tocano

I have a Sagitta 600 glider which have been my favourite glider. I used to fly it at my club for many years. In the last 5 years it has been sitting in the cupboard and I am now getting back into RC model but mostly electric planes. I no longer fly at the club and prefer to have an electric setup.
I like to know if anybody has converted Sagitta 600 to an electric glider? How the flying/thermalling characteristic will be? Could anybody point out where I can find info like the motor setup, esc, battery.
The main concern I have is keeping the weight down.

Thanks.

Tall Paul

I'm presuming the 600 is a 2M... I have the 900 still in the box..
Practically anything works with electrics, the combinations of prop, motor, gearbox and battery are limitless.
In my 2Ms.. Gentle Lady, Spirit, Spirit Elite, the Speed 600 motor with 3.5:1 box or higher, props running 12 to 14 inches diameter, 9 to 10 inches pitch, and the smallest high capacity cells will fly any of them OOS on a single climb.
Currently ( ) I've found the 8x1800 nicad that comes with the ZAGI 400X to be small, light, and with enough capacity for several climbs. I also use a 8x1300 and a 8x800.
Some of my planes are detailed at:
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/aerostuff
arrow down to "Electrified planes"..
ESCs need to be high amperage; over 30, and a prop brake is very nice to have!

tocano

Tall Paul thanks for the info.
Sagitta 600 is a 2m one. The 480 motor will probably fit in better since the fuselage is quite narrow unlike gentle lady. But power wise I am not sure if it's enough for the glider. I usually use Sanyo 600AE or KAN 1050 battery. The KAN battery probably is a better choice for the Sagitta.
By the way how long can the battery last for the receiver/servos control after the throttle cuts off? I am suppose I should get a programable esc so I can adjust the cut off voltage. We never know how long it will thermal on a good day.

BMatthews

I've always worried about ESC's for gliders as well.

BUT....

Fly it a few times doing climbs to thermal altitude until it cuts out. Take note of the number of climbs you get out of a charge. If you get 4 climbs then only plan on using 3 and keep the rest for the radio. If you're using 1400 cells that's 350mah per climb. Keeping one climb for the radio ensures you have AT LEAST 350 mah for flying PER FLIGHT. That way you can fly for an hour or more without concern. You can still stretch the approach with a quick spurt but always keep that final climb for the radio.

Howzzat?

tocano

Proudly wasting balsa since 1965

That is a good idea to count number of climbs per battery pack. By the way before nicad or nimh battery go flat and radio don't work anymore, do you get glitches first or just stop working? I know my JR radio gives me beeps many times and then it switches off which happened 2 nights ago when I was flying a micro heli Hummingbird.

Tall Paul

I haven't lost power to a receiver with an ESC/BEC, but I have with normal batteries. There's about 3 seconds of odd behavior, then a crash.

tocano

I think esc with progammable cut off voltage will be a good idea. I have thinking about the Sagitta, I'll probably sell it and get a new 2m e sailplanes with similar performance.
I'll search through the net to see what's availlable and what to get. They are so many choices this day which is good I quess. Thanks.