jctpro

My Feedback: (1)

I am interested in weighing my planes but do not know the best route. Any advice on what to buy and how to use it to accurately weight a plane?

lenough

I use a bathroom scale. Weigh myself without the plane and then holding the plane.

It's not the most precise way, but it serves my purpose and puts me within a few ounces.

Also helps me maintain my figure.

Volfy

My Feedback: (23)

For most .25 to 1.20 size planes, a 15lbs digital fish scale is the most cost effective. You want to buy a scale with a full scale just large enough to cover the heaviest plane you'd want to weigh, as these things have only 2-5% accuracy. In any case, you could always weigh the fuse and wing separately.

I augment the fish scale with a 5lbs digital postal scale for smaller thing requiring much better precision, like engines and parts.

jctpro

My Feedback: (1)

Any fishing scale brands/models that you recommend? I like the weighing myself option but it sounds too depressing.

Volfy

My Feedback: (23)

I bought my 15lbs digital fish scale at Academy's Sporting goods. I don't even remember what brand it was. Can't tell you which ones are better either, since I have only bought one. I just remember looking at all of them and picked one with the best "claimed" accuracy and still at a reasonable price. In any case, the best of the 15lbs ones will be accurate to ~2-3 Oz, which is plenty good enough for weighing planes and calculating wing loading.

I don't know what my bathroom scale full-scales at, probably 250 or 300lbs if I have to guess. I would be be mighty impressed if it's 1% accurate, at best. This means I'll have a margin of error of 2-3 lbs, not too good for weight planes between 5-15lbs.

Plus, like I've posted here before, I recalibrated my bathroom scale to read 5lbs less whenever my wife stands on it, so it's all off anyways.

seafury_fb11

LMAO! Now that is classic.

Russ.

lynngordon

I purchased a new Escali digital electronic scale off of ebay for $28 delivered. Measures 0-25 lbs, accurate to one half oz. It comes with a power supply or can be operated from battery.

You can put a platform (I use a 2'X2.5' light ply board) on the scale before you turn it on, and when you turn it on, it will automatically zero itself with the platform included. Set your plane or parts on it, and get their true weight.

Bruce L Prater

I bought one at WalMart, they had two models, one that went to 15 pounds and one that went to 50, same price, $28. Make a little sling for the plane and weigh the whole thing.

dickj

My Feedback: (1)

I purchased a hand held Stren Brand fish scale at the Walmart and it is an excellent scale for weighing the planes. Reads diditally to lbs. and ozs. Happy weighing!

Rodney

Check out garage sales for baby scales. If you are talking about microfilm models etc., use reloading scales which are accurate down to tenths of a grain.

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

I have an Ohaus triple-beam scale and a cheapo gram scale. The Ohaus I use for mixing epoxy and balancing rotor blades; the cheapo digi-scale is used for weighing anything too heavy for the Ohaus.

Problem is that the cheapo scale wasn't very accurate - 5 grams or 1/2 oz. Yuck!

I just ordered a 6Kg/13lb scale from "oldwillknott" on eBay. Accurate to .01 oz or 1 gram. $40 bucks, delivered.

ANyone want my old scale? Cheap! Ignore the glue spills on the platform.

Dave Barrow-RCU

I picked up a Berkley digital fish scale from eAngler for $30, it will weigh up to 50LB.
It has a hook that stores in the scale, just hang your plane on it by the prop, or a piece of rope.

Tom Nied

local grocery store might let you weigh your model aircraft if its clean, but be ready for a lot of questions. I work in a grocery store, every register has a scale that goes to 30 lbs in increments of 1/100th of a pound. Or, you might try the Post office during a slow period.