Speed 400 Cloudster
Project
After six additional coats of 40/60 clear dope
was put on the fuselage, cowl, and vertical tail, the fuselage weight alone
has grown to 78 grams (2.75 oz) as shown below.
At this point, I decided to completely assemble
the Cloudster as shown below in order to do a weight and balance check
before finishing with all of the trim and graphics and installing the
windows and windscreen.
The assembled Cloudster including the tail wheel
was placed on the AccuLab scales as shown below.
The total weight was 429 grams as shown below,
which is only 15.13 ounces. The model balance check showed the balance pont
about a 3/16" forward of the desired CG location shown on the plans.
The
Cloudster's continuous weight saving effort eliminating a few grams here and
a few grams there really paid off. However, now I am 0.87 ounces short of
meeting the 16 ounce minimum weight for the Speed 400 SAM event. I just hate
to have to add dead weight to a light model. However, based on these
results I am going to have to in order to be legal. So tomorrow I will
disassemble the model and air brush one thin coat of clear satin Klass Kote
on the fuselage, cowl, and vertical tail after all of the trim and graphics
have been applied. That should put the balance point right on the desired
CG. I probably will still have to add a little ballast to bring the
model up to the 16 ounce minimum weight requirement.
By the way, I thought you might like to see how
the tail went together on the back of the fuselage as shown
below..............Tandy
