Mine's going to come in at 16 lb 8 oz. 10.25 lb just for what's in the box. Not sure if it's made from balsa or mahogany -- it could be 3
pounds lighter. The good news is that the parts finish is exquisite. I've posted all the weights (some of my supplied stuff is guesses)
for those of you who're interested.



Quantity Weight per (oz) Total weight (oz) Description
Servos
5 0.92 4.6 Futaba S9650 Mini Digital 4 ailerons, 1 throttle
2 1.36 2.72 JR DS9411 (elevators)
1 1.36 1.36 Choke servo -- weight/cost are guesses
1 2.03 2.03 JR DS8411 (rudder)
Radio/RX battery
1 1.5 1.5 Futaba PCM RX. Weight/Cost are guesses
1 0.8 0.8 RX Switch -- price & weight are guesses
1 4.97 4.97 1650 mAh AA 5 cell NiMH
Engine/Ignition/Ignition batteries
1 47.04 47.04 DA-50
1 3.04 3.04 DA-50 standoffs
1 6 6 Muffler -- price & weight are a guess
1 7 7 Prop - MSC 2x8. Weight and price are a guess
1 4 4 spinner -- wt/cost guesses
1 2.5 2.5 720 mAh 5 cell NiMH
1 0.8 0.8 Ignition switch -- price & weight are guesses
2 2.5 5 wheels -- wt guess
1 0.8 0.8 tailwheel -wt. guess
1 5 5 servo hardware -- wt. guess
DV bipe kit -- Weight is in itemixed data below
1 13 13 wing - BL
1 12.7 12.7 wing - BR
1 13.4 13.4 wing - TL
1 14.1 14.1 wing - TR
1 3.2 3.2 wing center
1 5.5 5.5 rudder/v.stab
1 9.5 9.5 horiz. stabs + elevators
1 8.2 8.2 struts/HW
1 7.6 7.6 landing gear
1 0.3 0.3 gear bolts
1 1.2 1.2 pant - L
1 1.3 1.3 pant - R
1 0.1 0.1 pant HW
1 7.5 7.5 cowl
1 3 3 canopy
1 15 15 hardware pack
1 1.2 1.2 belly pan
1 4 4 hatch cover
1 43.2 43.2 fuse
164 DV subtotal
10.25 DV subtotal (lb)
263.16 total wt (oz)
16.4475 total wt (lb)

the website claims 13.5-15 lbs 1.5 lbs is alot of difference

what can be changed to make it lighter?

Light balsa. The plane would be 3 pounds lighter if contest grade balsa had been used. It's mostly 12-15 lb balsa instead of the 5-7lb wood that should've been used.

Other than that, I've used the lightest finishing equipmnet available except for the batteries, where I could save about 1.5 oz total by going to
lithium and adding a regulator.

I was going to suggest CF main gear and tail wheel but your weights for them are pretty low already. CG main gear is around 6-7 ounces and yours is already close to that. You look like you are as light as can be for radio gear. Maybe a CF spinner and prop would help. I'd agree its the wood. The extra wing is almost 2 lbs right there.

Joe

I decided to go with a CF spinner. 2.2 oz VS 4. Then I remembered that I didn't weigh a fuel tank,
tubing, and fuel dot last night (none in the kit) so I need to add 6 oz. I'm at 16.71 lb now.

Barryb-rcu

I was wondering if you have gotten as far as too see whether or not you will require any nose weight? If it does maybe a larger engine is in order.

Thanks

I think what we need in the RC plane market is really light but powerful elevator servos. Like ones that weigh one ounce instead of two or three. That translates into a lot of nose weight savings. I had a slightly damaged cowl on a 25% CAP232 ARF. They sent me a new one. I weighed everything just like Barry. I found out that the damaged cowl weighed 8 ounces and the new one 12 ounces. So I figure I'll just repair the lighter one and use either one depending how my plane balances out. BTW, the repair job won't add more than a few grams of glass and resin.

Joe

On the light tail servos -- I'm using 9411's which weigh 1.3 oz each. I considered 368's at 0.8 oz each but I'm not quite that brave and the servos aren't fast enough.

I don't know whether I'll need nose weight or not. But if I do I'll run pull-pull for the elevators instead. I don't believe in lead poisoning

On the 12 oz cowl, I wonder when manufacturers will begin adding scales at the Q/C reject points? Or even sort on weight? I'd be willing to pay 30% more for the version that met the advertised weight, and I bet there are lots of people who'd prefer that hard balsa durability and would be glad to get it at a lower price.

I weighed up my DV last night and got 11 lbs for what's in the box. I made some estimates too, but I came up in the 18 lb range with a DA 50 stuck in the nose.

Maybe I should go back and weight things more accurately....and look more closely at what the components that I put in will weigh.

Wiz

I think the best thing I ever did to learn about ARF weights was, like Barry, weigh every single part and wrote it down. It made me totally aware of what weight I'm adding to the ARF and where it was going. I bought this one digital scale after reading a good review in RCU. It works great and is very accurate (.1 ounces at low end, .2 at high end I believe). Anyway, I wish more people would post their ARF weights here. It really helps us to know what we're getting.

30lb scale
e*Bay item 3805374437

50 lb scale
e*Bay item 2995997314

How are you guys planning on mounting your fuel tank?