Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  4-8-2010
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Weighing The Monster - Part 1

Well, the time had come. I couldn't put it off any longer. I had to weigh this RV-8 monster. I've been pretty scared of the empty weight since I pretty much put everything including the kitchen sink in there somewhere. For the weight & balance calculations, you need to accurately weight each main gear wheel and the tailwheel. Though some magic calculations, you can determine what the center of gravity is depending on the various loading characteristic such as the amount of fuel, baggage, and pilot and passenger weight, etc.

But exactly how do you weight a big 'ol airplane? Well, a little surfing on the Interwebs and I came across a company called Longacre Racing http://www.longacreracing.com/ up in Washington State that makes four-pad digital scales for weighing race cars. They claim a very accurate reading, generally to within 1 lbs. There is a digital readout box that has four long cables that attach to four electronic cast aluminum scales. You place the scales down where you want them and then Zero the scale readout display. The aluminium ramp option makes getting the plane up on the scales a little easier, although I found that it was really still a two-person job unless your hangar was on a hill.

Once the plane was up on the scales, you just read out on the digital scale display the weight of each wheel. These numbers plug directly into the Weight & Balance formulas. Pretty sweet.

You are suppose to measure the Empty Weight *with* oil in the engine which I forgot to do. So, the first two scale readings where on the light side (relatively speaking). I weighed the plane both with and without the carpet kit installed. The carpet weighs about 19 lbs and is distributed across the CG.

Cont. Next Log...
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Longacre Race Car Scales

Longacre Race Car Scales

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Longacre Race Car Scales

Longacre Race Car Scales

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Longacre Race Car Scales

Longacre Race Car Scales

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