Years ago this part of the project was such a distant dream and here I am.
Prep
Although the aircraft is not 100% ready all the items were placed in their respective positions so that the aircraft could be weighed and it's basic centre of gravity (CG) determined.
First Weigh
The first weigh is on all three wheels and determines the total weight of the plane. This was done three times on/off the scales.
Second Weigh.
The aircraft was then elevated at the tail to acheive the datum reference (cockpit canopy rails zero degrees) with the tail wheel supported. The weight from the two main wheels was then subtracted from the previous total weight to determine the weight on the tailwheel.
The total weight came out at 1103.5 lbs and the CG was 78.75 inches aft. The aircraft still has to be painted so I expect the total weight to increase by about 25 lbs. This is a little heavier than normal but the aircraft is a compromise. I intend to do a lot of touring with Jill and I wanted comfortable seats that were hard wearing for standing on getting in and out. The Classic Aero Design seats are heavy but superb quality and I think they will be worth the weight penalty.
The other additional items like autopilot, inverted oil system, smoke system, standby alternator and headrests were compensated by the wood prop to a large extent.
Jill and I are not Bubbas so there is plenty of useful load for us to tour and my CG is aft enough to make solo aerobatics nicer to fly.
Thanks to Alan from Planeweighs and Simon and Martin for their assistance. Another major milestone.
