lov2fsh

My Feedback: (24)

Having problem with my Lancair getting airborne! Motor that came with plane just doesn't seem to have enough power! Anyone have one of these, if so, did you have any problems?

geeter

My Feedback: (110)

i heard many times this problem on the lancair. the plane is heavy with the ni cad pack,and the motor is just a 400 geared. not enough power. switch over to a brushless setup. with li-po battery. guys have done it . go on this site under discssions and put in lancair ep. see what others have done. you'll find some threads ....keep looking. going to brushless means motor,esc, li-po battery and li-po only charger. also the motor,due to the gearbox is offset,which presents another probelm. great planes really shoud have thought this one out more and made a nice plane like the lancair alot better in the power dept. what we don't know until we buy something,and it's to late then. check around it can be made to work just takes some time and money. the plane is good the rest is just not.............good luck.........RON

gluemaster

I have this plane as well and had to convert it to brushless and lipo to get it to fly. I'll post pics and more details later.

lov2fsh

My Feedback: (24)

Thanks for the replys. Haven't had very much luck with the plane, GP reuined me on electric, never again will I buy anything electric. But I have thought about converting it to gas. But I have to fix it first, seems like everytime I tried to fly it, it would get about 2 to 3 feet in the air and stall and crash!

gluemaster

The Lancair was my second electric plane. The first was my Sig Rascal ARF. The Rascal still uses the stock motor, gearbox and esc as well as a nicad or nimh battery and it flies ok on that setup as it has a larger wing and has been rebuilt a couple of times and any more power would stress the airframe. The power system that came with the Lancair is weak and you need lots of runway to build up speed. I have a Himaxx 3510-1100 in mine mounted where the stock gearbox was, an Electrifly SS 35 speed control and a Thunder Power 3s2100 Pro-Lite battery. I know after reading on other threads both here and R/C Groups a lot of people have hacked the front of the fuse off and made a new firewall. I didn't see the need to do that. If you upgrade yours to a brushless, lipo setup you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well the aircraft flies. The motor and speed control in mine weighed the same as the motor/gearbox and stock speed control. The big difference in weight came by using a lipo battery. Mine flies like a jet and lands soft as a feather and it slows down pretty good for landing. I'm still playing around with flaperons on mine. Don't give up on electric. Sometimes when I don't want to drag all of my glow stuff out I just grab an electric plane or two, or three, or four and go flying. The Lancair is a nice plane but does need some "enhancements" to be enjoyable. Also you don't have to spend a ton of money to do it either. There are lots of budget motors, speed controls and lipo's out there now.

gluemaster

Here are some pics of the motor installed without the cowl and when finished.

lov2fsh

My Feedback: (24)

I am not giving up on the plane just yet, just makes me mad to have to spend more money just to get it to fly! But your's looks really good.

gluemaster

Thanks for the compliment. Yes I spent a lot of money to get it to fly but the end result was worth it. When I did the conversion I didn't really know as much about brushless motors and lipos as I do now. I probably would have gone with something less expensive however I'm happy with it.

geeter

My Feedback: (110)

don't give up on electrics. they are the coming thing nowdays. there is more electric stuff every day. you just have a under powered plane,and heavy at that. remember brushless and li-po batterys....thats the only way to go. ni cads and nimh are for radios . i had an addition from presison aerobatics,and flew it for a year on a thrust brushless 2814-16 motor,castle thunderbird 36 amp esc and a 2200 20-c lipo. 32 0z weight and it would do anything i wanted. straight up to 300 ft or so at 50 mph, and flew for 8- 12 minutes using the throttle to back off once in awhile. one of the best electrics out there is a t-38 trojan from parkzone. foam, trike landing gear, nice looking and 170.00 for everything but the battery and charger. just add rx and connect a few linkages and fly,servos brushless esp and all included. you can get 12-14 minutes on a 2200 lipo and it flies great, and lands even better. also don't buy a plane with a gearbox.....don't need it. brushless inrunner or better outrunner motors only. on of the cheapest and very good motors is KMS from hobby people. hobby people.com. there are a whole list of motors from KMS. also value hobby has the cheapest li-pos. very good too. a 2200 -20 c is just 33.00 i believe plus 3.00 shipping. check it out...............good luck...............RON

sweetrex

My Feedback: (2)

I've grown to like Hobby People as well. I have two KMS motors and they perform just as well as my equivalent E-Flite Power series motors. The KMS ones are smaller in diameter as well so they actually fit better in tighter cowl spaces. My KMS 4120 has the same dimensions as an E-Flite Power 60. Maybe this isn't good but I've never had a problem. I buy all my batteries there as well. I don't do crazy maneuvers or fancy flying so they work well for my style.