[LASS Soaring] "Balance Does Not Affect Performance"

[GordySoar at aol.com]

Find enough lift and anything will go up....even houses with bad Fung  Schuai 
 in Kansas:-)
 
In the context of setting up balance for a contest plane, the last  
consideration for balance should be for some mystical performance  boost (since it has 
so little affect).
 
But most guys think some magic spot will extend their flight times by  
minutes over their poor moronic peers.
 
Some of us know why we want a specific balance point (communication of lift  
and sink versus airspeed changes) but I doubt many understand thepotential  
cost (in points) of having one dot more lead in the nose than is needed to  make 
the model fall forward.
 
In the context of setting up a contest sailplane,
 
 when is the elevator needed most to fight the  effects of gravity's pull on 
the nose, but is at its  weakest?
(needed most means for points).
Gordy



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