Which statement correctly identifies the content of the useful load?

• A. Basic empty weight plus payload.
• B. Airframe and engine weight only.
• C. The weight of the pilot, copilot, passengers, baggage, usable fuel, and drainable oil.
• D. The aircraft's structural limits.

Answer: (C)

The amount of weight you can carry as useful load is the weight left after you remove the airframe’s own weight from the gross weight. It consists of everything you can add that isn’t part of the airplane itself: the crew and passengers (pilot, copilot, passengers), baggage, usable fuel, and drainable oil. That’s exactly what this option lists, so it matches the concept of useful load.

The other ideas don’t fit because the airframe and engine weight is the basic empty weight, not the usable load; basic empty weight plus payload would equal gross weight, not the useful load; and structural limits describe maximums, not the actual contents of what’s carried.