balance (help)
 

I UNDERSTAND THAT I NEED TO BALANCE MY PLANE, BUT HOW DO I GO ABOUT DOING THIS WITH THE WING MOUNTED TO THE FUSELAGE..... SHOULD I HANG THE PLANE..... AND IF SO FROM WHERE. (ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED) :confused:

balance
 

carcrazy01, I assume this is a trainer? If you have the plans for this plane it should tell you where to balance. I believe it should balance at the back of the main spar in the wing.

balance (help)
 

How about it guys ? Where would you balance if you didn't know where c g is?

balance (help)
 

carkrazy01

Do you have any instructions for the plane? If it is a high wing or mid wing plane, you will balance it upright. If it is a low wing, turn it upside down. Assuming you have the instructions, you can measure back from the leading edge (or wherever the instruction say) and place ink marks there. It's easier to mark it if you put masking tape on the wing and put your marks on that.
Slightly lift the plane at the marks on your fingertips, and see which end drops. Be sure you put your marks over the part of the wing near the fuse where there is some balsa sheeting or your fingers may go through the covering.

If you don't have an instruction book, balancing the plane on the middle to the back edge of the main spar will get you pretty close.

Better yet, tell us on here what kind of plane it is; somebody probably has the information.

Good Luck
Larry

balance (help)
 

my plane is a hangar 9 extra easy.. it was (r t f) when i baught it.
and it came with no info. i crashed it the other day, and had to rebuild the front mtr mount section, i put in some plywood and wanted to make sure it wasn't too heavy.

balance (help)
 

If I didn't know where the CG was, I would measure 33% back from the leading edge and start there. Then fly it and make adjustments if needed.

balance (help)
 

I'd start at 25% of the mean chord.

balance (help)
 

According to page 9 of the Extra Easy manual (on Horizons website), the balance point is from 3 1/8 to 3 5/8 inches from the leading edge.

Here's the link;

http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/shar...300-manual.pdf

balance (help)
 

thanks for the info & (web link) i measured back 3 1/4 lifted the plane with my finger tips ( on the marks ) and it's level. i just wanted to be sure... ...thanks again...

balance (help)
 

I JUST NOTICED THAT THE TAIL ASSEMBLY IS 1/8 TO 1/4 INCH LOWER ON ONE SIDE AND IT IS EPOXIED 0N WILL THIS HURT ANYTHING.

balance (help)
 

For the vast majority of models and airfoils, 1/3 of the way back from the leading edge of the wing, is the rule of thumb that will get you safely up and back down again. Rarely would the CG be further forward. A more rearward CG results in a more responsive airplane, to a point, but too far to the rear and the model will become uncontrollable.

As for your stabilizer. The misalignment you mention is probably not serious enough to worry about. It means the airplane's trim in the yaw and roll axis will change as you move the elevator, but probably not enough to really cause a problem.

Trainer type models are frequently out of trim, misaligned and not the most well balanced. But a good instructor can put it into pretty good flying trim for you, and you will learn alot about flying and about airframes by fussing a bit with it.

Have fun

balance (help)
 

This won't really hurt anything on a trainer. It would cause problems with an aerobatic model, and it will cause minor problems if you do aerobatics with it, but you won't be doing many with a trainer. Just learn to fly it, and make sure when you build you next one that everything is straight and true.

balance (help)
 

thanks again... i will hopefully be flying it this weekend if the weather permits... i'll let you all know how it does...

balance (help)
 

Acutually, this may be the best thing that ever happened to you if you intend to continue building.
I did the same thing with my 1st plane, LT-25 it flew fine, but, the longer I had it, the worse it looked.
Now, the tailfeathers on every plane I build, get extra special attention to the point of building custom jigs for every plane and have never had another out of whack tail since.

balance (help)
 

This is true. I don't think i've ever built a plane that I didn't goof something up on. Either you ignore it, sand it down, or tear it apart and redo it. But you'll be more careful next time! :)