I'm trying to wrap my head around where to put my initial CG on my soon to be inspected BD-4. The battery will be aft of the cockpit due to engine weight (O-470 Continental) so the CG should be "adjustable" by battery placement.
A bonafide Navy test pilot named Ken Kopp years ago put his BD-4 through extensive flight tests and documented the results for the BD-4 website which has unfortunately gone away recently. I don't have his exact numbers but I do have in my notes from an earlier reading of his reports that the midpoint of his CG range was slightly past 25% MAC, about 13" past the wing LE. I know that this is an oft used place although I confess to not knowing all the technical details as to why although I THINK I understand it. However, being wrong has severe consequences, thus my questions here.
I understand the trade offs between fwd CG and aft CG locations; for those on this forum who have a better technical understanding than I do, is the above mentioned CG location a safe starting point for initial flight testing of a new airplane, assuming it is rigged correctly and built with proper stabilator up/down deflection? My wife (and insurance man) want to know!
A bonafide Navy test pilot named Ken Kopp years ago put his BD-4 through extensive flight tests and documented the results for the BD-4 website which has unfortunately gone away recently. I don't have his exact numbers but I do have in my notes from an earlier reading of his reports that the midpoint of his CG range was slightly past 25% MAC, about 13" past the wing LE. I know that this is an oft used place although I confess to not knowing all the technical details as to why although I THINK I understand it. However, being wrong has severe consequences, thus my questions here.
I understand the trade offs between fwd CG and aft CG locations; for those on this forum who have a better technical understanding than I do, is the above mentioned CG location a safe starting point for initial flight testing of a new airplane, assuming it is rigged correctly and built with proper stabilator up/down deflection? My wife (and insurance man) want to know!
