What handling issues might suggest an aft CG, and what corrective actions should a pilot take?

• A. Increased pitch stability, tail heavy, sluggish nose-down tendency; actions: adjust weight within limits, redistribute payload on ground; within flight, avoid abrupt maneuvers.
• B. Decreased pitch stability, nose-up tendency, very high roll rate; actions: pull back on stick aggressively.
• C. Perfect balance; actions: ignore.
• D. Increased yaw instability; actions: re-balance fuel in flight.

Answer: (A)

An aft center of gravity reduces longitudinal stability, making the aircraft less resistant to pitch changes and more responsive to elevator inputs. With the CG toward the tail, the airplane tends to sit in a nose-up attitude and can become difficult to hold level without careful control. You may notice a tail-heavy feel and a nose-up tendency, requiring smoother, more forward-stable handling rather than aggressive inputs.

The proper corrective actions focus on moving weight forward to bring the CG within acceptable limits and then flying with techniques that maintain stability. On the ground, redistribute payload or fuel within limits to place the CG forward of the aft limit. In flight, avoid abrupt or large pitch changes and use trim to relieve artificial control loads, maintaining adequate airspeed to preserve stability margins. This approach directly addresses the instability caused by an aft CG.

Why not the other approaches? Pushing the stick aggressively would intensify the nose-up condition and worsen stability problems. A perfectly balanced or ignored CG situation fails to address the root cause and could lead to unsafe handling. Rebalancing fuel in flight is not a practical or reliable remedy for an aft CG during all phases of flight.