JWR

My Feedback: (1)

I recently converted my Hanger 9 Funtana 40S from glow to electric. I had a Hacker B50 13S 6:7.1 with a 4S4P, 4S4P Thunder Power LiPo pack and APC-E 17X10 prop designed for a Lark 3D available to try. This was my first time to try a glow to electric conversion. Despite the fact that the Funtana manual suggested a Hacker B50L 6:7.1 with a 5S4P LiPo pack and a 17X10 APC-E prop. I thought what the heck I have one thing right. Go for it! It took 1/2 lb of lead in the very front of the motor cowl to balance. The ready to fly weight came out to 6 & 3/4 lb RTF.Gulp! After double checking the balance and setting the recommended throws and everything else I could think of.
The only electric experience I have is with small speed 400 can and brushless size sailplanes or park flyer's. I have flow all kinds of glow power since 1971 though.
At the filed I range checked it and proceeded taxi out and with one last check of the correct control throws lined up with the center of the runway and applied full power with a touch of right rudder. The Funtana shot straight down the center line and was airborne with a touch of up in less than 40' and climbing with glow like power. I was very happy with the power and performance of this set up and proceeded to fly it just like any of my hot glow planes. The Funtana with this smaller than called for motor and battery pack will do all of the normal aerobatics except 3 D vertical stuff. I am now in the process of upgrading it with the advice of Zb at Esprit modes to a Hacker C 50 10L Acro 6:7.1 and a Thunder Power 2S4P + a 3S4P in series with the 17X10 or 18X8- E props. This tandem battery pack set up will fit side by side closer to the firewall eliminating the need for any lead in the nose. 3 D here we come with a great flying and beautifully made ARF. I am now going to fly with electric power only. No more Nitro GOOP or noise for me. JWR

Greg Covey

Nice job, John!

You forgot your pictures.

Mike Parsons

Fun isnt it?
I have a Mega 22/30/2 in mine on 16 HR-SC Sanyo 2600's and althought the flights only run 6-7 minutes..it is a blast.

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for your comments and the excellent pictures you posted of your conversion. I agree it is a blast to fly with e-power.
It took me awhile to reply because I wanted to show and tell you about the upgrade I did on mine after flight testing. I have attached a few pictures on how my C-50 10 L Acro W/6:7.1 X 17X10' APC-E prop upgrade looks. I also attached pictures of my old B-50 13 S motor mount, and as you can see the new C-50 mount I got from Zb at Esprit Models is much better. Also I sent a size comparison picture o the B-50 vs the C-50 Acro. I was able to eliminate the 6 oz of lead in the nose by using a 2S4P and a 3S4P 8000mah Thunder Power Li Po packs running in series. This allowed side by side mounting and now it balances perfect. I now have awesome vertical performance and 20 minutes run time with lots of full power vertical. JWR

Mike Parsons

Nice JWR. I made a hatch and rail system so I dont have to take off the wing every time I change out the battery. I used two nylon thumb screws to hold on the Carbon Fiber Canopy and the pack simply slides in through the cockpit. Gotta love E-power.

Doug Cronkhite

My Feedback: (34)

Nice job on the conversion. I'm just waiting on a mount and landing gear from Hacker USA to get mine going. I flew one on glow for quite awhile and it's a fun airplane for sure. My Hacker C50 10L powered is going on a diet though.. I'm hoping to get it under 6 pounds RTF.

Mike Parsons

DC,
You should be able to get it under 6 pounds easy if you are using TP's. There should be quite a few at SEFF '04 next year. I know of three that are planning to attend, so we can campare performance. So far it will be between the Hacker, Mega and Aveox. Should be interesting.

Mike

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks AlantaEflyer for your nice comments. I would be interested in seeing pictures of how you did your hatch and rail system. I just got back from another fun flying session with mine.
The Big Brown UPS truck just came with my TruTurn custom cut 2 1/4" spinner to fit the large 17X10" - 18 X 8" APC-E props for the C-50 Acro Motor now on the Funtana. I will post pictures when its installed. The C-50 shaft threads are not the same as the normal 8 mm Tru Turn adapters threads, so Rick at TruTurn has been working on a fix for me. JWR [8D]

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for your comments Doug. If you run two Thunder Power packs in series like I did it should help keep the weight down. Looking forward to hearing how yours turns out. I am also waiting for the longer landing gear from Hacker. JWR

Mike Parsons

Here are a few pictures of the Canopy setup. I had a fellow flyer make a CF canopy for me and it is secured via nylon set screws. The rail system is simply two balsa planks that hug the battery as it slides in. I will get some pictures of the inside this weekend and post them. There is also a Balsa stop epoxied 2" behind the firewall that serves for a perfect CG every time. Just slide the battery in and when it stops, your done. It is a very tight fit, but I still use a piece of velcro to secure it from sliding. It is very effective. However, if I ever went to Lipo's, I would have to revisit this method as it is a custom fit for the 16 HR-SC's. I would cut a hatch in the top of the fuse next time.

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the response, however the pictures you posted don't show up on my screen. It just says click on to see a larger picture and when I do it just takes me to the forum start page?? JWR

Mike Parsons

That is strange. I can see them fine. Lets try again

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, I have them now. I think you are right about having to cut a hatch to use the Thunder Power packs in series.

