The product development is a challenging process for any product. However, as aircraft are highly complex and should comply with a multiplicity of interconnected requirements, their design process represents an outstanding challenge. Hence, among the various requirements to be met by a new aircraft, there are cost, performance and sustainability requirements. The mass properties of the aircraft are related to the fulfillment of these three requirements, so it is crucial that realistic estimate of aircraft mass properties be used during early conceptual design, and that it be strictly controlled during later stages. The main mass properties of an aircraft are: weight, center of gravity, moments and products of inertia. The Mass Properties Management (MPM) is an iterative process that has to deal with information in the lowest level of the system and yet be robust enough to answer in the aircraft level, it shall provide accurate and timely mass properties data for design optimization decisions. The main objective of this work is to analyze the MPM problems and solutions encountered during the aircraft development, and identify opportunities and propose best practices for MPM process improvement. A synthesis of literature review and the analysis of an exploratory case study applied in an aeronautical development company were conducted and the primary result is the understanding of the mass properties relationship within the aircraft development process, considering its main perspectives: activities and deliverables, roles and responsibilities, goals and tools. This is a descriptive research and the methodology adopted is the longitudinal participatory case study, since one of the authors has been participating of the MPM during an aircraft development process for three years. A synthesis of the MPM theory is proposed in form of a process reference model to represent the perspective mentioned, in order to allow comparing it with the findings of the case study. Research instruments used were a logbook and a questionnaire for interviewing major stakeholders of the product development process. The findings of this work highlight the differences between MPM theory and practices, mainly considering technical integration, strategy and responsibilities in the aircraft development process.