wrote:

Can anyone give me some ideas for temporary, but securable weight
ballasts? The situation is we're preparing for FAA required test
flights on our FIRST production aircraft. Weight will most likely need
to be positioned in the right seat area, and/or in the limited baggage
area behind the two seats. Wing bladders are not an option, nor is
anything requiring a permanent mount. A non-U.S. built model of this
aircraft has already been certified for U.S. flight. This is the first
built here; but is not a prototype or "test model". This aircraft will
be sold to a private buyer once it passes flight tests. This is the
reason for the ballasts needing to be "non-invasive". I was thinking
of something that could be bolted to the right seat mounts and/or
strap secured in the baggage compartment.

Any suggestions or sources?

Thanks,
DocS


Be very careful to make sure that the ballast
cannot shift in flight (of course). You may be
required to demonstrate fairly abrupt manuevers
(Stalls, etc) at full gross weight, and any shift
in the ballast location could be fatal.

My suggestion would be to obtain or build a sturdy
box such as a small lockable metal toolbox. The
box can be filled with lead shot bags to bring it
up to any desired weight.

The ballast box(es) should be securely fastened to
the aircraft at the appropriate locations for the
particular flight test.

For example, to simulate flight with a right seat
passenger, you could remove the right seat, and
fasten the ballast box to the seat mounts. You
would then ballast the box to include the weight
of the removed seat plus the maximum intended
passenger weight.

For the luggage compartment, you could use a small
suitcase weighted with lead shot bags, and secured
using luggage straps.

Good luck with it,

Don W.