Has anybody had any problems balancing their Magic? I have
moved the battery behind tha last former in the radio compartment, micro throttle servo, and a Great Planes 6 ounce
tank, which with a little coaxing, fits in the middle former. This way it is directly above the c.g. Lookslike it will need about 3 ounces in the tail.

Kerry

Hi Kerry!

I just flew one last week. I couldn't tell you how the gear was setup, but it was nose heavy for sure.

That tail seems mighty fragile... did you do anything to stiffen yours up?

I went through a couple of Magics last summer. On the second one I put the rudder and elevator servos back near the tail mounted from the outside. This provides for a tighter linkage and puts more weight to the rear. the motor was an OS46LA with a MACs muffler and a 6oz tank. The trottle servo was mounted on the side wall at the rear of the compartment. Also, I threw out the landing gear and used a fiberglass part from Dubro. (I think it was Dubro). The battery now has a lot of room to be moved around to tweak the balance.

I wound up balancing at at 140mm from the leading edge, right where I wanted it. AND, _without_ any lead.

Ken

Ken,
Since you have had two of 'em I assume you like 'em. I only flew a friends magic for a few minutes but that was enough to make me want one! Any advice?

Well I started assembling mine this morning and am just about finished. I used an older K&B 6.5, (.40) which weighed about 3.5 ounces less than the OS. 46FX. I was able to put an 11 OZ. fuel tank in place of the 190cc. (7oz). I added a stearable tail wheel and it looks like I will still have to put the 1100 mil battery pack under the vertical fin just to get it to balance at 115/ 120 mm back! You would think they would get it straightened out by now!

Now that everyone has had a chance to really ring these Magics out I want to know where everyone has teir CG's! I've done some re-shuffling on my battery pack and used a 40 size ARF landing gear wire as a tailskid. My CG is an acceptable approx 125MM back. Prior to this I was always flying it nose heavy.......

Where do you guys have your CG's for best hovering.......?? Doing a search I see that 140mm and 5 inches back are in the extreme range.......??

Oh! Flying mine with Irvine .53/APC 12.25x3.75/standard Futaba servos/450mah 6volt pack) Had a ST .51 in it but wanted to run this Irvine....either or both engines provided rocketing vertical.

Help!!!
Thanks

I have my CG at 11.5 cm (4.8") from the LE, that is where the directions call for. When I move it farther back the plane wants to climb when inverted. Does anyone else have this problem?

Set up my magic according to directions with an OS46 FX, standard futaba servos etc. I had to put quite a bit of weight on the tail. (I don't know how much, 'cuz I custom made a weight using lead beads from a scuba weight pack, mixed with epoxy.)

Also put on a steerable tail wheel. And replaced the landing gear.

Balances per instructions. Flies great, although a little out of my league for now, so I turned the throws down a bit and set up dual rates so my friend can fly it the way it was built to fly. Crank those throws up and WOW! This thing moves!

The only odd characteristic, is that it seems twitchy to me. It doesn't like to hold a line. That could just be the nature of this type of plane. (couldn't be me.............)

Love it, though! Lots of places to grow with this one. Takes off easy, lands sloooowwww.

This is a copy of what I posted in the "Fun-Fly" forum. Click the "Gallery" button for pic's.
I had a Rossi .45 (boat anchor) on mine and this is what I did: First I cut off the front part of the servo tray
where the throttle servo would be. Then I opened up the center former to fit a 200cc fuel tank slid about
half way back. Left just enough room between the aft of the tank and the front edge of the modified servo
tray to squeeze in a receiver, an added benefit is now the fuel tank is near the CG. I glued a micro servo to
the fues side just fwd of the tank. I glued the switch to the rear former vertically and extended a wire out
the bottom of the fues. The battery was the real trick. I mounted a 4 cell flat pack to the bottom of the wing
about ¼ inch fwd of the trailing edge! It fits perfectly inside the fues and rides about a ¼ inch above the
push-pull rods. I secured it with servo tape and a hook & rubber band mount I fab'd. To help with the fues
strength I CA'd every piece of bare wood I could get too. I have flown the hell out of it with no problem. I
posted some pic's of this set-up on an earlier post. I'll attach some more to this thread when I have more
time tonight. I still had to add a couple oz to the tail but this should work well for the lighter
(recommended!) engines. I now have a .32sx on it and love it. Don't go much bigger than this and you'll
save yourself a lot of headaches.

Kerry-

U didn't mention what engine. But I mine, with an OS SX 40 it just about balanced where the instructions said to balance it. Too far forward for my taste though. I made a few very minor changes. I put the bat just in front of the servos. Cut off the front of the servo mounts cause I used a mini servo glued to the fuse. I mounted the motor right up next to the firewall. So routing the fuel lines meant drilling a few holes.

I'm going to try moving the bat into the fuse behind the firewall I think. But again, thats to get the CG behind the recommended position.

As to the tail, I've found it a little weak. Of course, that darn landing gear is so springy I keep flipping over unless the landing is just right. I'm going to have to replace the gear this week. It's a rather odd shape by now.