RE: ESM 50cc Corsair
Hill202,
I have a DLE55 in mine and I probably have 4lbs of lead pellets fiberglassed in the front lip of the cowl in order to get the CG right. I originally had probably 1/2lb more, but have removed some as explained below.
The cowl itself is plenty strong. The weak link, at least with all that weight attached, is the wood plate that attaches the cowl to the firewall. I had a slow speed nose-over (caused by my soon to be replaced sloppy ESM retracts in combination with our rough grass field) that resulted in the wood plate breaking in one corner where it mounts to the firewall. I remade this plate with 1/4" hardwood plywood and glassed in onto the cowl. Seems super strong now. And since this added more weight up front, I then took some more of my lead pellets out. My plane seems to fly nicely with the CG as spec'd in the manual.
For now my bird is a lonely hangar queen awaiting her new legs.
Jim