A little Background, Back in 2009, I bought a 1981 revmaster powered KR-2 with 250hours on the clock that needed a little bit of fixing up. The original weight in 1981 was 525 lbs. according to the log book and W&B sheet of the era. When I got it home, I found alot of things I didn't like and a lot of worn parts like control-horns and hinges that needed to be replaced. Long story short, 1 year later, I had every system torn apart, inspected, and rebuilt using real aircraft parts and weigh-saving techniques I also sanded and repainted the plane. When I pulled out the W&B scales, I was shocked when I saw 690lbs empty! How did my plane gain over 150lbs!?! I swallowed my pride and have flown it for about 30 hour. Its a nice airplane and flies nice, but with myself and 17 gallons of gas, Im already over gross weight. I'd like to reduce the weight by replacing heavy components but I don't know what is a normal weight or what to replace to get the most reduction. I was wondering if anyone has taken accurate weight measurements of parts during or after constructions to get a baseline. What I'm looking for is the weight of: complete L wing: complete R wing: complete Canopy: forward deck w/fuel tank: turtle deck: total empty weight:
I know some of these parts are integral and can't be weighed separately. But my goal is to start cutting off parts and replacing them until I get it to a normal weight around 550 lbs. My aircraft: Complete left wing with 15 gallon fuel tank= 72 lbs Complete right wing with 15 gallon fuel tank= 70 lbs Complete flying fuselage minus wings= 548 lbs Total flying empty weight=690 I dont want to rebuild my wings if it'll only save 15lbs, but i would be worth it if I can save 50lbs. Thats what I'm trying to determine. Cheers, David Robins N37686
