Hi,

I'm not new to here, but I haven't ever posted in the forums. I am building my second plane (Goldberg Tiger 60) and it has come out really tail heavy which probably came from I having converted it to a tail-dragger. I have moved the battery up and added approximately 6 1/2 oz of weight to the nose. Is this too much?My engine is an O.S. 91 4 stroke. I'm thinking about using a 1500 mah battery, but all that would add is .7 more oz. I looked in another post by "ferocious frankie" and all he mentions is his plane came out tail-heavy. What do you all think?

Nexstar Pilot

Why would converting to TD make it tail heavy? Did you add a HUGE tail-wheel? Moving the mains forward seems like it would give more nose weight. Check your balance again, 6 1/2 oz seems like a lot. It will fly, but if you could avoid adding almost half a pound, I would try.

You can add as much weight as you want, but you sacrifice a lot in the process....up to the point that it uses all of the runway to take-off or will simply not fly. Lighter planes fly better...period.

Good luck!!

G'day Mate,
As agexpert said why would that conversion make it tail heavy, I'm only guessing here, but, did you balance the plane, upside down, because that is the right way to balance a low wing aircraft. If you balanced it right way up, it will give you the wrong reading.

The plane will balance at the same point in either position. What makes it easier inverted is that the greater mass (fuselage) is slung below the balance point (the wing). This makes it easier to maintain the balance "appearance". You have removed the nose gear weight but have moved the main gear weight forward. Still seems like a lot of weight so I have to agree that you need to recheck your balance points. Make sure prop and all hardware are installed too.

Since you are at the balancing stage what is the total weight of the plane when balanced ?
The predicted weight of the ARF is 6.5-7.5 lbs and the kit's predicted weight is 7.5 lbs, I have found that the predicted weight is optomistic at best and at worst a cruel joke.
If the all up weight when balanced is 8 lbs or less I think you are in very good shape and if it is less than 8.5 lbs you are still ok.
Of course you already know that the heavier it is the faster the airspeed will be to keep it in the air.

You guys who wonder why converting a tricycle gear airplane to a taildragger would make the plane tailheavy............

I bet if you thought about it a bit more it'd come to you in a flash..................

FLASH !!!!!!!!
Removal of the nose wheel and it's............ etc etc etc

Sorry DAROCK, I mentioned that in post #4

hehehehe.........

Sorry to repeat. Some days I read good, some days I miss stuff. Shoulda just looked at the names on the posts, see you'd answered and knew you had it covered.....

I've got a Tiger2 and it's the heaviest 46size I've built in about 8-9 ARFs in the last year. The T2's fuselage is all plywood. I believe there isn't a bit of balsa in it at all. When I opened the box and saw that the fuse was ply all the way back, I knew I'd need to push everything forward. I still needed to use a larger battery. And the airplane is almost 6 pounds. It flies great, in spite of it's "gross" weight (pun intended). Your T60 just might be the same, but that's not what you asked is it.

If you've been around here much, you've probably seen the posts that talk about balancing a low wing airplane. They suggest you turn the airplane upside down in order to easily accomplish the job. They ought to suggest that with most low wings, it's about the only way to even do it.

Upside down is just as accurate. It might actually be more accurate with some planes that have long wingspans and deep fuselages. It's surpising how often those really tippy ones (when balanced upright) wind up with too much weight to balance. Even after they're "balanced" they're hard to recheck. So who knows for sure.

I've not seen a T60 "in person" so don't have a clue but, if the fuselage does not have lightening holes toward the tail...... Putting lightening holes into a flat sided airplane, even one that's already covered, is a dead simple job that takes no effort to do well. All you need is covering that matches. But adding lightness is a last resort.

After you've moved what can be moved and added what is needed, fly it. If you don't like the way it flies, THEN do the extra effort.

Not always.

Oh jeez, I just noticed that my advice in the last post was ALSO another repeat........

Guess I just want to help too much [:@]

Better too much than too little. Keep it up.

i built the tiger 60 kit,with the tricycle gear.balanced it upside down and it still came out a little tale heavy.i think as said here because of the plywood fuse that is why they are heavy.i put in an asp 90 size motor.i might convert it to a tale dragger.i did not have to add any nose weight just move things around a bit in the radio compartment.few photos of it

With a tail heavy situation, look into the DuBro crankshaft weights.

They come in 1 oz and 2 oz sizes and replace the prop washer. 2oz at the prop is typically equal to around 4 oz on the firewall. They also fit under most spinners.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK246&P=7

Brass nuts work great too, but they are ugly and you definitly don't wanna get hit with one.
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK243&P=ML]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK243&P=ML[/link]
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK244&P=ML]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK244&P=ML[/link]

The brass nuts also don't fit under a lot of spinners.

Thanks a lot to everyone. That's a lot of great help. I'm starting to really question if I balanced on the right point. I have to measure again. I'll keep you all updated.


Thanks Again!

If you need that much nose weight, it might as well be A BIGGER ENGINE!!!!

Just make sure the bigger engine is actually heavier. It's amazing how many bigger displacement ones aren't really heavier.

Example: the 61FX is 23.6oz and the 91FX is 24.3oz