I saw a nice digital fishing scale at Walmart the other day. The only thing I questioned was the accuracy of it because it can measure up to 50 pounds...

I would be interested in knowing what do the pros use to weigh their planes with?


Thanks in advance!

Don

I use a kitchen baking scale which can weigh upto 12.5lbs. Kitchen scales tend to accurate and have a nice sized bowl, large enough to balance the fuselage on. I also have a competition fishing scale (calibrated) which I can only use if I suspend the plane from its nose or tail; it is not practical for me as most planes I have have long 6ft or longer fuselages(I could stand on a chair or something). I find most use fishing scales of suitable sizes 0-15lbs, 10-25 lbs etc. The 50lb scale you saw (I wish I could catch that size of fish off the surf) is probaly not suitable for most planes in the 6-12 lb range.

To weigh the airplane, use an automotive freon scale.

You might even find a cooperative auto shop owner to weigh it for you. However, if it is really important , you can buy one for around $225.00.

I use a Berkley 50-lb digital fish scale. I then calibrated it using weights that I weighed on a laboratory balance. The lab balance is accurate to a gnat's ass (less than .10 gram). The Berkley scale is accurate (no measurable error) up to 16 lbs in 0.1 lb intervals. At 28 lbs, the Berkley reads higher than true weight by 0.3 lbs. I also checked the Berkley to read the same weight on different days...no drift.

Digital measurement is no guarantee of precision and accuracy.

Whatever you choose, call your local scale dealer or weights and measures office, most of them will let you drop a weight on it and look at it for nothing. Scale dealers also have everything you need to do the job. I was in the scale business for 7 years and have seen it all. The scales you get for fishing are ok, but they need to be hung from a solid place rather than held by hand for highest accuracy. A spring type hanging scale is about the best hanging scale to use for up to 50lbs. Remember you get what you pay for. Cheap scales are close but not perfect, expensive scales are very accurate. It all depends on what you need.

For right around a hundred bucks I got a pretty slick shipping scale. It's weight range is zero to forty pounds in 2/10 oz resolution.



The scale is the Royal RC 40. It's "rate calculating" scale that I use to estimate shipping on stuff I'm selling. But with the 0-40 range it turns out to be a great plane scale also.

The data on the scale is at Royal.com and I bought from the place in the picture, OldWillKnott.

Here in the country we use seed scales. They are calibrated once every 3 months by the weight and measures. Works really well and the folks at the feed store like to see our planes....

I have the same Royal RC 40 scale that Cheech has pictured. I bought it at Staples for $90 plus tax. I have found it to be very accurate. A nice feature is the hold button. If you can not see the display with the plane balanced on the scale, you can press the hold button and remove the plane to read the display. I have used it on planes up to a 105 " Aeroworks Edge 540T at 27 lbs, 6 oz.

Cheech & Aerosplat -

Ok... this has little to do with measuring an actual plane , but we've got the same exact scale for use here in our office and I'll be darned if that thing doesn't have the shortest "auto shut-off" I've ever seen. Any idea how to keep that thing from shutting off so quickly?

Thanks, and now back to our regularly scheduled program.

-shaun

Hey Smartwork. Are you running that scale on the battery or the wall wart? Mine was doing what you describe, but oinly when running on the batt'y and oly when it was getting low.

Many Post Offices now have self-service areas in the lobby where they have a super accurate, legal scale. In most cases, there is enough room around and above it to weigh your plane in one piece, or wing and fuselage separate.

It's free, and late at night, nobody is there to give you a funny look for bringing your plane to the post office! The self serve area near me is open 24 hrs.

Mark, I hope you enjoyed the photos of the UltraStick 60 I sent, courtesy of our friend, BJ.

Cheech -

Running on the wall wart and the early shut-off drives me nuts! Does yours shut off at all with the AC power?

Hmmm.... wonder if mine still has a battery in it.

-shaun

smartwork and Cheech,
I use mine primarily with the battery. Mine will auto shut-off after about 30 seconds with both battery or A/C. Don't know of any way to adjust.