ORIGINAL: dredhea
Actually, you have it backwards. If you need to move the balancer back to make the plane balance, then the plane is tail heavy, meaning just like it sounds, the tail is heavier than the nose when attempting to balance at a given point. As for the "Where should it balance?" question, that depends on your experience. If you are new to flying, I would recommend that the plane be balanced slightly ahead (1/4" to 1/2") of the center of the range. This will help to make the nose "Stick" on landing ( less likely to bounce back into the air). The farther back the plane balances, the more sensitive it will be to elevator input, to the point that the plane will become unflyable. Above all, NEVER go outside of the recommended range. I follow the old adage, " A nose heavy plane flies poorly, a tail heavy plane flies once."
dredhea - I cheated - I editted the post after I read the darn thing. Yea, if the CGis behind the "range center" point it's tail heavy and conversely if the CGis ahead of the "range center" it's nose heavy.
As this will be a used as a club trainer I'm looking at "nose heavy".
I'll target somewhere near the 3 1/2" mark.
Thanks for your input.
BTW - what technique(s) would you use to balance this plane? Place pieces of tape to mark the CGrange? A dab of epoxy at the front and rear of the range? Enquiring minds are soooo dangerous.