Was looking to add weight to the front of my SSE but not sure where to mount it. Was racking my brain when I was thumbing through Tower's catalog and ran across this 2oz spinner weight. Didn't want to go with a large weighted nut since my cowl was built for the spinner size.

Fits neatly inside my aluminum spinner. Figured I'd throw this out there as I didn't find much when searching RCU.

somegeek

Nice solution to a tail heavy plane! Good Job.

After moving equipment as far forward as possible, installing an RCV 90SP with on board glow under the cowl, and a ducted fan cooling system with lipo and ecc under the cowl, I was able to use a 2 oz spinner weight to balance my Top Flite Spitfire.

Scott

That would be interesting to see. Do you have any pics?

The first photo shows all the equipment placed as far forward as possible. It shows the battery pack I made to fit the space, and the receiver which are both in foam. the valve and servo for the retracts. Below that is the servo tray which has a mylar cover to prevent any wires getting into the arms. You can see the underside of the cut off legs of the pilot, and finally the airtank pushed as far forward as possible.

Next shows how the ducted fan is mounted and the separate power switch for the LiPo. The ecs is inside the mount.

Next is a front view showing a baffle that helps direct the air flow to the intake of the DF.

The next photo shows the LiPo battery for the DF velcroed down on top, the microswitch that controls the onboard glow which is activated by a wheel collar on the throttle arm and the NiMH battery.

Finally is a photo of the intake baffle in the cowl. Air is drawn in from between the spinner and cowl, is baffled up against the cylinder, passes over the crank case, and then exhausted out the rear by the fan.

Scott

somegeek,

I have always been leary of using any types of weights at the prop. Reason being; should the engine backfire and kick off the prop and weight, you'll be trying to land a tail heavy dead-sticked plane. Terrible combination!
I'd find a way to move battery forward, replace battery with larger capacity battery that weighs more, or as a last resort, add weight as far forward as possible, but not on the prop shaft.

another consern is the weight will add mass to the crank.. and it will smooth out your throttle responce... ie it will slow it down as it will take the engine longer to get it spooled up... the reverse is also true.. once it is going it will be harder to stop. if you spin a pencil in your hand it spins easy and fast.. now put a big blob of playdough on the end and spin it.. it is harder to get it to go.. .same for your plane

Goodness, schmoodness - I removed it. The way it was designed for installation is slick, but the performance hit on this engine sucks. Spun up slower and wound down slower and caused it to not run as well. Add to that the fact that I've gotten used to the CG being back a little further than the suggested CG and it didn't fly like I wanted it to.

It's gonna collect dust in my field box.

somegeek