Bad Daddy,

These references are great but probably a little complex for many modelers. If you work with the basics that most moderlers are used to, the same principles can be applied. As an example, a couple of years ago I bought a GeeBee Y 120. After I had it all together, I took an accurate weight of the aircraft. I then put it on the balancer, finding the balance point on the wing cord. When doing this I use the bubble level and made sure it was level and marked the balance point on the wing. For a warbird, I leave it a half bubble nose heavy.

I used the end of the prop shaft as the datum line. I then measured back to the marked balance point on the wing. Using the weight times the arm gave me the moment. The arm being the current CG. You then take another measurement to the desired arm (CG). You can then pick the best location for the ballast and compute how much weight it will take to move the CG to the desired location.

Once a current CG location is established you could then use the same process for locating servos, batteries, etc.

I look forward to hearing your points KitBuilder and your thoughts Bad Daddy.

Jim