BCB

Just finished this Litl wasp and its nose heavy. I need 2oz in the tail for it to balance. How do I go about adding this weight to the tail??Not fishing weights on tail.

Brian.

Lynn S

Did you try moving your battery pack toward the rear?

BCB

Yes I have everything that I can move back as far as it will go.

I should of never brought this short kit. Its from a small home base Co.

ajcoholic

My Feedback: (10)

Drill a few more holes in the landing gear... that should save an ounce up front? I would try, instead of adding weight to the rear, removing weight from the front. WHat about lightening the firewall, etc? Every little bit counts!

AJC

Lynn S

You could mount one servo on the side near the rear of the fuse for elevator, you will need an extension wire for the servo. Just cut a hole near the horizontal stab and mount the servo right on the side of the fuse. If that is not enough you can also do the same for the rudder if you have a rudder servo. If your servos are full size it would have to be mounted more toward the front. This will also give you more room inside your plane for the ailerons servo to work.

BCB

Yes I guess I could drill more holes in the landing gear, and the servos could go in the back but they only weigh .63 oz. I just didn't want to do all that stuff. I followed the plans and brought the recommend hardware, plane weighs what it should. I tried to make it look good and now I have to cut it up and mount servos out side. Just don't like it.DON'T BUY FROM (STANGEL TECHNOLOGIES)found on E-bay. I should have excepted this, there was wood missing from the kit the instructions were pour at best and now this.

Thanks Brian[:'(]

Lynn S

Brian, I kinda like the servo on the side, I have one on my Simple Extra for elevator. By the time you use an extension wire to the rear that should give you 1 oz per servo, moving the weight of the servo from where it is may help too.

BCB

I guess I have no choice its just not what I paid for, I would not of bought it. Good thing its winter here to cold and to much snow to fly its 8* outside.

Thanks for the in put.

Brian.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

The plane looks pretty good! Did some good work there, hope your balance work goes well. The batterys would be the best to move around, try to see where they have to be for your C.G. Perhaps a new battery pack (Flat) would let you do it with little work. Perhaps even remove the muffler if you are allowed flying that way. It looks like it may fly well with a lil bit more care! Keep us posted!
Remby

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

HI BCB! The easy way out is almost never the best way to go. The other choices that are more extreme would be to cut back the firewall, or slide the wing forward. Even if you had to semi flush mount a servo in the extreme rear, that would be many times better than lugging around DEAD, FUN KILLING WEIGHT!

ajcoholic

My Feedback: (10)

Brian,
Many kits, because of variances in wood density and builders methods dont weigh/balance exactly right on the money. Take the time to do a bit of shuffling and you wont be sorry. Adding weight to a 1/2A plane is NEVER a good option, unless absolutely necessary... you can fix the problem, just take the time and follow the others' ideas here and you will be happy in the long run. It looks like a nice plane, you obviously put work into it, why stop now??

AJC

BMatthews

What about re-arranging the radio equipment layout? I'm thinking to put the battery pack into the fuselage behind the trailing edge of the wing. Make up some mini formers to hold it in place with a bit of foam around it. The battery pack is the largest lump of weight in our radios. Moving the two servos for a total of only .63 oz still leaves you needing 1 1/2 oz of tail weight. Moving the relatively heavy battery pack would be much more productive IMHO.

I understand some of the Quickie 500's used to need to do that in order to balance without adding weight.

BCB

Well I don't think moving the servos to the back will work. The fuselage sides are 3/16 and the top and bottom are 1/16. If I cut the servos into the sides I think the tail will be weak and snap off. O and that .63oz is for each servo.

Look at the planes you see that I have moved things back as far as I can.

But maybe if I cut a hatch and put the battery behind the bulkhead behind the servos??

