Vanessa CG Rig for RC Airpanes

thingiverse

This is my version of a Vanessa CG Rig / Machine. I wanted to have a simple way of adjusting level with out friction fit. Thanks to bargoraj90 https://www.thingiverse.com/bargoraj90/about who shared his Worn Gear Box https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2618323. I liked the simplicity of the design but I needed to reduce by 50% scale. There were a few parts I needed to modify but it was a great start to this project. I needed to make the gear shaft hollow for the wooden dowel 5/16" 0r 8mm diameter x 18" or 450mm long(length is a preference). I used 0.156" x 50' Braided Nylon Rope from Lowes to hang the device. I did use 6 small screws to hold the gear box together but after making the case with locking wedges the screws are really not needed. I turned down a 12mm bolt into a Plumb Bob, so you'll need to find or make something similar. I used an outdoor heavy duty sewing thread to hang the plumb bob with a small adjuster (similar to tent stake adjuster) to get the plumb bob to hang just over the aircraft without touching. The plumb bob will point directly at the CG. Tune by adding nose or tail weight and re-level the Horizontal Stabilizer until you are on or forward slightly from the design CG. Depending on the size of the airplane you are balancing the suspender string / rope may need to be different length. I used nylon rope and melted the 2 ends together to have one continues loop (try with nots until the desired length). Wrap 4-6 times around the dowel rod depending on the amount of friction needed in a mirrored pattern left compared to right. Suspend the aircraft around the fuselage in front and behind the wing. The suspension rope should go around the fuselage not the wings. Most parts are designed to be symmetrical minus the gear box for ease of assembly. If you are interested in printing airplanes that are remote control, check out 3DLabPrints. I have made many and flown a few.