Forward Ballast
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:21 pm
Has anyone come up with a practical way to add forward ballast? The ability to add and remove some forward weight depending on the loading situation would be very nice. It would be a shame to have to land not for fuel or bathroom reasons but because you up against the aft cg limit. Or tankering extra fuel around not because you need it but for cg reasons.
I’m considering filling the nosewheel tire with polyurethane foam. It’s used regularly in farm tractor tires to improve traction and lower cg. It goes in as a liquid then firms up but still provides a cushioning effect. Getting the wheel balanced out may be a challenge. I’ve had very good results using an old fashioned static balancer on airplane wheels in the past. Finding a dynamic balancer that would take a 5” wheel would be even better.
Not sure what the volume of the tire is but getting 7 or 8 lb that far forward would be a huge help.
I’m considering filling the nosewheel tire with polyurethane foam. It’s used regularly in farm tractor tires to improve traction and lower cg. It goes in as a liquid then firms up but still provides a cushioning effect. Getting the wheel balanced out may be a challenge. I’ve had very good results using an old fashioned static balancer on airplane wheels in the past. Finding a dynamic balancer that would take a 5” wheel would be even better.
Not sure what the volume of the tire is but getting 7 or 8 lb that far forward would be a huge help.