Cessna 152 Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) Practice Exam

Maintaining the center of gravity within its approved envelope ensures safe stability and controllability margins. The airplane’s longitudinal stability and the effectiveness of the elevator are designed around that weight distribution. When the CG is inside the certified range, you can expect predictable handling in all phases of flight, including the ability to recover from unusual attitudes and to manage stalls safely. If the CG moves outside the envelope, elevator authority and stability can be compromised, making the aircraft harder to control or recover, and stall behavior can become unpredictable. Loading the airplane (passengers, baggage, fuel) must be kept within these limits to preserve those handling characteristics. This is not primarily about fuel efficiency, cabin noise, or navigation; it’s about keeping the aircraft aerodynamically and structurally behaved under all normal operations.