What is the difference between ramp weight and useful load?

Understanding ramp weight and useful load is crucial for safe flight planning. Ramp weight refers to the total weight of the aircraft just before departure, which includes the aircraft's empty weight plus any fuel, baggage, and passengers.

Useful load, on the other hand, is the weight that the aircraft can carry beyond its empty weight. This includes the weight of the fuel, passengers, baggage, and any additional cargo, but excludes the aircraft's own weight and systems not directly related to carrying load.

The correct choice highlights that to find the useful load, you can subtract the standard empty weight from the ramp weight. Standard empty weight consists of the airframe, engine, unusable fuel, and all other fixed equipment required for operation, but does not include useful load components.

Therefore, when you take the ramp weight and subtract the standard empty weight, you’re left with the useful load, which is essential for determining how much payload the aircraft can safely carry.