Just acquired a mid 80's Sailaire that needs TLC and wing joiners. I believe it's an original Sailaire (it even has a releasable towhook)so I'll need a CG starting point as well. Please contact via email at james.deck@comcast.net
Thanks in advance.
Jim Deck

Since you have a releasable towhook, the previous owner had already set the balance point. So try checking a quarter of an inch in front of where the ring rests inside of the tow hook. You can move it back to being right on the resting point, but that is fairly aggresive till you get it down. The wing joiners are 1/4" piano wire, 2 or 3, depending on how it was built.
Should be a good flyer, mine was always.

Terry Throop

As Throop said you can reference the CG by the already installed hook, but it you want a starting point the instructions for the Sailaire kits state it should be in the middle of the spar (30%). The back edge of the spar is as far back as you want to go. I'm flying 2 Sailaires right now and they both CG at the middle of the spar. just fine. As for wing joiners that gets tricky depending on which kit yours is/was. The original Craft-Air brand Sailaire had small diameter joiners, they were too small in my opinion. (Junk) The later Dream Catcher verions have 11/32" OD brass wing tubes and take a 5/16" steel rod x 15- 15/16" long. This is the best/strongest "stock" set up. You can do better. I bought 5/16" hollow carbon fiber tubes at the local hobby shop then went to Home Depot and purchased solid aluminum rods that juuuuuust fit inside of the carbon tubes. Mix up a good batch of expoxy coat the aluminum rods and slide them in the carbon fiber tubes. Be liberal with the expoxy inside but don't get it outside!. This gives you a super strong wing rod at less than 1/2 the steel weight. Been sressing these rods for a couple of years now and they never grunt, even when lifting telemetry or camera gear. Have Fun, the Sailaire is a great platform to spec out with. - Randy

Jim
The original Sailaire wing rod was 1/4" spring steel X 2 which you can buy in any hobby store.
With the 1/4" rod you will bend the rod before you break the wing.
Back in the day when a lot of us flew Pigaires we always carried 3 sets of rods.
Enjoy it.
Ed

Two 1/4 inch rods? Youch! That's the equivalent of only a 5/16" (approximately) rod! However, if the alternative is one 5/16" rod, it's easy to get 1/4" music wire that is very strong but will bend rather than breaking. Just the ordinary K&S music wire.

Carbon rods will just snap, and are far more vulnerable to nicks on the sides.

It's not like a Sailaire can't carry a bit of weight!

Carbon fiber rods will not snap when they are cored internally with aluminum. If you have a failure it's a progressive failure with this method, much the same as the steel rods that were original equipment. Multi layering materials is a way you can prevent a sudden "snap" type failure. Trust me, it really works.

Originally Posted by rkuntz

Carbon fiber rods will not snap when they are cored internally with aluminum. If you have a failure it's a progressive failure with this method, much the same as the steel rods that were original equipment. Multi layering materials is a way you can prevent a sudden "snap" type failure. Trust me, it really works.

Where did you get your 5/16 carbon fiber tube from?

Thanks