meowy84

Just curious as to what's the smallest engine you guys would tipically use with a standard sized Rx, 2 mini (not micro) servos and 1 standard servo or just 3 mini servos? I figure .10 or even someting like a Norvel .074 would should be fine but what about going all the way down to a .061 Norvel of a .049. The aim would be a leisurely flying, not speed or acrobatics. Also, notice I made no mention of a battery pack...I suppose lets take a 4 AAA pack or something similar.

meowy84

'of' should be 'or'

Tim Wiltse-RCU

meowy,

There is no reason you can't use a .049 with standard size gear. Look as the size of the radio gear they used back in the 70's with Cox reedies!

Later,
Tim

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

Yep, Teaching my Nephew to fly on a Minnie Mambo with 3 channel full size Futaba radio including 600 mA pack and 3004 servos. Black Widow .049 with throttle sleeve. Flies great! Like Tim said the old stuff flew with much heavier gear.

Bob Harris
Early RC Models
www.earlyrcmodels.com

blvdbuzzard

I had a ball with a Black Widow powered Sureflite J3 Cub. It had all standard sized gear. I also flew many Ace Mach None's with full sized gear. They did have a high landing speed and did not like to stall, but they flew well in the wind. In one of the mags there were/are plans for a 50 inch span Taylor craft the uses a Black Widow. It flies very well as a small sized trainer with full sized gear.

There are plans for the 1/2a Goldberg Falocn that would fly with mini gear, I have one that is "E" powered and I have two servos for the alierons.


Dru.

BMatthews

I totally agree. An 049 to 061 will work fine with standard gear for casual flying. I'd tend to go with a slightly larger and lighter built model so the wing area can carry it.

Definetley not with an 020 of any sort though. 049 to 061 is certainly the cutoff for a full standard pack.

nekked_man_2000

I built a BeeTween from MAN pull-out plans, flew fine with a read valve baby bee, with a futaba 7 ch reciever and two s148 servos and 600mah battery pack. Looped from level flight and had a real flat gluide. Nice easy to build airplane too, built if over a weekend.

Austin

meowy84

As always thanks for the info gentlemen. Now, about those battery packs that you mentioned (assuming standard sized equipment with either 2 servos (rudder, elevator) or with the 3rd servo for throttle.) Are we talking about your standard 4AA box or something like 4AAA or smaller? Recommendations?

meowy84

Another question I have is are the .049-.061 planes with the standard size radio gear and a true r/c carb able to lift-off by themselves or do they generally need to be hand launched?

BMatthews

Battery packs are always the big weight and if you can go with the AAA or similar size and weight so much the better. But for the most part the models like the Stee or BeTween mentioned above will fly with a 4 cell AA pack and regular gear.

Taking off is going to be limited more by the wheel size and grass height. If you got pavement it's no problem even with the heavier gear. For grass big wide floaty tires will support the model best and offer the least resistance to taking off. But big wheels are often heavy unless you make up something special like balsa hubs with insulation foam tires or similar.

Weight is the enemy. For an 049 model to fly decently you want to keep the weight down to no more than 22 oz absolute max. 20 is better. But how you make that weight is up to you. Heavy gear and a light model or light gear and a heavy model. Either way it doesn't matter. Obviously you'll get the most grins and slower landing speeds from light gear and a light model but if the full sized stuff is all you have then go for it. It'll still fly well.

Bipeflier's new trainer with the larger than normal wing would be a great model for casual flying even with the regular sized gear.

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

Finally found the picture of my Nephew's Minnie Mambo. Can you tell he is a Carolina Grad? This model has 3 channel full size AA 600mA pack and regular servos. It will take off on short grass and fly well. Still a bit heavy for what I like to fly. Also needs a larger tank. To use as a trainer you need to be airborne more than the 3 minutes or so running time on the Black Widow.

Bob Harris
Early RC Models
www.earlyrcmodels.com

meowy84

As always, thank you so much for all the info guys.

sturmvogel

Meowy, you might even consider one of the models that Bob Harris sells. I just finished a Schoolgirl bipe from his company, and couldn't be more satisfied. The wood was excellent, laser cutting, and great plans. Not only that, but it flies great. Since it was designed back in the 60's large receivers and servoes would be an easy fit. Try it, you'll like it!!
Bob Peterson

BMatthews

To my mind the Schoolgirl is not a good model for a heavier flight pack. By the time Ken Willard designed the SG the escapement equipment was small and light and the SG could be built to around 15 or 16 oz without any trouble and it would fly well at that weight. At 20 oz I think it may be a bit of a pig.

Bob? Your thoughts on this one?

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

Bruce, I must agree with you. My demo model has a Tee Dee .049 with throttle sleeve, 3 small/mini not micro servos, regular receiver and a 600 mA nicad pack. (What I had available at the time) I have not weighed her in but she feels a bit heavy to me. Need to get me a set of scales. Flying is straight forward and predictable but she will not glide as well as my lighter single channel models. I have customers who have installed the lighter micro servos and battery packs and flight characteristics have improved 100% even to the point of thermaling. Like you I am from the old school of build them as light as possible. I too suggest if standard size gear is being used to go for the most wing area. Many times you can get models to fly that are heavy, the little Minnie Mambo weighs in at 27 oz if I remember correctly but it flies heavy also. With battery packs and mini servos at such a good price make up a small airborne pack and have some fun!

Bob Harris
Early RC Models
www.earlyrcmodels.comm

Silvaire

My Feedback: (50)

This thread makes me wax nostalgic about a Goldberg Jr. Falcon that I built in 1975. Setup was rudder/elevator, no landing gear, a Cox reedie, and an old Proline radio that I'd bought at a pawn shop. This was back when "full size servos" were FULL SIZE SERVOS. They even looked big back then compared to what else was available new at the time. It weighed WELL over 2 lbs. but actually flew quite well. I decided to "go to the next level" by adding a third servo and an exhaust throttle. Between the extra weight and the loss of power, getting up to 50 feet was quite an effort! Of course I went back to two servos. This airplane lasted for several months - longer than any other I remember owning at the time.

Arlen