COL J

I have a somewhat silly question to ask or else I am not reading measurement requirement right. When it asks to measure the distance between the mains and the weight correction point. How do you know at that point whether the correction point is fore or aft of the CG? Or am I supposed to set it on the sensors, click CG and let it tell me whether it is nose or tail heavy? Then decide where to add weight, then measure this distance and then go back in and enter that dimension. Thanks

Dansy

My Feedback: (53)

Normally you should have an idea where you will/can ad your weight so enter that location....

Gaspar

This is the distance to the point where you plan to add the ballast. For exemple, if you decide to place the ballast in the nose, just measure the distance from the main wheels to the nose. This distance is used only to calculate the amount of weight needed to achieve the correct balance, it is not used to calculate if the model is in balance. If the model is not finished and you can move the items around, just forget this distance and move the bateries and other heavy items until the model is balanced. If the model is already finsihed so you can't move the equipment and the only way to correct the unbalanced condition is adding weight, then entering this distance is useful to know how much weight is necessary to add.

Gaspar

causeitflies

You don't "HAVE" to add or remove weight at that spot although you can. You want to add or move your weight around til the reading at that point is "0". At this point the CG is correct.

geneh-RCU

My Feedback: (6)

Is this worth the $$$ and can you trust a very expensive plane to this? How exactly do you make sure the plane is perfectly level on a plane that does not have any flat areas? How about a plane like a DV8R? I need a better way to check cg on large planes. Anyone still using this balancer?

Viper1GJ

My Feedback: (20)

Yes I use it on every jet. It is very accurate and allows me to plan installs to avoid extra weight. If level is an issue just shim as necessary to get centerline level. It’s a great tool.

I got my kit from Ultimate Jets came with certified scales and nice carry case. I recommend the blue tooth version so you can use iPad or tablet display instead of the small screen.

Gary

RichardGee

My Feedback: (156)

Yep. My buddy and I just used mine on his Phoenix Models Lysander. It's a huge model into which he installed an O.S. Sirius 7 cylinder radial. This engine required that he install all his batteries in the tailwheel compartment to balance.
He did his best to balance the plane using conventional methods, but the odd wing shape, overall weight and size of the plane made it unwieldy!
The Xicar is also great for determining the weight of your aircraft.
It's a great tool that has put my EZ Balancer into semi retirement.

lxfly

Yes, used it until now on several planes. At the beginning I controlled some manually balanced planes. All these planes had no or just a small difference to the Xicoy tool.
Works good for me.

sirrom

My Feedback: (4)

Gaspar,
I have your CG balancer, but I have the wireless version. I was wondering how much the display box is so that I have both wired and wireless options for my balancer.

Patrick

Chris Smith

My Feedback: (2)

Yes,
Essentially you can just use this formula:

TGW x CG offset
CG to Ballast
= Amount of Weight needed at ballast location

Where:
TGW = Aircraft Total Gross Weight times:
CG Offset = Distance between current CG and desired CG
Divided by:
CG to Ballast = Distance between desired CG and desired ballast location

Dsa44

What exactly would one do to balance a plane that has retractable gear that move aft when retracted? For example a Spitfire. There is quite a bit of aft movement of the mains which would cause a tail heavy situation if balanced when gear down on the scales.

Thx DSA

RichardGee

My Feedback: (156)

Balance the plane with the gear retracted. With the gear down and locked, the plane will be nose-heavy, which is OK. You want it balanced perfectly in "flight mode" which is gear up.

causeitflies

If the manufacturer (or plans) says to balance with the wheels down then this is already taken into account. If the manufacturer says to balance with the wheels up then you can use the balancing cones or similar to balance the plane.

RichardGee

My Feedback: (156)

My Xicoy is at software rev.1.4. Almost all my aircraft are tail-draggers. Problem is, the Xicoy always defaults to Tricycle gear. No matter how many times I "Save" my model, it always defaults to Tricycle. This is more than a little irritating. Is there a fix for this?

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Richard,
I have the same issue with defaulting to tricycle gear.
Now.. for what ever reasons I'm trying to balance a 1/4 Scale Bucher Jungmeister. It only weighs 9 pounds. When I put the numbers in my Xcoy says its tail heavy and add 10 Pounds of nose weight!! the plane doesn't even weigh 10 pounds.
I think Xcoy might work for Trike gear planes but not so well for Tail Draggers.
Now maybe I'm doing something wrong (very possible).
Does any one have a reliable method for making the correct measurements that are needed to input to get the correct calculations?
Thanks in advance.

RichardGee

My Feedback: (156)

BobH, I think you may be entering your CG location and the place to add weight at the SAME location. IF you do that, you will get this erroneous reading. Be sure the location for where you want to add weight is as far from the CG as is practical (in other words, could you really add weight there if needed?). Try that and see if your readings are alot more accurate. I haven't found any short-cuts.... you do have to enter your measurements in metric. Do it over and over and you will find that you begin to see what the Xicoy is trying to tell you. This thing isn't quite as easy-peezy as one might be led to believe, BUT I still like it alot more than trying to balance a heavy plane on a conventional CG device. The Xicoy also gives total weight, which was always a nightmare using any other methods.

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Richard,
I'll give a redo tomorrow. I did add the weight location to the Cowl which is where it'll end up.
Using the Finger method I could get to the CG by adding 2 lbs.
I did notice one scale isn't registering any weight??? Not sure the reason for that either. I guess I'll try to calibrate the scales tomorrow too and see if that's the issue.
Thank you for your input.

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Got everything working ok. It was late and I had some wires mixed up.. Only needed about 1lb of nose weight.

RichardGee

My Feedback: (156)

Excellent!

skubacb

Have to agree that it is annoying. My input would to have it default to the last used. This makes sense since we often work on the same plane a number of times.

gazzacov

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

I believe there is an online manual and if that doesn't help, just shoot Gaspar an email. He answers pretty quickly and is very friendly/helpful.

bf8112

ddfwaj

Looking for some advice, which model is everyone ordering? Does the BT version work well with an Apple Ipad or phone? I am considering the small screen version so I don't have to worry about the app or phone setup, is this really an issue? I am looking to purchase the "Digital weight and balance meter PRO with screen.

Thanks,

Dennis

foundryratjim

My Feedback: (93)

I have the BT Version with angle meters. They work great with my Android phone and tablet. I would assume Xicoy could answer your question.