airliner that you think may be overweight for takeoff, you count the babies to get that total passenger weight down.I've always thought that when they came up with the "average passenger weight" it must have been during the Great Depression or some other famine. I haven't seen a 170-pound adult passenger recently. They all look like they are a Whopper shy of 210.Once you count the babies, the next step to getting this thing off the ground legally is to look into a "no-pack takeoff." By turning off the air conditioning packs you can recover a little bleed air and use it for thrust instead of comfort. When I was a 727 driver, almost every takeoff out of San Francisco for the east was a no-pack squeaker. I've yet to have to use a no-pack procedure on the 767.Mack, this week's co-pilot and victim, entered the takeoff data into the computer as I read it off. Then he double-checked the figures on the weight and balance sheet and ran the pushback/start checklist."Man," he said, "the last time I was on an airplane this heavy we were leaving England loaded up with bombs."I've never dropped any bombs on anybody unless you count those smoke grenades when I flew skydivers, but I've had some experience with overloaded airplanes.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/features/ceo-of-the-cockpit-18early-learning