What do you think????

nekked_man_2000

I don't know what the bulkhead looks like, (open or not?)but what I did on one of my planes goes something like this. I took the battery out of the plane, and balanced the plane by putting the battery on the plane 'til it balanced, then marked it, so I wouldn't lose it. The I held the battery in place and marked on the wire, with it pulled toward the front of the plane, where the wire intersects the bulkhead. Then, I used a quarter size dab of silicone glue on the bottom of the battery pack and dropped it into the back of the fuselage until the mark on the wire was lined up with the bulkhead, then let the glue touch the bottom of the fuse, while making sure it didn't move, I used a tongue depressor to push it down good then let it set overnight so the glue would set. Been like that about a year now, at least that way you don't have to do surgery until the pack goes bad.

BMatthews

As I recall the guy that told me about the Quickie mod mentioned that they cut a hatch in the lower sheeting, boxed in a shallow compartment and then Monokoted the hatch back into place. If you monokote over the seam it seals it and holds things in place quite well. Just check occasionally for fuel and oil breaking the bond loose. A bit of masking tape or whatever to hold the pack in place rather than relying on the monokote seal would not be a bad idea either.

I think moving the battery pack would be a lot less work than moving the servos as long as your pack is configured such that it won't foul the pushrods.

Lynn S

Brian,
I just read your build thread over at R/C Groups and noticed that you made a plywood cowl instead of using balsa. How does it balance without the cowl?
That plywood box over the engine would make a big difference in balance. I have never seen anything like that before. Usually they are made out of plastic. I think this is part of the problem. Just my 2 cents worth.

BCB

I moved the pack on the outside as far as I could and still need 1oz on tail to balance.It is a small 270mah pack. maybe I should try a 600mah pack, will have to take it out of my other plane.This kit called for a .10 to .20 engine with a .15 preferred that would make things even worse.

Brian.

nekked_man_2000

removing the spinner and using a wooden prop would save a little weight. What type of engine are you running? May be heavier than the one use on the prototype. Sounds like you just might have to bite the bullet and add some weight. I wouldn't bother with a heavier battery pack, adding weight is adding weight no matter how you do it. Lead would probably be better because you can add a smaller piece as far back as possible, as opposed to the battery pack which will have limits to how far you can go with it.

BCB

The engine is a new Thunder-tiger .10.

If i need to add weight I could use the bigger battery for some weight and get more flights before I need to recharge.[>:]


Brian

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

I l;ooked up this plane and it is for up to 40 sized engine, so please forget what I sugested about the muffler removal. I thought it was a 1/2a plane. Still think the battery box is the way to go, I think it would look much better if you can find a way to place it inside, then reseal it. Lots of good ideas from the others here, the work Should go pretty fast once you get a idea on how to do it. Keep us posted!
Remby

BMatthews

BCB, if that rumour of the plywood cowling is correct then loose that puppy in favour of a balsa cowl. That'll help quite a bit.

Also do not go for the 600 mah pack just for the weight. Leverage is at issue here. One ounce on the extreme tail is less than the 3 oz or so that you would need in the battery area to make up for the problem. Balancing weight is always less if it is located at the extreme end of the model.

It's hard to imagine this model with larger engines. I agree that there's a serious problem at work here.

But I suppose we should ask. How far back from the leading edge are you trying to balance it?

BCB

Remby,

This plane is 1/2a , the maker sells it in two sizes. Mine is 36" span 1/2a.

Brian

BCB

BMatthews


I did put 1/16 ply on the sides of the cowling,if I did not it would have broke after cutting holes for muffler.As for the 600mah battery I would put it as far back in the fuselage as I could.

I am balancing it at 2 1/2" as per the plans.


See here,

BMatthews

Oh, in that case it all sounds good. Nothing wrong with ply side cheeks for that sort of purpose.

I wonder if this model was not originally designed to do better with a light TeeDee engine? The balance probably would have been a lot closer with that one.

BCB

I e-mailed the guy who makes the kit. He said his had a OS .15 and it was nose heavy so he added weight. I don't like to put weight on a plane that I worked so hard to look nice. You should be-able to move the innards to balance things.

I wounder if I make new fuselage with a 3" longer tail end if it would help.What do you think???

Brian.