Ballast

lwford

lwford

New member
I'm curious , to ask if any Cruisemaster is carrying ballast back by the battery. When these were made lead acid batteries were the norm. I have been using a Concord sealed battery for years. They do not weigh as much. I keep a good bit of stuff in the baggage compartment so I emptied it and took the crate out for a run. It flew different and the trim settings were much different. That was when the thought occurred to me about ballast. I wondered if when they were made they had ballast or not. I once was involved with a Tri gear T-Craft( they made eleven of that model) that we found was missing a two pound ballast that should be mounted to the tail post. we took a two pound shot bag and installed it on the tail post. The plane flew markedly better. That ballast had been missing for 22yrs! Lynn the crate
 
Lynn,
I have seen a weighted plate installed by the battery box on some 14-19[-2] airplanes, but my '01B doesn't have this with no indication of ever being there. Like you, I seem to carry some items in the luggage box and the airplane trims out just fine. Dan
 
My 14-19-2 battery went dead this year, a Concorde RG-35AXC, it only lasted 15 years.
I replaced it with the same costly model, and noticed the ballast placard, also the weight was an envelope filled with fine lead shot.
The placard reads:

CAUTION!!

WHEN REMOVING BATTERY, DISCONNECT
GROUND CABLE FIRST.

THIS BOX CONTAINS 5 LBS. LEAD
BALLAST WHICH SHOULD NOT BE
REMOVED WHEN USING DAKOTA BAT-
TERY. WEIGHT OF FIXED BALLAST
AND REPLACEMENT BATTERY AND
BATTERY BOX SHOULD WEIGH 33.5
AT THE156 IN. ARM TO ASSURE
NECCESSARY LOADING WITHIN MOST
FORWARD S/C CONDITION
 
Shipchief, what does the ballast look like? Is it in the battery box or attached to it? I think with what you provided me, I will experiment with adding weight. Basically I need that battery box to weigh 33.5 lbs. Thanks for filling me in on this as I always felt the crate was nose heavy. The CG when I weighed it in 08 was 20.0 inches. This is near forward limit. I wonder what the S/C condition means? I assume it means forward C/G. Lynn the crate
 
Lynn, of the two -2 Cruisemasters I have, one has the ballast plate (N1313B which I acquired in 1975), the other one doesn't. Of the four -3 Cruisemasters, two of them have a ballast plate which I believe was original equipment. I can tell you for sure the planes fly and land better with a rear CG. Not surprising since the Continental powered Cruisemasters have a much heavier engine than the airframe was originally designed for and certainly never for that heavy nose gear on the -3. --Rob
 
Lynn;
Here is a pic:
There is a paper envelope with fine lead shot inside the box, under the battery. I should have looked more carefully to see if there is a lead plate attached to the bottom as well, but I just cleaned everything and installed the new battery, then continued with the annual inspection.
 
Thanks for the picture. My battery box was custom made from stainless. Real nice and I too have the expensive Concord. On top of the box cover is mounted an RV battery disconnect and it is very easy to remove the box and battery with this. This was done before I owned it and again no record in all the logs. Well boys this Forum is paying off for me. I sure appreciate the responses from my Bellanca Bros. Lynn the crate
 
Hey Lynn... I would love to see a picture of your SS battery box sometime when you have a chance. Thanks, Rob
 
Rob, I tried to send a picture but it says the file is too large. So much for the Forum!
All fixed now - RS
 
Thanks for the picture Lynn. I really like the battery disconnect setup... another upgrade to add to my to-do list!
 
Rob, I weighed the set up and it came in just under 35 lbs. This tells me that there is no need to add additional weight to the tail. The crate is still nose heavy so add some more crap to the baggage compartment. I'm involved with a T-tail turbo Lance that is driving me under with engine problems. The absolute worse plane I have ever been involved with 50 yrs! You couldn't give me one of these. Just venting Lynn the crate :D
 
Lynn;
That's a nice looking battery box.
If I ever need to replace the original, I would consider it, the extra weight being in structure instead of lead ballast.
Looks good too...and may qualify as a legal 'Owner Produced Part':
https://resources.savvyaviation.com//wp-content/uploads/articles_eaa/EAA_2011-08_owner-produced-parts.pdf

Yesterday, Marilyn and I took 9800B to WAAM (Museum) in a long loop South, going west of Mt St. Helens. We toured the Hood River valley and landed at Jernstadt (4S2) for a quick walk and a bite at a taco stand. Then home North, East of Mt Adams and Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.
Nice cloud breaks into a full Blue Sky Day and not much wildfire smoke.
Continuing to try low power/lean operations in the 4,000 to 8,000 msl range. It performs fairly well, but at the end of the day, an O-470 is still kinda thirsty.
 
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