where's the cg? for the15.5 incher

done
weighing in at 2.4oz or 69g....
ready to fly....no wheels...

I'll get pics later
i was sick today....the flu
but building a plane was much more fun that lying in bed....
anyway....guess i made some decisions that i wou'dn't normally make....
just to try to get it done...
i even test flew it...but i think the cg was off....too far back...tail kept dropping...or mebbe my reflexes aren't as good when i'm sick...i even crashed it....but...minor damage...will fly again in the morning....

gotta get some rest....post pics later

CG is 1in off the leading edge... =) it can vary a bit but thats a good start.. what did you fly yours with?

my setup is:
edp 50 w 3x2 prop
r4p rx
gws pico servos
2s kokam 340

my gws equipment is sorta cutomized....
stripped down servos....
servos glued in place in model with thin ca...
servos soldered directly to rx board
everything is hardwired together....the only connector in the plane is the battery connector

tried to balance somewhere around the middle of the battery holder i think.

wow ok.. try a 3030 and watch it really move out fast...

this is a vew from the top.

view from bottom...

this is a veiw from the side...u can see my aileron control horns made from 1/32 ply.

i made that little system...(no connectors) for some other micro model i meant to make. the wiring lengths don't quite match this plane...I have some excess here and there...
is it worth it to chop off all your connectors....risk burning your rx by removing all pins...remove the bottoms of servos....i dunno...it only saves a few grams....not even sure if it was half an ounce....but i guess weight saved is weight saved....now i have enough extra capacity to carry a small camera.....yeah right.

it looks like if i don't want to use landing gear then i have to move that battery forward a bit...may have to move the mount too

oh..and my accident...
i launched....then realize the cg was a bit too far back...woops...nose kept raising..tail wanted to drop....i gave it full throttle....because i know when my 3d planes with extreme rear cg act like that they fly a bit better with some speed.
I think my edp 50 is dying....full throttle didn't help that much.
i managed turn around....then got confused....felt like a newbie...but the small plane confused me when i turned...suddenly couldn't tell wether i had turned it all the way or not...it came down slowly....while i was busy trying to reorient myself...sometimes i'd have it...sometimes not....it finally hit a bush then buried the nose in the ground as i cut the throttle.

the pics u see are after the crash....where's the damage? the only visible right now is a slight ding on the stab leading edge.

Tough lil planes for sure.. your problem with the CG is due to the location of your elevator servo... If you move your elevator servo back up where I shown the location in my how too pics the battery wont have tobe moved...haveing no landing gear on there doesnt help either cuaseing you to move the batts up.. also the landing gear protects the batts.. when you can get some wheels for it you will be back on track .. also if you use more rubber to mount the motor it will protect it better then the zip ties in small crashes.. if you do get a ding here there they can be blended with some fine sandpaper a larger gash is a easy fix with slipping in a bit of fresh balsa and blending in .. You can use some sharpie markers to help keep an eye on the plane ..after a few flights knowing its position in the sky gets easy.. I fly this size plane at 70mph plus with a cd rom motor .. also the 3030 prop will power the plane much better then the 3020 real big diffrence in power out of the hole..a aft CG with the 3020 makes it tough for sure ... if you want to fly without a landing gear protect the lipoly cell with some thin thin ply the paper thin stuff and cut it out 1/8th in larger then the cell all the way around.. or use carboard if you must and cross the rubber band over the batts.. Hope this helps.. =) oh and no servo screw in the elevator horn.. if you lost the screw .. use a gws motor mounting screw works.. =)

k...made a few changes like u recommended...

- elevator servo rolled forward...so i can use the same pushrod...maybe this is better shown in a pic....but its moved forward a little.

- added another rubber band to the motor...motor now held in only by rubber bands.

went flying again this morning....played around with the cg..finally got it just right and had some fun for a while. need a 3x3 prop to make this a real screamer...mebbe even an edf motor...heh.

-broke a prop on landing....arghhh....ok those wheels would have definitely helped avoid that.....need to get a set soon.

Looks like you'd be belly landing on your Li-Poly pack.

Is that the case? Or am I missing something?

Heheh ya that landing gear is to help protect the prop tooo. but im glad you nailed the cg... just order up a handfull of the 3030's and your all set.. with some small wheels.. =) The best place to mount the elevator servo is where I show it in the pic.. but if your able to get yours to balance then great! saves you from haveing to redo the pushrod..

jbc: yup belly landing on lipo pak....i do it all the time....on grass of course....as long as I come in slow and sort slide it in you should be ok....and it has to be on grass....no exceptions...no gravel, definitely no asphalt...haven't damaged a lipo pack yet from landing.
I think Brad was suggesting covering the lipo pack with a very thin sheet of ply or something....that would probably be a better idea