Hey all,

It has been awhile since I have been here, and it feels good to get back into the swing of things. I just finished assembling a Dago Red ARF (60 sized) and it is way nose heavy. As a dry test to balance it I set two full sticks of the adhesive weights right under the tail and that seemed to be just about the right amount of weight. (It went just a little tail heavy.) The problem is since it was an ARF I do not have a good way to get the weight on the inside of the plane, and I do not like the idea of that much weight glued on the outside of the plane. I have already moved the battery and receiver as far back as possible while still being able to actually reach it. How badly does a nose heavy plane fly? I know what tail heavy does (that was a fun flight for sure), but have not had any experience with nose heavy.

Thanks,

Rob

nose heavy is actually a bit safer than tail heavy...so i've heard. i've flown nose heavy many times and it's acceptable until you land. a bit more speed is required when you come in, thats what i've noticed. my plane was extremely nose heavy i should add. i took off 9 ounces (sounds like alot) and it flies much better. i also changed the prop from a 13 6 to a 13 5. it's a 61 engine. much better pull. remember, the C.G. that is recomended to you by the manufaturer is a starting point and after a few flights, you'll have a better idea of what you like.

As mentioned nose heavy is okay for flight. The draw back is the plane will want to dive at low speeds as the nose wants to fall. I am not sure that I would want to glue that much weight on the outside of the plane either. I am thinking that maybe you might want to try and fly it as is and if it does not meet your expectations then add an ounce or two to the tail. Good Luck, Dave

as a test for C.G. during flight......while going at your cruising speed, roll the plane to 45 degrees and observe for the following....if the plane holds steady..c.g. is good...if the nose drops, too heavy and vise versa for the tail dropping. make sure you've got plenty of altitude for this test. another is the inverted test. roll to inverted flight and observe your inputs to maintain level flight......lots of stick (down elevator) means nose heavy and vise versa for tail heavy. your plane really needs to be trimmed for these tests to be effective. certain trim settings will affect certain behaviors as well but for the most part...these tests will be ok. this can be fun. remember here too that altitude is your friend. "enjoy!"

Bad Advise. You need to balance the plane. A badly balanced plane is a bad flying plane. Turn it over & do surgery on the tail from the bottom to get in there. When your done you won't even notice it & you will be way happier with your plane.

http://www.blueangels.rchomepage.com...trim_chart.htm click here and read number 4

RAGII,

191557 is right on. Do what it takes to fix the CG before you fly!

Quote: "Nose heavy planes fly poorly, tail heavy planes fly once..."

That is OK to fine tune one. The problem is he already knows it is WAY nose heavy. And he is being told to go ahead and fly it & see what happens.

adding tail weight to balance your plane "before" you fly is the right way to go. i use a great planes center of gravity machine for my setups. they fly pretty decent right out of the shop. if you prefer to cut the covering open to hide the weight , it is your choice and it is also the best way to do it for sure once you've determined that you've found the right setup.. just make sure you attach it securely inside there as well. you dont want that weight coming loose while flying...oh man. the dago is a good looking plane. it'll be a fun flyer . is the wing mid or low? you must be past the trainer stage at this point. best of luck.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=275355
http://www.mustangsmustangs.net/p-51.../dagored.shtml

Are you serious? Low or mid wing? Dago Red is a highly modified P-51 but they didn't move the wing.
Oh yeah, it's a low wing.

wasnt familiar with this plane..sorry

Triple-check where the plane is SUPPOSED to balance.

Make SURE you are balancing in the right place

Then add whatever weight is needed regardless of how it looks.

Once you know it's right, then do the needed surgery

now thats what i'm talkin about

my plane was extremely nose heavy i should add. i took off 9 ounces (sounds like alot) and it flies much better.
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Now thats what Im talking about. Flying a plane that is 9 ounces nose heavy is totally unnecessary. As I stated earlier (You need to balance the plane). Before you fly it. EOD

I would try to shift the servo's back & the battery to offset the weight before adding extra weight to the plane. Also what are you using for a spinner some of them are several oz's also.

cant be afraid to experiment. i find it totally necessary to put as much weight anywhere i want on my plane. TO: RAGII , i dont like weight hanging off the bottom of my planes either....but what if you dont like the amount of weight that you've put on there and would like to change it? i think the temporary method is the way to go until you fly it a few times and find the right setuphowever your method may be, then, once you're happy with the way it flies....you can operate and tuck them inside. it's totally personal preference and it's all about making adjustments and getting things the way "you" like...not someboy else. but for sure, try to get it as close to flat as you can on your initial balance. you'll be fine. i had 9 ounces on the front of my plane that i didnt need and got rid of it.... i'd rather have it there though than on the tail..thats for sure. what happened was, we ran a C.G. formula on this particular plane and discovered that the point that was given in the book was not correct. the point that we came up with on the formula was one inch behind the point from the book. when you move that point back, more weight goes to the front. so, when i weighed it from the correct points from the formula, it was nose heavy by a ton. i guess i'm lucky to still have a plane to fly. all my weights are screwed on under the cowling so they're out of sight. i can remove or add at any time, depending on what i'm looking for in performance. um...you "are" weighing the plane inverted...correct? low wing planes need to be weighed inverted.

Oops! I may have been checking in the wrong position. After reading Minnflyer's post I decided to check the manual again. Now I need your thoughts about where they are asking me to check. The wing has a step in it, so I was measuring from the "straight" section of the wing. After looking at the diagram closer, I think I should be checking from the edge right at the side of the fuse. When I check it there it is almost right on (a little tail heavy) and my battery is at the back. I have attached several pictures and would like to see what you guys think. Thanks for the advice so far.

Rob

looks like it's good right there. very nice.

It looks like you have it right there in the pictures. I have seen very few planes that are ballanced anywhere other than from the leading edge along side the fuse. One example that is not was my old Ultimate Biplane. Adjust your battery now for ideal balance and you should be good to go. For future reference MOST ARF's will not need a lot of extra weight to ballance if you use the recomended engine and servos. You should be able to balance by moving the battery around. When you start playing with bigger engines than recomended then you will find problems like you originally described... say stuffing a Saito 150 in that Dago or something like that. Now for why I used bold ont the word "most" above. Some of the cheaper ARFs from less than a major manufacturer may have severe design flaws where balance was an afterthought.

that would describe most of my planes......originating from less than major manufacturers. i find that i must use alot of weight to get balanced. mostly on the nose. i guess i should stop being so cheap and get a good model for a change. now that would be something different...lol . anyway, happy flying...the plane looks good

Well well well, doesn't that look familiar. Put the weight in the back of the air scoop. Works just fine. What engine you running in that thing?

Thanks all,

This is not a major brand ARF. In fact, I am not sure who makes it. Nowhere in the instruction set or on the box is a manufacturers name. A guy at the club won it and did not really want it at all. I had a .61 Evolution motor looking for a home so I got bought it from him for $100. I thought that seemed a decent price for a 60 sized ARF with retracts. This is the first time I had a plane without a "straight" leading edge wing. There is always something new to learn. This will be my first retract plane and my first flap plane. I finally get to use channels 5 and 6 on my transmitter.

Thanks for all your help. You guys are great.

Rob

no problem RAGII...sorry if things got a little out of whack. hope you have a successful maiden flight with the new plane. she looks great. let us know how it goes and what you think. dont be afraid of it man...you are in complete control. nice and easy. how does the engine run anyway. gotta watch out for the dreaded dead stick...especially with a war bird type rig. get plenty of altitude buddy....it's your friend. have a ball. here's what i've been working on. gotta make another order. need ca hinges for the ailerons. chow man