Phillip and others, Not withstanding the KR, a much desired response of an aircraft is that when it gets lighter, the CG moves forward to offset the natural tendency of a lighter aircraft to be less stable. Most certified aircraft have fuel tanks/cells located in a such a way as to cause the CG to move forward as fuel is burned so that if the aircraft is properly loaded, there will be no appreciable change in its stability due to getting lighter. I was suggesting that if one really wanted to add to the stability of the KR, then configuring for fuel just behind the main spar, such as Mark's stub wing tanks, or one of the other similar designs, would have the CG aft when full of fuel and moving forward to offset the loss of weight stability. I have chosen to move the seats forward 4/5" (bottom 4; back 5") to move the CG more forward. This is actually a secondary benefit due to having to move the seat up anyway for me to be able to fly the plane; I am too short to fly it properly from the original seat position! Later I intend to add a drag racing pre-made fuel cell of about 5 gallons, directly behind the right seat, with outside venting and filler. It will pump into the header tank so that during cruise flight I can run off the header tank giving the performance gain of an aft CG while cruising. Just prior to descent, I will refill the header tank, moving the CG back forward and stabilizing the aircraft for landing. I believe that Larry Flesner has wing tanks also located just behind the spar. This would also accomplish moving the CG forward as fuel burns. My overall point was that rather than changing airfoils, and adding length etc... the easier and I believe more productive way of adding stability to the KR is to give maximum attention to the CG placement and making sure that it gets into and stays as close to the forward limit as practical. An aft CG brings the CG too close to the Center of Pressure which is the main lift point of the wing. A good analogy of this feeling is trying to balance on one foot on a fence pole. You never quit compensating for movement/balancing. A forward CG is like being able to drop your other foot down to stabilize you. Big difference. Just don't go out the front of the limit, or at slow speeds you will not have enough elevator authority to maintain level flight, or to flare on landing. Sorry about being long winded...
Colin Rainey KR2(td) crain...@cfl.rr.com Sanford, Florida FLY SAFE!!!!
