Hello Guys and Girls.

I have built a Sig Skyray and Sig Derwybird,
How do I go about balancing these little birds, I have a Great planes balancing machine, but it states no plane under 2 pounds.
Whats the balance point for the derwybird? cannot find it on the plans.
I am new to this hobby so any help would be great.

Thanks, David.

              David, one thing to be aware with on the Skyray is that they build tail heavy. Bill stated above that most come out nose heavy. This is generally the case with the exception of the SKyray.  The plane will turn quicker than you would expect and things can get pretty touchy. This usually ends up in a loop that breaks the nose off of the plane right at the front of the wing. Ca will put this back on and until you do it approximately another 4-5 times, you get the balance point correct. I don't know if you built it yet or your just asking, but putting a 1/32 ply doubler on the fuse extended back onto the wing about 1-1/2" would certainly be a good idea. The Skyray flies quite well. Keep your pushrod at first in the innermost hole on your bellcrank. The Sig control horn is extremely small. Although it works, a Dubro horn would give you some adjustability over the Sig horn. The Sig horn uses one screw that usually ends up allowing the horn to turn rather than staying put. It also has a tendency to crush into the wood. I always wanted to omit the triangular nose block on the outboard side of the fuse and install a Perfect tank due to the short runs of the Black Widow reedie. The Black Widow is a terrific powerplant coupled with a 5x3. The plane flies better than you would think. Ken

Thanks Bill.Jim and Kenneth,

lots to think about, and a few ajustments needed.