LW1 Lightwing

[ron dunn]

Hello all. We have an LW1 Lightwing 25- 0230 and I am trying to find out the fore and aft C of G limits for these aircraft.

 

W have removed a lot of useless junk that the previous owner fitted and will need to do a weight and balance.

 

I know I could rind Howie but he seems a little reluctant to discuss the old LW1.

 

 

[silvercity]

Has anyone contacted you about this Ron?

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Hello all. We have an LW1 Lightwing 25- 0230 and I am trying to find out the fore and aft C of G limits for these aircraft.W have removed a lot of useless junk that the previous owner fitted and will need to do a weight and balance.

I know I could rind Howie but he seems a little reluctant to discuss the old LW1.

Ron, I fly a later GR 912. The Lightwing uses a standard Clark Y airfoil on the wing.....it is what many other aircraft types use, and it is know for its stability in pitch and fairly wide CG range. The Lighwings were designed as trainers after all. I have flown a few other Lightwings including 032 the first factory production one, and the GA model with the smaller wing. I've never flown any where there is a hint of pitch sensitivity in respect to CG range. If you can dig up the Clark Y airfoil data you will see where the GC should be, and probably even the degree of range that the airfoil will tolerate. Unless someone has made any major alteration or unorthodox shifting of either engine or battery position, I doubt you would have any trouble flying and controlling the aircraft. Additionally the elevators are of a sufficient size to generally overcome any pitch stability requirements.

 

 

[ron dunn]

We have found the information that we were looking for. I have owned 2 other Lightwings in the past - a new GR582 and an older LW1 with a 582 fitted and found these to be no problem re a forward c of g.

 

This aircraft has had a 618 fitted some years ago and also a Warp Drive 3 blade adjustable prop and it looks like the tires are a larger profile than the standard.

 

The flooring looks like it has been carried further under the seats than I seem to recall. The seats are not the original sling type but are individual fibreglass units.

 

The aircraft flies nicely but computes out a little forward of the forward c/g limit.

 

Cheers