Lateral Balance

[king160woody]

I've been asked by a couple people for the how to's on lateral balancing. There is really not much to it. This is my way and there are probably a couple more different ways out there but this works good for me. You need a piece of string and 2 pins. Plane one pin on the center of the vertical stab at a slight down ward position (30-45 degrees) and place one pin straight into the fuse centered over the motor box area. "see pics attached" I start with placing a penny on the wing that is higher and see if it levels the plane off. If it drops lower than the other one try placing a dime and it usually works. Then glue the penny/dime to the side of the wing with some CA or epoxy. Then your good to go and it should help take a lot of rock out of harriors.

Woody

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[3D MOFO!!!!!!!!!!]

Woody do i put the batt on the plane while i' m doing lateral balance?

Efree
pro bro #2403

[Ryguy]

You have the battery on the plane when you fly, so it's best to have the battery on there to test lateral balance. That's a great idea with the pins Woody, I'll have to try it out!

[Hogger]

Just be careful. I found my pins trying to pull out at an angle, trying to rip up the foam.

[3D MOFO!!!!!!!!!!]

Thank you ryguy sorry about the dumb question just want to make sure i'm doing it right thats all. Hey hogger that is a very sweet looking yak you have there on your avitor dude yes i will be careful with those pins thank you guys for the info.

Efree
pro bro#2403

[tdarst]

The battery being mounted on the side of the fuse is the main source of the lateral imbalance (even though it's not far from the centerline, it is very heavy in a relative sense) - so it definitely needs to be in place when doing this. Putting the counterweight on the wingtip gives the largest offsetting moment arm, and therefore allows you to use the least weight possible to get the job done.

TD

[Ryguy]

Little tip I just thought of...
While doing this to mine just now, I needed about a penny's weight to one wing. I didn't want to just have a penny taped on the wingtip, so I got out a hobby knife and cut away the CA joint that holds the wingtip cap on. Came off nice and clean for me. I then taped a penny on the inside of the cap, and glued it back on. Mine just barely tilted to the right, the side I have the battery one. Look forward to seeing how much of a difference this will make.

[tdarst]

...it's even easier to glue the penny on the outside of the wing cap. That's what I did. Then, while experimenting, I found that on my plane the Z-axis balance was better with the battery positioned like this:

http://www.airfoilz.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/52/ppuser/467

After putting it here, I had to remove the penny to get the lateral balance back because the battery was now on the centerline rather than slightly off to one side. My plane is so neutral now in all directions, it's sort of scary; I've never flown or owned anything as true as this thing. :)

TD

[brian94066]

you could make a recess in the wing and let the penny fit flush in for aerodynamic purposes, put some white tape or scrap vinyl over it and it will look good

[tdarst]

You could do that, but the depron cap isn't much thicker than a penny (if at all). Going this route, I would glue a balsa brace in behind it spanning the penny, in order to keep it from coming loose and perhaps going into the wing - AND, to give you something besides the edge of the penny to glue the penny to the plane.

I still fly mine without a penny, with the battery mounted as shown in the pic above. It's unbelieveably true that way, and still the best flying, most fun plane I've ever had.