Gryphon

I agree with you that the motor and speed control can take it.

They can actually take a little more. As in with a bigger prop for even more performance.

I have 3 cell lipoly so, my voltage of 11.1 Volts is close to yours, The prop I have on my Stryker is an APC 6X4. It will draw 15 Amps.
I am not sure if your Nimh packs would like to be full throttle the whole flight or not. If they get too hot, then just go full throttle in short bursts up to 20-30 seconds and then cruise for a while before doing it again.

Now this takes the Stryker's 480 motor to the edge, if you fly full throttle until the 2100 mah pack is empty the motor does come down hot.
After many weekends of this, I felt guilty and added a couple of heat sinks. It helped.
APC 6X5.5 will burn your motor on 11Volts.

Bottom line, APC 6X4 will give you a lot better performance in my opinion. prop is $2.50 and a prop adapter for 2.3mm shaft is about $5 or less. Not a bad idea to provide additional cooling for the ESC and battery.

Now since I do know that the ESC can handle even a little bit more, for $29 from hobby lobby you can get a Graupner 6304L motor(480). L means left hand, which really means reverse rotation, same as the Stryker. With a one minute modification of the motor mount, it fits on there. The motor mount loops need modification. The loop where the 2 bolts go need to be snipped on the very top of the arc, so a thicker motor can fit in. Cut off the other loop, but place a small section of the cut off loop under the motor in the same area after installing the motor(to support the motor and ensure that it is still straight). Zip tie the motor down over the area where you cut off the loop. You can pass the zip tie through the rib or go under the motor moount. Works great. Move the battery very slightly forward to re-balance the plane.

Motor Only: rated for 8-10 cells
GR6304L SPEED 480 L, 7.2V, Reverse
Rotation ...... $ 28.90


After I came up with this idea, my buddy did it on his Stryker, He would leave me in the dust. Part throttle he was faster and climbed harder. He drew about 17 Amps if I remember right, but he would never fly full throttle for long periods of time on his 11.1V lipoly pack. This combo with APC 6X4 takes the ESC to the edge. Make sure to provide plenty of cooling for your ESC, try opening the two air inlets and have the openings point at the ESC, I do this using increasing larger drills (by hand) and I finish off with a 1/2".

Have fun

Gryphon