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Old December 15th 19, 01:45 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Peter Purdie[_3_]
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Posts: 103
Default Shifting CG In-Flight

Ralph Jones (UK Schempp-Hirth agent and father of 3 World Gold
Medal glider pilots) fitted a water shift system controlled by
microswitches on the flap drive on one of his Nimbus 2s he owned.
On one Nationals flight the electrics failed resulting in a CofG aft of
the aft limit, making it almost uncontrollable in pitch, and an early
landout. Quickly modified to fit an emergency water dump to the
aft ballast bag.

Before EASA, you could do that sort of thing....

At 05:10 15 December 2019, JS wrote:
On Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 8:57:57 PM UTC-8, Duster

wrote:
A friend has installed a system in his home-built glider that

enables
shi=
fting the CG position forward during higher cruise speeds (e.g.,

between
li=
ft, final glide, etc.). It uses two water reservoirs whose content can

be
t=
ransferred using a 12v pump. This is done, ostensibly, to reduce
elevator-i=
nduced drag. Does anyone know of other gliders outfitted similarly

and is
t=
here a demonstrated utility?

There was one prototype Schweizer with a trolley that could be

cranked
forw=
ard/aft.
Dick Brandt's Nimbus 3 had a Mercury weight shift ststem for a

while.
Belie=
ve George Moffatt wrote about it in Winning 2.
Jim