What you need
- A ruler or tape measure, or a photo of the wing
Steps
- Open the aircraft and tap Calculate CG. Or open Bench and tap CG calculator.
- Under CG preset, choose Tailed for most aircraft, or Flying wing.
- Under Wing shape, choose Tapered for a wing with one straight taper.
- Measure one half of the wing. Enter the root chord, tip chord and half-span.
- Enter Tip LE sweep: how far the tip's leading edge sits behind the root's.
- Read the CG from the root leading edge, and mark it under both sides of the wing.
- Tap Save to keep the result with the aircraft.
Good to know
- 28% of the MAC is a safe first-flight target for a tailed aircraft.
- For a wing with more than one taper, choose Multi-panel and add a row for each panel.
- Tap Measure with camera to fill in the sizes from a photo instead.
- Compare the result with the kit or plans. If they differ, start with theirs and fly carefully.
Words used here
- CG
- Center of gravity: the point where the model balances. Too far back makes it unstable. Too far forward makes the nose hard to lift.
- MAC
- Mean aerodynamic chord: the average front-to-back width of a tapered wing. CG positions are given as a percentage of it.
- Chord
- The width of a wing or control surface, from its leading edge to its trailing edge.
- Root
- The inner end of a wing or stab, where it meets the fuselage.
- Tip
- The outer end of a wing or stab.
- Span
- The width of the wing from tip to tip. Half-span is one side, from the centerline to the tip.
- Sweep
- How far the tip's leading edge sits behind the root's. Forward sweep is a negative number.
- Leading edge
- The front edge of a wing, stab or control surface.