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Originally Posted by
Mike Switzer
50lb of ballast that I can move from the nose to the CG will fix the problem. I hate the thought of carrying around 50 lb of dead weight.
And if you're expecting other folks to build and fly the aircraft, there's always someone who will forget to move the weight or decide it's not necessary.
Also, there can be effects that even the professional designers don't anticipate. Recall the crash of the BD-12 on its first flight:
"During the flight the pilot said the '...longitudinal handling qualities were found to be undesirable and a proper 'flare' aircraft attitude was not achieved prior to touchdown.' When the airplane touchdown occurred, the landing gear failed.
"The pilot said the center of gravity (C.G.) calculations placed the C.G. at the mid-range point on the C.G. envelope before flight. He said that he and engineering personnel from the company decided that the airplane had an aft C.G. during their analysis of the accident. The pilot also said that the airplane's fuselage had a forward aerodynamic center due to its elliptical shape. According to the pilot both factors created a longitudinal control problem with the amount of up stabilator deflection available."
The BD-12 had required ballast in the nose to get the CG forward to the point where the engineers thought it was mid-range. And, it apparently wasn't.
You're right to be considering the mechanical issues more than the aerodynamic ones, right now... the more you depart from the Long-EZ planform, the more risk you're taking.
If you decide to go with a side-by-side setup, you might look into the Cozy and see how they handle it the CG issues.
Ron Wanttaja