Refer to figure.
The total mass of the aircraft can be said to act through one point, called the Centre of Gravity (CG) and the total lift acts through the Centre of Pressure (CP).

The relative positions of the CG and CP affect the longitudinal stability of the aircraft. In practice, the CG is usually forward of the CP, thus, the more forward the CG, the more stable the aircraft in pitch, but the more downforce at the elevator is required to change the pitch attitude.

Some stability in pitch is desirable, but not too much, because the extra down force on the elevator effectively adds to the aircraft weight and requires the lift to be increased to counter it. More lift means more drag created by the trim (trim drag) and more drag means higher fuel consumption.

In summary, the effects of a forward CG position are the following:

• Decreases the Rate of Climb and the Climb gradient
• Increases TORR, TODR, ASDR, thus MTOM must be decreased
• The stick forces required will be more
• Rotation will be more difficult
• Stall speed increases, thus ceiling decreases
• Makes flare more difficult during landing, thus increasing LDR and decreasing MLM
• Due to the increased fuel consumption, the fuel mileage (nautical miles covered per kg of fuel mass) decrease