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Old 01-01-2013, 06:02 AM
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Default RE: How to determine CG ??

Yes, all control surfaces are included.

It's good to make a habit of taking the measurements on every airplane. Often manufacturers give extremely conservative CG locations. You can waste a lot of effort getting the CG far enough forward according to the directions when actually the plane might be perfectly stable with the CG further back.

As you can see from calculators above, you need the wing area, the stab area, the tail arm and the chord of the wing. To get a proper tail arm and chord you need at least an approximate MAC if it's a tapered wing. I have found over 30 years of flying that the formula works every time. I will do maiden flights with the CG farther back than indicated on the plans if the formula tells me it's OK. People get scared away from doing this by the constant repetition of "...a tail heavy plane flies once," but it's not tail heavy if you've done the math.

Jim