ORIGINAL: DragonHeart
Hi,
Ive built a few ARTF planes and have been flying them pretty well.
I decided to buy a GP C&G Machine to check my new plane, i decided to check my planes allready flying if they were right and ive set the machine up correctly and wow they were all wrong !!!!!!!!!!
Ive had to add 50 grams to one and 90 grams to another following the recommend C&G point !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will this make a big difference to the way the plane will handle now ? i allways thought that thier werent that easy to control, allways seemed light if that make sense ??
Anyway thx for any replys in advance...... i know never to just trust my fingers for balancing from now on
The CG will always effect the plane's handling. The more forward the CG is, the more the plane flies like an arrow, and the less authority the elevator-rudder will have. The further back the CG, the more agile, sensitive, and responsive the plane will be. There are limits to the usable CG Range. Too far forward, and the plane will not be able to lif the nose high-enough to take off... Too far back, and the plane's tail will always want to travel in front of the nose...
Beginners are encouraged to have a forward CG, makes the plane stable and forgiving. Acrobats tend to have the CG back, so they can do more radical moves.
The most efficient CG is that where the plane's CG is immediatle above the center of lift of the plane for the speed the plane is flying at. All other CG's require some form of intervention from the elevators to keep the plane trimmed (i.e. if the CG is forward of the CofLift, then you will need up elevator to keep level). Any control input other than "neutral" causes extra drag, reducing efficiency.
basically, the CG is always a compromise between efficiency, stability, and manouverability. Beginners should start with a more forward CG, experts with lightning reflexes can have a rearward CG.
gus