Not sure where the strawman is. You expressed ignorance of the fact that moving a few people can change the balance of an airplane that size. You were corrected by people who know better.

On a full-ish flight it’s likely due to cargo loading. Either a lot or very few bags, or some heavy freight. (Passenger airlines frequently carry freight as well)

Nope. Airlines don’t load balance passengers for fuel savings. Only to make sure the airplane is in the envelope for safe flight. (I’ve flown for 3 airlines and Jumpseated on tens more and never seen it done, nor is it in any manual I’ve ever seen.)

Yes, we do. No sensors on the plane though. We use average weights for each passenger and bag. That count you see the fight attendants do isn’t just to make sure everyone’s onboard. It tells us where the people are. We add that to the cargo load and send away via ACARS for numbers. If we’re out of the safe envelope,…

You’re kidding. Every airplane is subject to weight and balance calculations. Even the 747 (which I fly for a living, so I’m not just talking out of my ass here). It’s quite possible for an Airbus or emb-190 to require people to move to balance the plane. It’s pretty common on half-full flights or flights with…

Want to see something awesome? This is the lav dump pad at the Delhi airport. They don’t pump it into a tank, they dump it on t

I freaking love mine.

I sure do love mine.

There’s even a badass metal song written about it:

Yeah, the FAA pretty much only regulates after someone dies.

No. It wasn’t. SU-34.

I’m thinking more it would look like a giant pinball game at an intersection.

Every time I fly over turkey, the NOTAMS they publish are hilarious. It’s like passive aggressive high school girls arguing. (Them and the Greeks)

The only problem is the certain death the bike comes with. At least I have a small chance of surviving in a hellcat.

S2000 prices have stopped getting better and are now getting worse. (At least for examples that couldn’t star in the next fast and furious movie)