Hi all I have ,for sometime been concerned about the mass balancing of my elevator. This has been a hot subject lately, and many have talked about elevator tip weights. I would like to hand on some points I found out when I visited an aircraft structural engineer on the weekend. I took my tail plane and elevator along to show him. Note: My tail plan has been extended 12 inches, due to longer Dan Diehl wing skins used. I also took the KR plans with me.
After much talk on my building techniques I was happy to say it passed his inspection. I wanted to pass on some of his comments on mass balancing a tail plane He was concerned about placing weights onto the elevator tips, as the elevator plans are not designed for this and twisting of the elevator MAY be a problem. His advise was to do as Mark Langford has done( or similar) and place the weights on the Control linkage , and not the elevator tips. Reasons 1. twisting of the elevator tips 2. the mass balance arm and mountings must be able to carry 15 times the weight of the mass balance ( 12 times minimum and 3 for safety factor). >From this I would be concerned at adding 4130 lead filled tubing or similar to my elevator tips. He was not impressed with the Aileron mass balance mounting arms as well. He could believe the plans do not insist on a gusset welded to the mass balance arm to stop cracking , failure. Now I'll stand back and face the music. Phil Matheson mathe...@dodo.com.au Australia 61 3 58833588 See our VW Engines and home built Parts and Kits at: http://www.vw-engines.com/ www.homebuilt-aviation.com
