ORIGINAL: overbored77
Example: the hobbico electristar trainer comes with an outrunner
motor comparable to a .40 size glow and uses a 14.8 volt 3200 MAH
Lipo battery. If you were to put this systen in a low wing
intermediate style plane it would not have the power to make it
perform as desired,
Basically it will still have the power of the trainer.
To get better performance you would have to upgrade the Motor, ESC,
and Battery, this will cost more than the trainer did.
Not that I disagree with your points....
The Electricstar comes with NiMH batteries not LiPo's.
These can be upgraded to LiPo's. With LiPo's installed the plane pulls just like a .40 equipped plane.
Have you tried one this way?
The motor is more than sufficient to move over to another .40 sized plane. Only the batteries need to be changed. The supplied motor works just fine with larger props.
On the other hand there certainly are advantages to starting out with a glow plane... too.
ORIGINAL: overbored77
The cost of the electric setup is also a factor. Using the electristar
as an example again, You can use 8cell NIMH batteries and get about 6-8
minutes of flying, or you can use the 14.8 volt 3200 mah lipo and
get 12+ minutes of flying. The 8 cell packs cost $50 for 2 packs and for
a good day of flying you will need like 4 or 6 packs (uses 2 at a time).
Well, two sets of NiMH packs or two sets of LiPo's will suffice with a good fast charger.
We have these planes flying at our field all the time as trainers, and two pack sets work just fine for everyone.
ORIGINAL: overbored77
The Lipo cost $160, and you will need 2 or 3.
You can get these MUCH cheaper if you look though... ( HobbyCity, etc. )...
Like Glow, there is an initial investment in anxillary hardware and equipment when getting into this stuff.
Some of these costs can be spread out over time.
Much like putting together a good field box, judicious purchases with packs and chargers can take things a long way later.
A more expensive charger, though hard to swallow at first, will suffice for many different electric planes...
A newbie getting into this stuff finds it very hard to swallow all of the added costs...
Many here rightly suggest they opt for the better but more expensive equipment initially as they can leverage this over time.
A better radio will last you much longer and suffice for many different planes, lessening the overall costs in transmitters, that you will have.
IMHO the entry price of Glow is easier on the wallet when starting out.