olnico

Yes, they are.

Mark Vandervelden

I'm sorry to hear some of you guys have had issues with calibration on some of the scales. Speaking for my self I bought a set from Jeff at ZEDJETS on pre order as soon as they were announced and they have become invaluable. The scales are accurate and hold there measurement for hours, way longer than they might be in use. One thing for sure though if there were any problems I am confidant Gaspar at Xcioy will sort it out and stand by his product and be sure to sort out any issues with the scales or any of his products, his that sort of guy.

FenderBean

Okay so I tested my scales tonight, I have an exact three pound weight on all three scales. The readings are disappointing, the first scale read 2.87 on multiple placements, the 2nd was 2.64 and the 3rd read 3lbs. This wouldn't be a big deal if I could calibrate the individual scale like ol says he does. So I guess I will return mine and just keep doing it the old way.

lxfly

Had a long weekend, too hot to fly with 37°C outside, so I took the time to recheck some other models (2 Viperjets and 2 Yak 54 (bicycle)).

Measuring conditions where about 23°, batterie 2 cell Life 6.6V. Model leveled, my 3 sensors showed all 0g when starting. Left the model for about 15 minutes on the sensors, no drift during this time.
All the models had been balanced by the Fenderbean method (see image), have been flown before and I had following results:
Viper 1, slightly nose heavy (what I knew), removed 70g in the nose
Viper 2, CG ok, same result as manually balanced
Yak 1, slightly tail heavy, left as it is, having more than 100 comfortable flights on it
Yak 2, nose heavy (what I knew), should correct it with lighter spinner and batterie movement to the back

Got my balancer from a batch of early June and it seems that I was one of the lucky guys with no problem. There are certainly some problems with the sensors, mine are working well an the balancer does his job. Building my next model I shall try to use it for positioning the different parts in the model and optimize placement for best CG.

Keep you informed, sorry for all those who have problems with this little toy.

Springbok Flyer

Renė,

Thanks for checking, I am glad to hear that yours work perfectly!!!

Cheers,

Jan

Turbotronic

Hi Jan,
Hoop als gaan goed.
Check the link below.
One or more of these and we can easily achieve a reliable result.
If there is enough interest I will build a PC app to do the calcs.
These units plug into USB ports.
So simple
Groete
Andre
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/usb-postal-scale

jonkoppisch

My Feedback: (162)

+1

lxfly

If you don't want to go to Xicoy balancer, whatever the reason, an app is a good idea, but do you really need USB enabled scales?

Like Andy, just taking three scales, you just have to enter 3 values to calculate (app or spreadsheet) and no cabling at all. Entering the formula once in a spreadsheet you may also use it as a database for your planes.
Just to underline, here the theory: http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Center-of-Gravity

Made a quick simulation in Excel that seems to work right now.

Turbotronic

In an earlier post I mentioned something real simple, using one scale, but seems gizmodos need a zero think system.

lxfly

ticketec

My Feedback: (2)

+2

Love the Idea of this system, just not the cost.

I've been looking to buy 3 postal scale to do the same so firstly thanks for the link, and if you do make an app, I'm in!!

Thanks

Dave

http://www.willingtons.com/aircraft_...vity_calcu.htm

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

I just did a CG measurement with a single postal scale I got for US$19.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o00_s00

I actually like using a single scale as I don’t care so much about relative accuracy between 3 scales, just the repeatability of this one scale.
I think this Gaspar rig is a neat device and would be worth more if it somehow avoided having to take the same linear measurements I had to take anyway. Any of these procedures require careful measurement of the gear placement, and then the relatively quick calculation (there are several spreadsheets online). The whole process for me took 30 minutes. 19 bucks and 30 minutes.

Hey I am all for toys and new tools and much as the next guy, but since I do maybe 1 plane every year, I will take the US$275 saved and spend it on kerosene or something else jet related! Maybe the new ASSI pressure sensor

Turbotronic

Hi Matt,
quite right, a single scale is best. Only thing maybe an issue is that the accuracy range for the nose-wheel may not be as good. Typically what did you measure for nose-wheel vs main-wheels?
Andre

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Hi Andre,

The nose was about 5% (11 ounces nose vs 12 pounds on each main), so I agree the dynamic range is a bit much to ask on a US$20 piece of gear.

bhjchj

Will this handle conventional gear as well?

Chris Smith

My Feedback: (2)

Yes it does. The manual is downloadable and will show the procedures.

causeitflies

Had my bad scale rleplaced at Ky. I'll try the CG Machine out on my planes after returning home.

mirored

My Feedback: (1)

I ordered a system plus the cones. Got the cones from Dubi today but no electronics. Just curious if these are coming from various sources and when the next shipment of electronics and scales will be shipped out from Ultimate Jets.

olnico

I need to track your order. It got shipped just before we left for JOK. You should have received it at the same time as the cones.

mirored

My Feedback: (1)

Great, thanks. I sent an email as well. Answering that would be appreciated.

FenderBean

Thanks to the ultimate guys at KY jets educated me a bit and calibrated my scales real fast. Cheers!

dboyle

My Feedback: (58)

Hi Guys who own a Xicoy Balancer, can some confirm steps 2 and 3 on setup?

For step 2 most planes CG are measured from the Leading edge, so my understanding is find that mark first then measure from there to centre of main. Correct?

For step 3, I'm really not sure what they are asking for?

setup for my Skymaster A10

thanks for any help

mirored

My Feedback: (1)

I received both parts and did a quick check last night, a twin engine Tigercat that I felt was too heavy overall as well as too nose heavy. I wanted a little nose heavy just so it wasn't tail heavy. It is over 1.5 ponds nose heavy. I will be taking that away, fixing the balance as well as overall weight. Great tool. I need to check balance with gear up and adjust for that condition but should be easier now that the model and measurements have been entered. I think this will help the plane greatly overall

Sekhet

My Feedback: (1)

Your understanding of step 2 is spot on!

Step 3 is asking you to tell the machine where you are going to add or remove weight to get the aircraft to balance. This number is measured from the mains but is not very important; an error on this measure will cause an error on the calculated correction weight, but not an error on the calculation of the real CG location. In other words, move equipment or add/remove weight till you get the CG spot on.

Just a quick note; the gear on an A10, when raised will shift the CG forward so I would suggest also checking the CG with the gear up using the cones from Ultimate Jets or something similar.

mirored

My Feedback: (1)

Just curious. How do people feel about making the CG exactly spot on, no falling to the side of nose heavy just in case something is wrong? For a 3D plane, I am not so much worried, they have a wide range of latitude but a scale warbird on the other hand, it is pretty sensitive to anything tail heavy. With the use of a kit like this, I am afraid to be precisely wrong and not sure I should worry about it.