Two different incidence meters. The top meter is the Angle Pro from Hangar 9,
which is a digital meter. The second meter is the Robart meter. Both work great for
the needs mentioned throughout the column.
The Adjustable Stabilizer Bracket is installed. In the elongated central area, there
are two screws that will clamp onto the anti-rotation pin, which is secured to
the fuselage. Tightening and loosening the screws shown here will change the
incidence of the horizontal stabilizer.
Located at the tail of the ZN Line Extra 330S is the anti-rotation pin for the
stabilizer. This pin gets inserted into each stabilizer half where the end user can
then change the incidence of the airplane.
I am tightening the top adjuster screw. Once the incidence is found, it is mandatory
that you leave one of the screws stationary and only loosen one screw to
remove each stabilizer half. In my example, I only loosen the top screw slightly
on both stabilizer halves each time I remove the stabilizer from the airframe. This
guarantees that you will have the same incidence every time you fly the aircraft.
Before you check the stabilizer and/or wing incidence, you must first ensure that
the datum line of the aircraft is zeroed as this is the line that all measurements are
taken from.
After the airplane’s datum line is at zero, you can then take the meter and place
it on the stabilizer and wing sections of the model. Make sure that the control
surfaces are centered, though, or it may alter your results.
the fuselage crutch and press Acquire. Now,
the meter is zeroed! Pretty simple.
Now place the Angle Pro equipped with
the incidence bar on the wing. If your wing
features a full-span aileron, make sure the
aileron is centered. Then, take a measure-
ment, which will give the wing incidence.
Next, remove the meter and bar from the
wing and place it onto the horizontal stabi-
lizer and take another reading. Repeat these
steps for the other side of the airplane. The
incidence angles for both sides should be
exactly the same.
A change in incidence
If you find that you need to physically
change the incidence of your aircraft, a few
options exist. First, let’s talk about adjust-
ers. There are two different types, both
of which include adjusters for two-piece
wings and adjusters that are intended for
use with two-piece horizontal stabilizers
and available through Gator RC (gatorrc.
com).
