Scales and Balances

Fly Right, Fly Light

Weight is the enemy of a good flying model. Any excess weight that can be removed will reduce wing loading, increase duration, and decrease flying speeds. Inertia will also be reduced. This will mean less damage when your model colides with the inevitable wall or tree as well as other unexpected obstacles.

The best way to build a light model is to weigh everything while building, and think about how to make parts lighter. Using the lightest materials for the job, leaving out unnecessary structure, reducing dimensions, eliminating excess glue and other tricks are all adopted by top modelers as they build their models.

Many different devices are available to weigh model parts, and completed models. Some are commercially available, others are designed and made by ingenious modelers.

I regularly use 5 different scales. Select them to see pictures and specific notes.

  1. digital pan scale
  2. reloading pan balance
  3. beam balance
  4. Pelouse clip scale
  5. wire spring scale


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Copyright 1998, Thayer Syme. All rights reserved