bnelson

I was given an old (15 years +) Italian motorized sailplane. I don't have the manual for it anymore, and when I did it was all in Italian. The plane has a 9 1/2 foot wingspan, T-tail, and is 48" long. The fuselage actually looks more like a tail-dragging airplane though. With the power plant installed it should weigh somewhere around 5-6 lbs. But what kind of power plant (motor, gearbox, ESC, battery, and prop) should I use with it? I would like both a brushed, and a brushless system. Would anyone have any suggestions?

Greg Covey

For an inexpensive brushed motor power system, you can probably copy my [link=http://www.gregcovey.com/sailplan.htm]2-meter Explorer[/link] sailplane setup using the $20 [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=magnetic+mayhem&FVPROFIL=++&search3=Go]Kyosho Magnetic Mayhem[/link] or Reverse motor depending upon your gearbox choice. If you have a narrow fuselage nose, you'll likely want to use an in-line gearbox. If you have space, the cheapie $13 Great Planes Electrifly [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0095p?FVPROFIL=++&FVSEARCH=GD-600&FVPROFIL=++&search=Go]GD-600[/link] gearbox works great on Speed 600 motors like the Magnetic Mayhem Reverse. You can buy on the other pinion gears to increase the reduction ratio for using a 10-cell pack or 3-cell Lithium pack. If not, use an 8-cell pack that can deliver 25-amps (or more) continuous current.

On sailplanes like these, a folding prop is nice to have. The white [link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/foldprop.htm]Graupner 12x10[/link] folding prop works great.

Good luck!