No, not an experiment at all. It doesn't even require fancy calc programs, "Whattmeters," voodoo, or anything like that. That stuff's nice to have, but not really necessary if you understand the concepts.

You're still thinking along the wrong track. The motor is NOT where the power comes from, and is not where you should be concentrating your efforts. It's tough, but you have to throw that "it's bolted to the nose, therefore it's the source of the power" mentality out the window to work with electrics.

If you plan ahead, and figure out how much power you need first, you will have some criteria by which to choose the motor. Remember, the BATTERY is the source of the power in an electric. Batteries make Volts and Amps. Volts and Amps make Watts. 746 Watts makes 1 Horsepower. Horsepower makes your plane go.

Figuring out how much power the plane needs is pretty simple. It's generally based on weight and desired flying style. Keith Shaw came up with the original Watts per pound rules of thumb many years ago. These days, there are really only a couple that apply:

1. For glow sport plane performance, aim for at least 100 Watts per pound.
2. For 3D performance, at least 125 Watts per pound, preferably more.

This Watts per pound is for the plane's final, all-up weight with motor, batteries, and radio gear. With modern LiPolys and brushless motors, it's quite plausible and practical for the plane to come out within the manufacturer's recommended weight range, so you can use the high end of that recommended weight range for your estimates. If you're using NiCd or NiMH, you'll have to figure on going 20% over. You don't have to nail the weight to the ounce, you just have to be within 10%-15%.

Once you have a Watts figure, you split it into Volts and Amps to size your battery pack. I like to keep my power systems on .25-.60 glow conversions at 40 Amps, because it gives a good balance of weight vs. duration. You don't have to haul around a super-heavy, high-voltage pack to support a low current, and you don't have to put up with 2-minute flights.

With Volts and Amps in hand, you can now go motor shopping. All motors have maximum cell count (in terms of NiMH/NiCd cells) and current ratings. Figure one Volt per NiCd/NiMH cell, and that's one less calculation you have to do

Having a cell count and maximum current narrows your choice of motors greatly. Now, you can concentrate on whatever factors are most important to you, such as price, weight, and/or quality.

To gear or not to gear? That's another post for later. I gotta get to work.

I know, lots of words, but the entire process takes a couple of minutes at most and is actually quite simple. Electrics are more complicated, but that's the nature of the beast. You're building your "engine" from individual components, not buying it predetermined and preassembled like a glow engine.