ELEVATOR BALANCE : Here we go again!

July 1979

ELEVATOR BALANCE : Here we go again! (From CP21, Page 5, July, 1979)

It may seem that we harp on about the elevator shape and balance, but the fact remains that the single most important parts of the airplane are the elevators. Recently, since CP2O, we have had yet another builder who experienced elevator flutter. It occurred at 120-130 mph and produced such a violent shaking, that he was certain the airplane was going to come apart. It turned out that he had extended his elevator’s trailing edge and found he had to add weight.

Unfortunately he added considerable weight only to the inboard, and none to the outboard counter weight. This is a NO-NO!! It is critical that any extra weight added to balance the elevators to 10� - 20� nose down (up to a maximum of .3 lb.) be equally divided between the inboard and outboard. Keep your elevators light! In his case, these elevators weighed around 5 lb. apiece, which is totally unacceptable. If yours are over 3.9 (lt) or 3.6(rt) balanced, strip them to bare tubes and start over. While we are on the subject of balance I want to clarify the method of measuring the 10� - 20� nose down angle. A few builders have been using the flat bottom of the elevator, which is wrong.

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