Could anyone give my some help or tips about balancing a low wing (Tiger 2), thanks

I use a Great plains plane balancer.. With a low wing plane, you balance it upside down.

just like flying hog said upside down on the great plains balancer!
you are going to love that plane. I have the tiger 2 with a OS 46 flies grea, just like a high wing trainer. The first thing you should do is convert it into the tail drager version.

As I am at the stage of balancing my Lazy Tiger p-51, it isn't an easy task even if you use a CG machine. The way I have balance my extra 300 .28 was to have the plane pull more toward the front of the plane than the rear. IE: if you level the plane using you CG machine or your fingers, the plane once let go should rock forward but not tip over. Once I have the plane doing this action, I move my receiver and battery around in order to get it to balance level. You can also use lead to help with balancing. gl

thanks for the tips,


kahn41: i dont really want to convert it to a tail dragger
1) I'm only 14
2) I dont want to be inside modifing it, Id rather be out flying


I threw an Evolution .46 NT in it

the recommended CG is 3 1/2" - 4 3/8", right now its set for 3 1/2

Throw it on the CG machine.

Before you spend any money on a CG machine, try making a couple of loops of heavy cord, about 6 foot in circumference would do and hang them from a hook in the ceiling. Make a plumb bob, I used a 1/4 nut and a piece of string, and hang that from the same hook. Now place the wings of the airplane in the loops, one on either side, and hang the airplane level. On some planes, like flying wings, you may need to have the front of the loops go over the engine and around the prop to keep it from tipping forward in the loops.

The plumb bob points to the CG every time. The cost of this rig is minimal. If you really want to kill two birds with one stone, hang a digital fish scale from the hook and the loops from the fish scale. Turning on the scale before hanging the plane will null the weight of the loops, giving you a fairly close weight of the plane.

Why pay extra?

thx for the other tips


Richard L. --THOSE PLANES U HAVE ARE F****** AWESOME nice work

Thanks, plane-freek. By the way, the CG machine cost less than a high quality standard servo.

Clean,

I find your method of balancing to be much easier and more flexible than any other used in the past 30 years. Usually I hook at engine and tail and get lateral balance at the same time.

Bill

the Good Old fashion way was to put your balance point- like fingers- at approx 1/4 the chord- aft of the leading edge, on a straight wing close to the fuselage. a tapered wing, plan vu, takes some juggling/fudgeing with experience. dick

I balance my 80" wingspan Extra 300 on my fingertips.

My wife helps me pick it up and get it flipped over(upside down). Then I put my index fingers on the wings--right up close to the fuselage and hold it there while my wife adds 1/4oz. lead weights here or there to determine balance.

I determine if it's tail-heavy or nose-heavy and then remove all the lead weights and turn the plane back right-side up and start moving the batteries around.

I don't have a CG machine. I've always balanced my planes with my fingertips, and never screwed up yet.

I usually take a piece of blue masking tape--about 2" long--and stick it down on the wing, where the CG should be. Then you can put a ball-point pin mark, on the tape, right where you want it to balance.

When you pick it up and start balancing--you've always got a reference mark on the tape. You can put 2 or 3 marks on the tape if you want. One mark for a forward (nose-heavy) CG and one for a neutral CG, and one mark for a rearward (tailheavy) CG.

Let me get this straight here. Hang the plane from 2 cords (what do you use?) off of one hook. I assume that the cords half to be equal in size. Place each wing in one side of the loops. I assume that it will half to be the same distance away from the fuse, side to side on the wing. Hang a plum bob off the hook..... instant CG machine. Sounds simple enough.

I take it that the cord can not go around the ailerons. If they move....will that not throw off the CG?

MK

I do like Rcpilet. I can't see buying a machine when I have fingers.

Some people have said "You can't get it accurate with your fingers". Give me a break!

You can have two identical airplanes that will fly differently with the same CG.

And once you fly it (Even if you USED a CG machine), you may find that you want to change it anyway. So move the battery, or slap a chunk of lead on the tail. Let's face it, the plane is going to act differently if you land with a tank that's 3/4 full as opposed to a tank that's 1/4 full, so getting the CG at an exact dimension is highly overstated.

As for "Low wing = Balance upside down", the answer is "Yes, and No".

For something like an Extra 300L, that has no dihedral - yes, balance it upside down because it's top-heavy. For something like a Tiger (Which has a good amount of dihedral), If you balance it next to the Fuse, balance it upside down, but if you lift it at the wingtips, balance it right side up.

I guess all I'm saying is, while CG is a critical factor, there's no need to get anal about it.

Initially, I tried to make my own CG Machine, but when I started reading this post I decided to try the "hanging cradle" method. Wow, I don't think it could get any easier. The cradle really gives you the stability to balance by placement without having to worry about the plane tipping over. ANd it really makes no difference if the loops are the same length, how/where you suspend the plane, hi-wing/low-wing etc. For those still having trouble visualising this:

Agreed balancing is very simple with a cradle.

A rope ratchet from the ceiling and lifting the wheels slightly off the floor further aids in preventing “dropped it damage�. In addition the airplane can be left in the cradle while solutions are considered, batteries or servos moved etc.

Bill

Nice Looking Tiger krossk!

Thanks! I was pretty happy for my first build/cover. If it flies as well as it looks, I'll be on cloud 9.

Knowing how the plane acts when the tank is losing fuel gives me an idea of when to land. Normally when the plane seems much lighter than take off, I know it's time to line it up for the runway.

Hi!
As Minnflyer said : Use your fingertips!
I have use my fingertips to balance all my planes (1/4 scale, pylonracers and you name it) since I got started in R/C 30 years ago and this system is so easy I can't understand why people bother with balancing machines...???
The second easyiest thing to do is to use a string (I used a kevlar string ) placed between the fuselage and the wing and just hold the string (or if it is a heavy plane hang it up) to determine where the Cof G is supposed to be. I used this system on my Great Planes GEE BEE R-2 and it worked just fine.

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

I agree with Minnflyer and jaka. Fingertips work at least as well as any of the other methods, are simple, and are certainly the most cost effective method. They also work for lateral balance.

jess

I use this loop method for lateral balancing but I like the tried and true "fingertips on the spar" method for the fore to aft balance. Only went wrong once and one of my flying buddies caught me before I got it off the ground (to the accompanyment of much ribbing) *LOL*
And I do all of my balancing with an empty tank as all that's going to do is give me a further nose heavy condition. So I, as a concientious modeler, keep that in mind and life is good!

The common denominator here seems to be that the guys who have been around for a while all use finger tips. I go along with that method too.

Don`t overlook the lateral balance. I guess there`s a fancy machine on the market there for that too? In the days of decent size beer bottles, (showing my age), I`d sit the prop shaft, minus prop, on one of them (empty), and a block of wood under the aft fuselage.

Load the high wing tip (it ain`t ever going to be level from scratch) with suitable size nails until it balances then drive the nails into the wing tip from the outer end and seal the hole with epoxy or whatever.

All simple fixes.

Alan W