another newbie question on wings

[hangingon]

With my wing assembly removed from the plane and using the center point of the wings should the wings be balanced the right wing is heavier. The right wing would always tilt down & the left go up. I added tape to the left wing till they would set level. This is a sdm\harbor freight piper j3 cub there's a top & bottom wing support that the right & left wings are attached. By the manual they should balance on a flat surface with about 2" to 2 3/8" from the wing tips to the table. There is nothing about how to balance the wings or what to use and where to add weight.

[xmech2k]

It really says to check the balnce of the wings, or just the amount of dihedral? Sounds like the 2" to 2-3/8" is how far up the wingtips should be with the center down on a flat surface.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by hangingon

By the manual they should balance on a flat surface with about 2" to 2 3/8" from the wing tips to the table. There is nothing about how to balance the wings or what to use and where to add weight.

Now that you have the lateral balance done, I think you must be attempting to set the CG (center of gravity). Mark the desired CG point on the wings with short transverse lines on the underside of the wing at 2" and 2 3/8" from the leading edge. I have a short piece of 2x4 with 1/4" holes about 4" apart. I then insert new pencils into the holes with the erasers pointed up to set the wing of the assembled, ready to fly plane on to establish the balance point. Tape a screw or small piece of lead to the nose or tail to make the plane sit level when supported between the lines you have drawn. Finally, use a small amount of epoxy to secure the weight at the desired position. This is much more accurate than trying to balance the plane with your finger tips.

Hope this helps,
Marc

[Marc]

Sorry, I think xmech2k is correct. They are asking you to check the dihedral.

[Glacier Girl]

Yep they are telling you to check dihedral. But like Marc said you need to check the CG also. And once the plane is assembled, pack installed, go back and recheck the lateral balance. Just because you got the wing balanced, doesn't mean the fuse is.

Pick the plane up, one finger on the spinner, one on the rear of the fuse, and see if it hangs level. Since you have a Cub, just balance the rear on one of your pencil erasers and hold the spinner. Will get you close enough.

You may find you have to add/subtract the weight you added on the wing as the fuse may be off, balance wise.

[hangingon]

Heres a photo to help. what I am wanting to know should the wings balance to where both wing tips are not touching the table or does it not matter. If I hold the wings to wher there level and let go the right wing always drops.I made I know with my helis you want the blades balanced to where they will set level. Also if the dihedral is not correct how do you adjust it. I did not check them for balance in the crack of the table. So if the right wing is a little would it cause the plane to want to bank to the right instead fly straight.

[xmech2k]

Originally Posted by hangingon

Also if the dihedral is not correct how do you adjust it. I did not check them for balance in the crack of the table. So if the right wing is a little would it cause the plane to want to bank to the right instead fly straight.

Planes aren't as finicky as helis. If your dihedral is close enough, you won't notice a difference. If the right wing is a tiny bit heavier, you'll just compensate with a touch of left trim in the rudder, in this case. You have to trim a plane anyways first time up, it's nothing out of the ordinary. Will it fly 1% better without the unnecessary rudder trim? Yes. Will you notice that 1%? No.

Go for it! If you're sucessfully flying heli's, this plane will probably bore you soon.

[hangingon]

xmech2k My mini titan is still a learning process no 3d flying for me. I think I'm going to enjoy the plane and crash cost will not be as much as my helis. Seems when ever I crash it's between 50 to 100 dollars for repairs on the mini titan. My cx2 is easy to fly my last crash with it I think I got it out of range it dropped as if you just cut it off I had no control. I watched you tube videos and read what I could find on the plane I bought so I thought it would be an ok starter plane.now I have found a goob bit of negative reviews as well get parts & under powered. One member on here I read suggest a cheap priced hobby king brushless setup and stated it makes the plane a good flyer. I do understand a better plane would be easier to fly but I bought this plane for 74.00 at our local harbor frieght store thinking it was a good deal. All of our LHS have closed down so when I saw the plane I got I was little excited.

[xmech2k]

Well, do the best you can with it. I guess being underpowered, you could try hand launching if you have a soft field to fly from(grass or whatever) or a nice big flat runway. If trying to hand launch, throw it level and let it pick up speed. And being underpowered, just try to keep the flights smooth, no rapid climbs or sharp turns which will lose lots of energy. A buddy of mine at the field has several Harbour Freight P-51s and he says they are great flyers, so maybe this Cub will turn out suprisingly good too. Sad that all the LHS's closed in your area. That's why I sometimes don't mind spending a little extra there to help support them. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[hangingon]

I did fly it once and I had to hand lanch it But it has a odd tx setup the throttle is on the rear of the tx left stick is elev. rt is rudder. So it thru me off. So I'm holding off on flying it till I get a receiver I order from Hobby King to use my lp5dsm or dx6i tx It's hard to fly when you have to keep going over & over in your head the tx controls I kept trying to use left stick as throttle once it was in the air. I wanted to fly it so bad this flight was about 4 days after having carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand which didn't help. Thanks again I just want to learn as much as I can before I go back out to the field to fly and make sure the plane is setup right. Harbor frieght had the wild hawk, the cub, p51 & yellow something maybe yellow bee. I liked the looks of the cub but the wild hawk may have been the better choice.

[Wrench66]

You are going the right direction with checking lateral balance as well as reg 'ol CG, and for a rudder only plane like your Cub it's one of the things you must do. The way to check that though is with your plane assembled ready to fly, get the plane CG'd close to where they want in your manual (assuming they're right ) then you will need to lift your plane from the middle top of the wing, at CG, with either a piece of string or fish line. Here's where you become inventive, there needs to be some way to loop that string through a hook or hole in the top of your wing. I would suggest an old half of a servo horn hot glued on (it's very small) or something similar just to let the plane hang from it's "center".
Now if the plane does tend to drop a wing while using your fancy new testing rig , then you can add a penny or washer to the light wing for balance (taped on is fine).

Good luck

--Ray

[hangingon]

Thank you wrench66 I was just balancing the wings. Now with adding weight would I want to put on the underside or top of the wing & would I want to center on the wing from front to back I have the wings back on and the right wing tips the plane to the right.

[Wrench66]

On your plane I would put it underneath, centered is prolly best and covered with a strip of yellow tape to hide it...

Welcome to Wattfler BTW