cap 232 help
 

hi everyone I am just new flyer been flying about a year started with fomes then moved to a super cub now hetting board of that and yesterday bot a cap 232 with 78" wing span and 42cc 2 stroke motor I no its kinda a big jump but think I can handle it my question is its realy tail heavy so wondering 1 where the COG point is on this plane and what do I use to bring the front in heavyer like on little planes you add a bit of wight I no that but this thing I would almost have to add a brick lol please help

RE: cap 232 help
 

Most planes will theirbalance point on the main wing spar. What type of plane is it an ARF? What brand is it? Seems unlikely it would be tail heavy with a 42cc 2 stroke engine on it.

RE: cap 232 help
 

Move the battery, move servos if you can, and put any lead on the engine mount.

RE: cap 232 help
 

You know of course you have what can be referred to as a "HOT ROD " of planes and if it isn't set up correctly and flown by someone with a lot of experience, it's more then likely got a VERY short life span. I would like to see you get a little more experience with glow / gas planes before you attempt this one. Even a little tail heavy will make it a real bear to handle and if your settings are to tight it will be a nightmare.

If nothing else ~~ at least get someone that flies this kind of plane to help you set it up and do a test flight . Then if you want to wipe it out ~~ HAVE A BLAST and let us know what it was like .

I only have the CG on the "Midwest " 232's and they are different then yours I believe. If nothing else set it on or just forward of the main spar. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: cap 232 help
 

+1 and incidentally, if the airplane needs a brick in order to bring the CG within limits, then you add a brick (or a brick worth of lead).
;)
(of course that would be AFTER moving everything forward as far as you can.... airborne batteries, etc.)
check the CG with the fuel tank empty.
the principles are the same, big airplane or small.

RE: cap 232 help
 

OK Dc first off welcome to the forum. There are many times you may have a mystery airplane and no idea as to where you should balance it at. For that airplane which is a double taper wing a simple method to use is to find the average wing chord. So how do we do that?

Its easy just measure the chord (leading edge to trailing edge) halfway between the wing tip and the fuselage. Now take this figure and divide by four. This sum will be the distance you want to measure back from the leading edge out there halfway between the wingtip and the fuselage. All that left to do is project this point directly in to the fuselage to make it easier to balance.

This point is the 25%mac and a very conservative figure for you to start with since this may be a big jump for you.


As to how to make it balance at that point if the tail goes down as the others have said you need to move everything forward that you can. For some airplanes thats not always possible so on some I have used a weight box as in these photos:

John

RE: cap 232 help
 

The question I have is where did the OP get this plane? Was it pre-built? If so, what does the builder have to say about it?

If not, well, if the OP built it, what did he/she use for instructions?

I would imagine that the instructions would spell out where to put the CG on that plane as well as to suggest where servos, batteries, and all other weighty components may go.

I also must join the posters that suggest that this may be a bit of an over extension of enthusiasm for RC flying. This is not a beginners plane. I would suggest that he/she put the plane aside and get something a bit less intimidating to fly and to build up the experience needed to fly that CAP232.

CGr