John, thanks for posting those pictures, they do show a nice way of establishing where the current balance point is and one can easily shift the CG point and verify the new location. Personally I am not hung up on what device to use. If someone wants to spend 300.00 on a custom rig then that's his choice to make. I just don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that an expensive rig is needed. We all seem to agree that CG is something we need to verify before flight but my goal is to let guys know that CG is a trimming tool and can be used to improve the performance and make an airplane easier to fly.

Flyoz, you are correct but my point is how does one know where " Dead on " is? one can set to the exact location as per the plans or manual but is that really the optimum setting? Even after taking a couple trim flights and establishing that a CG change must be made the amount of change is still a best guess and at least for me may require a couple changes until I am happy.

Fanatic, I assume you are flying in Ione? I need to make it up there one weekend as I hear it is a nice site. As Gene has stated the trimming charts are published from time to time. You can do a Google search for Perter Goldsmith's chart as it is one of the most popular. We may want to start a new thread if we really want to dive into trimming but the short version is that step 1 is to measure the airplane to make sure thrust line is set and incidences are set. Verify that the CG is in a safe zone and go fly. If the airplane is straight and the CG is close to optimal you will have little need for elevator trim. Up trim would indicate being nose heavy. If you and your airplane are capable then try a knife edge. Good CG placement will have 99% airplanes tucking very slightly to the landing gear. Tail heavy would be a hard tuck, nose heavy would be a pull to the canopy. CG influences everything right down to landing speed. I have seen many airplanes set up nose heavy then have too much elevator throw dialed in to compensate. This leads to a snap happy airplane that either gets a bad reputation or goes into the ground. I am always willing to start up a trimming thread with someone that has a new airplane and take them through the process step by step. It would be time consuming but I feel it would benefit enough guys here to do. I just havent been able to find a volunteer.