Tip weight to expect in a Legacy

[Tim Wescott]

What tip weight should I be expecting in a full-sized Legacy?  A Brodak tip weight box will hold about 1 1/2 ounces of my favorite steel washers; I'm wondering if I should shove half an ounce into the outside tip, outside of the weight box, to make sure there's enough.

I don't want to run out of room in the weight box, but I don't want to start out with too much weight, either.

[Mark Scarborough]

lead is denser than steel, so takes less space,,

you really wont know accuratly because were the ribs on the inboard heavier,, is the finish thicker on one wing,, ya da ya da

so,, get some lead lad!
LOL
but maybe someone can give you a shove in the right direction,,

[Howard Rush]

The Jive Combat Team uses gold.

[Mike Griffin]

Tim I don't own a Legacy but I have had planes that size and I started with 1 ounce and went from there. 

Mike

[Tim Wescott]

The Jive Combat Team uses gold.

Yes, I considered that I could use golden washers instead of steel.  Perhaps I could grind down Krugerands, and drill holes in them.

[Wynn Robins]

it depends entirely on the model - I ended up using only 5grams in my last legacy

[Tim Wescott]

it depends entirely on the model - I ended up using only 5grams in my last legacy

OK, fine.  No extra weight, and if the box gets full with steel washers I'll use lead (or gold, if Howard will loan me some of his spare golden tip weight slugs).

[Steve Helmick]

The bassin' boys think tungsten is the way to go...denser than lead...and boron.    Not expensive enough to impress the JCT.   

Have you read PW's ImpAct article? Turn the plane upside-down on the canopy and adjust until the outboard tip slowly drops to the bench.  Steve

[Tim Wescott]

The bassin' boys think tungsten is the way to go...denser than lead...and boron.    Not expensive enough to impress the JCT.   

And really hard to machine, to boot.

[Mike Scholtes]

I have been flying a full-size Legacy for three years and have settled on 1.0 oz tip weight. No bad manners anywhere on the hemisphere. You probably already know this, but Brodak makes lead tip weights in .25 oz squares, with hole in center, that drop perfectly into the Brodak-type weight box. I put nylon or plastic sheet between each layer of lead, so the vibration does not produce so much (toxic) lead dust. Then a square of dense foam between top (actually bottom) weight and the ply/balsa lid.

You could use spent uranium fuel rods if one goal is to impress the JCT. Hammer them flat and away you go.

[Tim Wescott]

You could use spent uranium fuel rods if one goal is to impress the JCT. Hammer them flat and away you go.

I think those are made of uranium dioxide, not the pure metal.  So, less dense and harder to hammer.

AFAIK, depleted uranium has been used as a counterweight material for military and civil aviation.  It's very mildly radioactive, although chemically it's still quite toxic, so once it's encapsulated in something it's considered safe enough.

[Bill Johnson]

I think those are made of uranium dioxide, not the pure metal.  So, less dense and harder to hammer.

AFAIK, depleted uranium has been used as a counterweight material for military and civil aviation.  It's very mildly radioactive, although chemically it's still quite toxic, so once it's encapsulated in something it's considered safe enough.

We use depleted uranium as counterweights in Apache and Blackhawk rotor blades. I recovered one from a destroyed Apache. It's high density made for a great bucking bar shooting rivets. Just don't grind or try to machine it as the respirable material deposits in the lungs irradiating them. To the day you die.

I asked the question of my mentor "How do you determine how much weight to start out with in the weight box". His answer was to balance the plane laterally with the control cables rolled up and laid on the inboard wingtip.

Seems like good advice.

[Howard Rush]

Seems like good advice.

So many things do.