Vintage Catalina PBY5a
12-08-2009, 06:40 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Vintage Catalina PBY5a
I am in the planning stages of building the Vintage 108" Catalina
and considering making it electric powered. Researching combinations
I have come up with a pair GP Rimfire .80 50-55-500 Outrunner brushless
motors swinging Graupner 12-8 3-bladed props, Castle Creations Phoenix
ICE 75 ESC's, and either 2 banks of 18 C-sized 6000 mah NiMHs or one bank
of D-sized 12000 mah NiMHs. Estimated weight of the aircraft with both main
retractable landing gear & retractable tip floats will be in the 22-24 pound range.
Battery weights estimated at 36 C-sized cells 6.3 pounds or 18 D-sized cells
6.45 pounds. The aircraft will be built for both land & water operation.
What would be the approximate flight time on the above combination?
Not really interested in using Lipos which have 1/3rd of the cell life of above
NiMHs.
Bill D.
and considering making it electric powered. Researching combinations
I have come up with a pair GP Rimfire .80 50-55-500 Outrunner brushless
motors swinging Graupner 12-8 3-bladed props, Castle Creations Phoenix
ICE 75 ESC's, and either 2 banks of 18 C-sized 6000 mah NiMHs or one bank
of D-sized 12000 mah NiMHs. Estimated weight of the aircraft with both main
retractable landing gear & retractable tip floats will be in the 22-24 pound range.
Battery weights estimated at 36 C-sized cells 6.3 pounds or 18 D-sized cells
6.45 pounds. The aircraft will be built for both land & water operation.
What would be the approximate flight time on the above combination?
Not really interested in using Lipos which have 1/3rd of the cell life of above
NiMHs.
Bill D.
12-08-2009, 10:12 AM
#2
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RE: Vintage Catalina PBY5a
point one: go with the single battery pack (or two in parallel). Using two separate packs creates the possibility of an engine (motor) out situation. Point 2: in order to get an estimate of flight time we need to know how many amps the motors are pulling, but even if they were running at 50 amps you should get plenty of flight time. Use DriveCalc (free online) or the DMA predictor at their web site to get an exact figure.
Walt
Walt
