I'm just about finished with a Lanier Dart I picked up for cheap, and the plans say to balance it 4 inches back from LE, at 15-45 degrees down. Does that make any sense? I haven't built a lot of kits, but the ones I have call for CG to be on the level.

The plans also show the battery way up front, along with the receiver. It's a 60 size plane, and I have a TT 61 in the nose. It also came with no tailfeathers, and the ones I built I doubled the control surface width.

It seems like it balances better with receiver behind CG 2 inches than way up in front. But if this is truly a tail heavy plane, like tha plans suggest, I only added to it by making the tail bigger. What should i do? I don't want to take off with a tail heavy airplane. Even though it's a Lanier Dart that will only last a season or two, I would hate to crash on a maiden. It turned out rather purdy with the kit bashing I did, and I would like to get my season or two outta her.

Deadeye,
I've had a couple Darts and saw a few fly before I had mine. The guys that had them before me balanced them nose heavy and ended up ripping the main gear out of the wing. I think the elevator lost it's effectiveness with the model being nose heavy. When I put my own together it was converted to conventional gear(taildragger) so I would pull the gear out if I landed hard. My first Dart was balanced about 15 deg. nose heavy, it was powered by a .46 w/ tuned pipe and flew great. It was really floaty in ground effect and was a real pleasure to land. The Dart I have now is powered by an MDS .78 which is about twice as heavy as the .46 so I put the elevator and rudder servo in the tail. This one is balanced flat or a tad tail heavy and flies great, not as floaty in ground effect but it is heavier. Both planes were balanced by moving the battery around, both planes had the batteries behind the CG. Hope this helps.
Tim

Gear

Twostroker,
Thanks for the great info. I've read a bit about the Dart, but the CG matter was never very clear. I also converted mine into a tail dragger, almost exactly like yours. I used aluminum dural gear, bolted to a 1/4 ply I epoxied in the fuse. I also used dowels in the wing instead of the ply plate they use. I went with a sullivan tail wheel assembly.

It a great looking plane, except for that ugly 'aeroskin' crap on the wings. I hope mine flies as well as yours.

Thanks again,
Randy

Piled her up today...but I don't want my awesome tailfeathers to go to waste. So I'm going to order another one from Tower. $65, a little more than I paid for off eBay, but, I really like the way this thing flew.

I've got a brand new one in the box I'd ship you for $70.00. It is blue and untouched.
Tim

Tim,
Thanks for the offer, but my tail feathers are already yellow w/ black tips. Otherwise, that would be cool, as everything would just bolt right in. I could have a new one in the air in about 6 hours.

Hey no problem, I had an extra one laying around and thought, what the heck I'd offer. Anyway, what happened to yours. You said it's in a pile but you didn't elaborate. Did it seem elevator happy to you. If I remember right you said you enlarged the control surfaces. If you did I would imagine it would be quite touchy, because mine is with original size surfaces.
Tim

Ya know, I'm not really sure. I think I stalled it. I was heading south with a slight north wind, about 20-30 feet off the ground in a turn for final approach for landing. It just kinda fell out of the sky.

I was at the local airport, instead of our grass strip that is under water at the moment. I don't think I'll be flying out of there for a while...too unfamiliar. The Dart sure took off cool with asphalt under it. My 4* and Super Sportster just kind of leap into the air, but the Dart needs some speed to take off as you well know.

If it would've been an all wood kit, I don't think it would have been damaged so bad, but I'm sure you know that the Dart survivability is pretty low. I even cracked the wing on one side, but my tail survived unscratched.

I see Sheldon's Hobbies has the Dart for $45. I'm going to call them and see what colors they have.

Thanks again for your offer. I don't care what others have said about this plane, it is a ball to fly.