Compared to aileron balancing, my elevators are turning out to be a challenge, the simple reason being that with the ailerons, the center of mass is significantly below the hinge line. The elevator hinges are on the centerline (or at least they are supposed to be). My hinges turn out to be a hair low, thus the elevator center of mass is above the hinge line and I cannot get the counterweight arm to stay in position at about 3/4" below the HS before applying paint (I'll call this the reverse pendulum effect). When the elevator is deflected up or down, it tends to want to keep on going (slowly) to full deflection...

Now, if I flip the elevator over and reposition it on my balancing jig, the center of mass is now slightly below the hinge line and if it were attached to the plane, I'd be in inverted flight :-) :-) .

So, without a doctorate in physics, my simple minded reasoning says that I should balance the inverted elevator such that the counterweight maintains a position of about 3/4" above the HS mark on my jig, prior to paint.

All, please feel free to poke holes in this logic or confirm that this would be another way to skin the cat.

Thanks,

Angier Ames