Left elevator counterbalance

Joew · Post by **Joew** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:04 pm

I was finishing up (almost) my Left elevator and got to wondering. When did you guys do the rough finishing on the left counterbalance weight?

The plans show the right weight being trimmed, but not the left.

Do I or should I go ahead and trim the left one the same way? If I do not, how would I get to it after I finish the Elevator tips? Since I can not buy the wings just yet, I was going to do the fiberglass work.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

Post by **bullojm1** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:32 pm

Joe-

The left counterweight is intentionally not trimmed to compensate for the additional weight from the trim tab. Trim the right one as called out in the plans and more on. After the fiberglass is finished, its easy to lighten the counterweights by drilling the lead. If you need to make the counterweight heavier, drill a hole for a rivnut and screw some weight (large washers) onto the tip.

Joew · Post by **Joew** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:32 pm

Mike,
Thanks for the clarification!!
Have a great Christmas

cnpeters · Post by **cnpeters** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:27 am

But is the time to do this after paint or does the paint weight not affect matters? When did you guys do this?
Thanks

Post by **bullojm1** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:44 pm

Carl-

Good point. The counterweight should be fine tuned after painting. If you plan to paint, I think the suggestion is to leave the counterweight on the heavy side to offset the paints weight.