Today the project received a bit of a blow. I finally managed to bolt everything in to the airframe and checked how much ballast was needed in the nose. As Jukka stated, the weight needed to get the C of G to a range of "just about flyable" was roughly 4 kilos.

Well... First of all there simply is no room for this kind of weight up front. Secondly I feel it would be stupid to even try. The tail is simply too heavy. The main reason is the laminated control surfaces, where a weight reduction of some 400 grams is obtainable simply by using built-up surfaces. So, the next thing to do is to rip the laminated surfaces out and replacing these with ones made from balsa and plywood. Not a nice task, but has to be done. To some this 400 grams of weight might seem insignificant on a ~20 kilo plane, but when torque effect of about 1,5 meters from the balane point to the surfaces is taken in to consideration, the weight saving behind the spinner is in a region of some 1,5-2 kilos.

As Jukka said, the ZDZ inline engine is a bit too long and light for this plane. The firewall is almost level with wings leading edge, so there is not enough leverage for the engine to really help in this C of G issue. The spinner and prop, heavy as they are, don't really help much. So, lead it is...

But for now the maiden flight is pushed back by at least a week, unless I get seriously motivated to work on this thing. Now I just don't feel like it, and then I really should not try to force things to happen. Ask me how I know this... (Or better yet, don't.)

I still wanted to include a picture. Sorry 'cause it's so crappy... I took it with my cell phone from our backyard while fitting the wing to the fuse.