Steve biplane Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Tony, during the design process the weight and CofG of the aircraft is calculated by the Weights department, these are fundamental inputs to the overall design and stressing of the airframe. Part of the certification requirements is to state the max allowable weight of the a/c and also the CofG fore and aft positions. Part of the flight testing is to fly the aircraft at these limits and show it has acceptable characteristics. You can check the calcs by supporting each wheel on a set of scales (actually load cells) which gives you the distribution of the reaction loads to the weight of the a/c. From these measurements the total weight of the a/c, and its CofG position, can be calculated. Modern airliners have computers which calc the CofG as a function of fuel, passengers, cargo and luggage weight - it's up to the pilot to check that weight and CofG are within limits before take-off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Funniest thing i ever heard, an american airliner crashed because they were using the average weight of americans from 1930, it has almost doubled since then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Ireland Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Posted by Peter Savage on 18/10/2009 20:02:40: On aircraft they weight all the parts before constructing the prototype and move it around, you can put two prongs under the wings and lift it up! It tends not to matter as much with full size aircraft. A too far aft C of G affects full size as well as models Peter. All aircraft have a graph in their Flight Manuals that show the C of G limits and as was said earlier, it is up to the pilot to check the loading before flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 does the lysander have trim tabs on the tail? i can only see them on the ailerons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Ireland Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Most likely Peter. These trim-tabs were fitted to a lot of different airframes over the years. They were adjusted by the ground crew as a result of a de-brief between the pilot and his rigger after a flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter 'Ivanna Crashalot' Savage Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Anyone know when the next model show showing off the lysander is? I wanna get some scale reference pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Whiting Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 The whole tailplane is adjustable for trimming, I took a few (8) close up pics of the Lizy last week at OW, as I wanted a little scale detail. If you so wish message me your E addy, and I will send them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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