how to make a prebuilt balsa plane lighter

flylow

207
I have a Sig Somethin Extra that i built awhile ago, I recently bought the parts to convert it to electric. But of course the inevitable happened and the plane was way to tail heavy. So i had to add over 500 grams to the nose to make it correct. It flew alright but when i was landing the plane, it was a rocket ship, before the conversion it was a nice gentle flyer.

So anyways I was wondering if anyone out there has had this problem in the past and had to lighten up their plane. Or if you have any ideas that would be greatly appreciated.
 

flylow

207
Ok, Here is the actual plane, and you can see that I've gutted out where the gas tank was located and I'm in the process of building the battery tray, so the battery is all the way up. something extra top view.jpg But the esc i bought does not include the bec so i am using a spektrum nimh battery pack for the electronics, which is alright because i can have control if the zippys or the motor fail, then i am using 2 1500mah 3s zippys for the motor. electric somethin setup.jpg I'm sorry if the photos are sideways
 

pgerts

Old age member
Mentor
Holes will make the plane - specially the tail lighter.
061203-a.JPG


It can also be done with an old plane.
lik1.JPG

This plane is converted from IC to electric - a picture from the same plane flying today and a few 100 grams lighter than original .
120401-02.JPG
 

flylow

207
Yeah that would be ideal, but the problem is I am going to hate myself to have to uncover it. But i guess thats the only way to do it right. I guess it might be a calling from the rc gods to fix my first monokote job. But now that i think I'm going to uncover it what else could i look for on a plane that is built for nitro?