A Poll on your weight and balance

ASW-27b 23lb on tail. Dry no pilot.

Mosquito A 46lb on tail. Dry no pilot.

1970 LS1-d

Empty

70.0 lbs
(31.75Kg)

With pilot on board, ready to fly:
48.0 lbs
(21.77Kg)

1978 Grob Twin Astir Serial Number 3075

Empty
Tail: 113.5
Main: 818



On Wednesday, December 5, 2012 12:49:48 PM UTC-5, soartech wrote:
All sailplane owners,

Please reply with the weight on your tail wheel from your weight and

balance sheet. I will calculate the average after a few days and post

it and the range. Reply on this list or directly to me, either way is

fine.

Thanks.

DG-1000 109 lbs without tail weights and empty cockpits

THANKS ALL for your helpful info.
I was simply trying to determine if my glider had a typical tail wheel
weight.
The first time I tried to lift the tail to install a dolly I was
dismayed to discover
how heavy it is. All I had to compare it with is the club fleet of
three SGS machines which all
have very light tail weights. It seems as if the older gliders
(Cherokee, 1-26, 1-34) are
almost balanced on the wheel whereas the glass ships are quite heavy.
Does this make them any trickier to land? I realize the flying
balance
is most likely different from wheel balance i.e CG and wheel are not
co-located.
The average of the single place tail weights without pilot aboard is
66 lbs. and mine
is 72 lbs. so I am right in the ballpark.
Has anyone made a simple lever-lifted dolly arrangement? Or do you
risk your back with
the poor lifting position that the tail boom presents?

I just risk my back. The Speed Astir 'Dolly' is just a post on a
wheel. That's nice, because you can't accidentally take off with it
on, but lifting that 90 lb tail and trying to fit the post into the
hole in the underside of the fuselage can be challenging.
The Janus uses a conventional dolly and has only 64 lbs on the
tailwheel. Piece of cake.
BTW, on the subject of weight and balance, just for your own knowledge
you might want to run the numbers with your tail dolly ON. In the
case of the Janus, the glider remains well within CG limits unless it
is being flown solo by a person that is lighter than me, or any of my
partners.

On Dec 7, 1:32*pm, soartech wrote:
THANKS ALL for your helpful info.
I was simply trying to determine if my glider had a typical tail wheel
weight.
The first time I tried to lift the tail to install a dolly I was
dismayed to discover
how heavy it is. All I had to compare it with is the club fleet of
three SGS machines which all
have very light tail weights. It seems as if the older gliders
(Cherokee, 1-26, 1-34) are
almost balanced on the wheel whereas the glass ships are quite heavy.
Does this make them any trickier to land? *I realize the flying
balance
is most likely different from wheel balance i.e CG and wheel are not
co-located.
The average of the single place tail weights without pilot aboard is
66 lbs. and mine
is 72 lbs. so I am right in the ballpark.
Has anyone made a simple lever-lifted dolly arrangement? Or do you
risk your back with
the poor lifting position that the tail boom presents?

On Friday, December 7, 2012 4:32:41 PM UTC-5, soartech wrote:
Has anyone made a simple lever-lifted dolly arrangement?

Of course:
http://www.cobratrailer.com/catalog/...roducts_id=144

On Friday, December 7, 2012 5:33:52 PM UTC-5, Dave Nadler wrote:
Of course:
http://www.cobratrailer.com/catalog/...roducts_id=144

PS: Tail weight of Antares 20E without pilot: 139 lbs.
This feature means that with pilot, under full power,
there is still adequate weight on steerable tail
wheel to provide excellent directional control during
initial take-off.
But don't try to lift the tail !

On Fri, 7 Dec 2012 13:32:41 -0800 (PST), soartech
wrote:
.... text deleted
Has anyone made a simple lever-lifted dolly arrangement? Or do you
risk your back with
the poor lifting position that the tail boom presents?

I'd recommend Mark Mocho's combination tow dolly with integrated lift
bar.
http://www.mmfabrication.com/towbars.htm

A very satisfied user.

Bob

On Friday, December 7, 2012 2:32:41 PM UTC-7, soartech wrote:
THANKS ALL for your helpful info.

I was simply trying to determine if my glider had a typical tail wheel

weight.

The first time I tried to lift the tail to install a dolly I was

dismayed to discover

how heavy it is. All I had to compare it with is the club fleet of

three SGS machines which all

have very light tail weights. It seems as if the older gliders

(Cherokee, 1-26, 1-34) are

almost balanced on the wheel whereas the glass ships are quite heavy.

Does this make them any trickier to land? I realize the flying

balance

is most likely different from wheel balance i.e CG and wheel are not

co-located.

The average of the single place tail weights without pilot aboard is

66 lbs. and mine

is 72 lbs. so I am right in the ballpark.

Has anyone made a simple lever-lifted dolly arrangement? Or do you

risk your back with

the poor lifting position that the tail boom presents?

I agree with Bob's comment about Mark Mocho's tow bar and tail boom lifter. It works very well and there are at least 30 or 40 satisfied users at Moriarty and there are many other users around the US! His website is: www.mmfabrication.com