Originally Posted by
acdii
I found that a dab of silicone gasket goo on the exhaust pipe threads cures any rotational issues or loosening.
In this case it wasn't "loosening" it was turning itself tighter! It had to be stretching the male aluminum threads on the adapter. The way the 90* adapter is situated on a big block Saito, the rotational pulses are perpendicular to the thread, not like the small/medium blocks with the exhaust on the side.
Originally Posted by
acdii
Sounds like you got the balance in well without added weight, is that right? So far I only have 3 planes that needed lead added, The SIG Somethin Extra, only because it has a 72 and not the recommended engine, the SIG 4*120 because I moved the elevator servo to the tail, but its going to get a DLE 30 on it, so that lead can go away. The only other plane I had no choice on was the ACE 4-60 I picked up for the Saito. I put my OS 70 on it and still had to add a few ounces to the nose for it to balance. That bugger was built tail heavy. All the rest of my plane have no dead weight, I was able to compensate CG by moving things around. My LT-40 started out with about 1 1/2 ounces on the nose, which later fell off somewhere, sometime, but hasn't affected it at least that I notice. My SIG 1/5th Cub balanced out perfectly, not a drop of lead was needed.
No extra ballast weight was needed but I did run a much larger 4.8v battery pack for the ignition than usual. It was located right behind the firewall on the starboard cheek. I also had to bury the Rx batteries under the fuel tank juast ahead of the CG.
Originally Posted by
acdii
What do you use to balance them? I use the Vanessa Rig and it works perfectly, PITA to get stable, but once the plane is hanging true, it is so easy to get the balance done. I can probably find a different use for the Goldberg balancer I have, AKA the Plane DUmper.
I broke down & purchased a Hobbico CG Machine. It works quite well but with the wing struts in place, it is a challenge. I did the 1st check W/O Rx batteries or the struts. (Note the washout built into the wing tips)
