3D CG Balancing
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:51 pm
I bought the 48" MXS-EXP from Extreme Flight RC near the end of last season. This plane is designed for crazy 3D but it also supposed to perform well doing pattern flying. The recommended CG was between 3.5" to 4.0". I set my CG to 3.75" figuring somewhere in the middle would give me a balanced feel to the plane. The maiden flight was a near disaster. Even though I was in the mid-range of the recommended CG the plane felt extremely tail heavy. I feel pretty lucky that I was able to land it w/o crashing. After numerous flights of moving the battery more and more forward with each flight I was finally able to fly w/o feeling like it was tail heavy (and elevator sensitive). The CG is now slightly less than 3" and the battery is nearly completely inside of the cowl area. Wing incidence is fine and thrust seems fine as well. So, I guess my question is are 3D planes supposed to feel this tail heavy?