Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers
Online Community of Zenith Builders and Flyers
Flaparon counter weights
Has anyone weighed their counterweignts after balancing? It would seem that this should be a known weight that would not vary builder to builder if the flaparon was built per plan. There may be a difference on the inboard and outboard flaparons. Your input appreciated.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by John A. Minatelli on
-
Hi Dave, first of all it is essential that you add the counterweights to your Cruzer so that the flaperons are balanced on their attachment points. I bought and built and now fly a 2015 edition I Cruzer. In my kit the counterweights were grossly overweight so I took them to a local machinist and had them bored out so that I obtained a drilled hole 3” deep and 2.5 inches in diameter (most of the metal!). In my case the resulting hole required no lead shot and I simply filled in the holes with 5 minute epoxy after devising a cone on top of the bored hole so that the cured epoxy actually is higher than the original tip. After the epoxy cured I simply sanded the front of the weight to reestablish the rounded shape. These are safety crucial counterweights because your Cruzer will definitely cruise above the 100mph range, thus the FAA recommends that the elevator and flaperons be balanced to prevent inflight control surface flutter which can kill you. Love flying my Cruzer (I am at 30 hours in phase 1 flight) and have no issues with the control surfaces. Furthermore instead of placing the bungee cord on one of the elevator cables from the side which others have reported causes too much side pressure on the stick, I attached the bungee directly below the cable thus eliminating that issue. I also covered the empennage portion of that cable with polypropylene brake line tubing so that any cable to cable rubbing grinds on this relatively hard plastic. This has proven to work quite well in my Cruzer and I don’t have to fight any stick deflection (the plane flies hands off this was). Hope this helps but you MUST mount the counterweights and they MUST be drilled or bored out so that you achieve a balanced flaperon. Sincerely, John Minatelli
-
Permalink Reply by David Banahan on
-
This may be Cruzer specific.
-
Permalink Reply by Carl Orton on
-
Yes. Due to the single wing strut and higher speeds of the Cruzer
-
-
If you fly before final paint, you should rebalance after painting. Same on elevator counter weight.
I am building a Cruzer as well. About ready to mont wings
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- Next ›
New from Zenith:
Classified listing for buying or selling your Zenith building or flying related stuff...
Custom Instrument Panels
for your Zenith:
Custom instrument panels are now available directly from Zenith Aircraft Company exclusively for Zenith builders and owners. Pre-cut panel, Dynon and Garmin avionics, and more.
Zenith Homecoming Tee:
Flying On Your Own Wings:
A Complete Guide to Understanding Light Airplane Design, by Chris Heintz
Builder & Pilot Supplies:
Transition training:
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty for all your building and pilot supplies!
How to videos from HomebuiltHELP.com
Developed specifically for Zenith builders (by a builder) these videos on DVD are a great help in building your own kit plane by providing practical hands-on construction information. Visit HomebuiltHelp.com for the latest DVD titles.
© 2025 Created by Zenith.Aero.
Powered by
