balancing airplane

[Lucky Strike]

Hi
This is my first post. I have recently started flying again after a few year lay-off.
I bought this RTF 60 size trainer from Tower hobbies, comes with a OS 65, and everything already put together. Flys sweeeeet for something that took 5minutes to finish.
My question is, I think the plane is just a tad nose heavy(no gas in tank). A park advisor said to fix that or it'll be tougher to fly and especially land.
SHould I make sure that the nose is not nose heavy, and how far back from the bottom of the leading edge do I place my fingers to test for balance.

Regarding battery cyclers, can some recommend something to cycle/recharge the bats in the plane and Tx? Also would be nice if could cycle the lead calcium battery I'm using for the power prop spinner.
thanks for any help
John

[Dave Robelen]

Hi John,
Regarding the balance issue. Measure the chord (width) of the wing. Multiply that by .3, and use that as the distance back from the LE to balance the model. There is also a flight test that works quite well. Get some altitude, and put the model in a shallow dive at medium throttle. If it starts to raise the nose and recover, it probably is still noseheavy. Ideally, it should continue on the dive angle you set until you pull it out. It takes a bit more elevator to land a noseheavy model, but the alternative of tailheaviness is much worse.
Regards, Dave

[Lucky Strike]

thanks Dave, how about battery chargers/cyclers? I never really used to use one when I was flying before, do most flyers have them and which is a good one for charging the plane and Tx batts and maybe also the 12volt lead/calcium for the starter.
thanks
John

[Dave Robelen]

Hi John,
I am fond of the Triton sold by Great Planes. It will charge and discharge just about any battery you are likely to use in the hobby, and for all the features, the price is reasonable.
Regards, Dave