RE: Composite ARF Tucano Build
Colin,
I agree that C of G is a lot of times "pilot preference" but with the Tucano...not so much. With an aft C of G...it flies borderline poorly. Very tail low, fairly sensitive and "plows" through the air. It really makes a difference if engine out. If you lose the engine, the plane will literally fall out of air (because the tail will simply drop). You have to really dump the nose over to keep it flying and with the prop windmilling it's even worse. I have done quite a few dead sticks with both aft and forward C of G and believe me...it's a completely different bird with the forward C of G in an emergency. I actually had 3 dead sticks in the past 3 weeks with my Mate's Tucano so I am pretty current. The first one was with an aft CG and the last one was with a forward CG (we have added a total of 24 ounces in this one) and it's now on rails and does not drop the tail when power off.
Beave