Good Flying, JWR

Mike Parsons

Yep, Something like this:

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Hey neat, did you already switch to Thunder Power batteries in series? If so Jason at Thunder Power has some Excellent advice on how to safely run and charge them in series. He is at 1-702-228-8883. JWR

Mike Parsons

No, That is from a fellow flyers Funtana. I use both TP's and Kokam's. I am using a 3S4P 6000mah Kokam pack in my 40E CAP 232. Great run time and the weight advantages are tremendous.

Greg Covey

The Funtana S is a great looking plane! I have been very happy with all the Hangar 9 products as they seem top-notch.

Atlantaeflyer,

Would you post your entire Mega setup please including prop size. It sounds interesting. If you have one, a picture of your motor mounting scheme would be appreciated also.

Thanks.

Mike Parsons

Here you go Greg,
Mega 22/30/2
MEC Superbox 4.6:1
Castle Creations pheonix 80 (overkill, but I already owned it)
UBEC 35v
4- Hitec 225bb (smaller than standards, so a bass wood filler was plugged into the servo hole to fill in the gap)
17x10 APC E
16- HR-SC 2600
Aluminum Mount from Espritmodels.com


I dont have a picture at the moment, but will get some this weekend.

Greg Covey

Sounds good, thanks.

Does the Esprit aluminum e-mount fit the holes on the MEC Superbox?

I like the 225BB servos and the HS-85BBMG servos because they are full strength but only 1/2 the weight of standard servos.

Mike Parsons

I had to make some modifications to that mount. Here is a picture of the one made for the Superbox which can be obtained from ZB at Esprit as well. This one shows the Mega and Superbox on the front of Chuck's Funtana

Aruba

Hello Guys,
I was thinking of converting my funtana to e-power also what do you guys think of this combo: http://www.hobby-lobby.com/brushless...axi.htm#412014 I was thinking of the 412018. I want to convert but have at least the same power I have now with my Saito 72.
If I use the above combo what batteries do you thing I will need. 2x Tp 4s5p?
Thanks,

Nelson

Mike Parsons

Hey Nelson,
Here is the problem with the AXI Outrunners (even though they are pretty good motors). To obtain the kind of thrust you are wanting will generate more amps than the AXI can handle. I calculate the amps at 48 amps (15X8 APC E) just to get a one to one thrust ratio. I believe the max amps on the AXI's is 50 and anything above that they start to demagnitize. They are great motors for a scale application where you can keep the Thrust to weight below 1:1. They are especially great for speed applications, in trading thrust for pitchspeed. I would recommend this motor for a Hanger 9 Mustang or something like it. I stand behind two motors for this plane that have been well proven. The Hacker B50 and the Mega 22/30/2. I can personally attest for the Mega being head to head with a Saito .72. And this is with a 31 oz battery pack. Switching to Lipo's (14 oz pack), it would be insane. The Mega's are good to 70 amps and in my current setup gives me a thrust to weight of 1.5:1 at about 54 amps. It easily pulls out of a hover. I recommend this power system as a cheap and effecient to use for the conversion. I have seen a video of the Aveox F27 and it seemed to work well also.

Here are some videos to give you examples. These were the first videos taken of two conversions on the maiden flight.
This a funtana with the Mega 22/30/2 in it on its maiden by Chuck at www.dynamoelectrics.com. This is the exact same power system I run. He is a sport flyer and not 3D, but this will give you an example of the performance.
[link=http://www.dynamoelectrics.com/images/Videos/FuntanaS%2040%20Video.wmv]Mega Video[/link]

This is the video of a maiden unedited on the Aveox F27 Power system
[link=http://members.cox.net/hopsterflyer2/funtana_with_aveoxF27.wmv]Funtana F27[/link]

And it is always fun watching Jason Shulman hover his Funtana Pro
[link=http://www.rccraze.com/funtana.mpg]Jason Shulman purple power[/link]

JWR

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Nelson,

The set up I am now running in my Funtana (see above threads) is more than equal to the Saito .72. I know because I have a Satio .72 on a Tia-Ji 40 which is much lighter but it cannot equal my Funtana 40 S . It has the Hacker C 50 10L Acro W/6:7.1 GB turning a APC-E 17 X 10" running on a 2S4P and a3S 4P Thunder Power Li-Po's in series. The term "Unlimited Vertical" applies here. 1008 watts with 58 amps. Fun!!

JWR

VaParkFlyer

Hey Guys,
What's the advantage to running 2S4P and a 3S 4P Thunder Power Li-Po's in series as opposed to just using a 5S4P pack? Also, what kind of flight times are you getting? What are you using -- 6,000mah size?
Thanks.
Chris E

Mike Parsons

The main advantage in using two seperate packs is the survivability factor and adaptability. If you have damage to a 5S4P pack, then you are out of luck until you get the bad cells replaced. If for some reason they smoke, then you have lost the entire pack. With the seperate packs, you can seperate them in the event of an accident and if one smokes (2S4P for example), you still have a 3S4P undamaged and usable. The third reason is it is more flexable to adjust the CG with two seperate packs where you have only so much adjusting you can do with a 5S4P.

-Mike