sdc

What's the best way to add weight to a light wing to achieve lateral balance? I have a GP .40 Cub with an OS FS 70 Four Stroke mounted sideways (90 degree rotation from upright) that is heavy to the cylinder head side as a result. Should I worry about this imbalance at all? Suggestions?

sdc

aimmaintenance

A good overall balance can sometimes make a difference between a decent plane and a great plane. I've drilled holes in the wing tips of a couple and epoxyed lead in to balance them laterally. It doesn't take much. Just set the plane up on whatever means you have to balance with and just set the weight on the tip. Once you have the correct amount just take a hammer and whack it into a roundish shape. Find a drill bit thats close. Drill the tip. Tap it in place with some epoxy or whatever glue ya have and brush some paint on or a bit of covering and no one will ever see it.
The majority of your flyin it won't really be noticable but some manuevers and certain planes will really show the difference.

combatpigg

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HI SDC..AIM has given you a good way to go. If the wing tip permits it , I drill a pilot hole and counter sink it for a woodscrew. To fine tune, cut the screw, or go with a longer one, other wise you can drill 1/8" holes and use plumbers solder and CA glue

aeajr

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I just received a good tip on balancing wings. You can find them in the last few posts of this thread.

http://rclibrary.com/viewtopic.php?p=413#413

I just balanced my wings. Took two small pieces of lead split shot (fishing weights) and glued them into the main spar at the tip of my Spirit wings. Used goop to attach them.

As per the post link above. I joined the two wing halves and taped them together temporarily. Then I ran a string along the joint and balanced the wing inverted on the string. It became pretty obvious which wing was heavy. I added the shot to the light wing.

I guess you can laterally balance the fuselage, but on my glider, the main balance issue is the wings as they are over 6 feet wide. The fuse has very little impact compared to the wings. On something smaller, this might not be the case.

Hope htis helps.

combatpigg

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The lateral balance is done when the entire plane is assembled ready to fly. On a glider it wouldn't matter, but you might as well do it RTF. I put a yardstick in my bench vise and balance on the edge of the ruler. There are more elaborate ways of doing it, but this way takes less time to do than the time it takes me to peck these words out!

LenLee

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Hi sdc. Looks like a lot of good tips here. I also have a GP .40 Cub with a Saito .56 mounted sideways. Mine was just very slightly heavy on th cylinder head side but I didn't add any weight to compensate for it. I think that the wingtip on the GP Cub is only about 1/8 or 3/16 balsa sheet that has some light ply formers that provide some support, so hopefully you won't need to add much weight there. You might be able to use the area where the aileron rod comes out to add weight also, since it is reinforced a little better. (and less exposed) Good Luck!!

Len

MinnFlyer

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Read this:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...?article_id=84