RE: Build A Bullet Proof Stryker (Brushless Or Stock)
Good job! That's always been the double edged challenge to me...Make it as fast as possible but also as cheap as possible. Anybody can just throw money at something and make it go fast. The only challenge there is pulling gobs of cash out of your wallet to buy MPH. Researching what is cheaper but gives you the same results, along with a little creativity to get you there...that's more my cup of tea. Mix in ways to achieve ease of use in the field and also hold up to extreme punishment and that's where I'm at...Old school Dark Side.
On that note, EDF prices and matching motors have come down so much in price lately (Thank you Hobby City) that they are a valid option for your average every day RC guy. I'm right now investigating purcasing my first EDF and a motor to power it with for a speed competition at the local flying field this spring/summer. There is still a lot of loose ends and scattered data out there to sift through and so far I've taken about four or five days of searching the net and compiling information. The combo I settle on should be a perfect match for a Stryker as well as the weight and size of my scratch built platform will be roughly the same. When I finalize my choice I'll throw some data up.
EDFs tend to be amp hungry, weak on torque, and have a "lag" on throttle response. However, they can reach some pretty impressive top end speeds, which is more what I'm looking for on this build. Sure, I could go the prop route and it would be much easier in some respects but it's time for me to get my feet wet on these. They also tend to prefer higher cell counts in some setups. That's what's taking me a bit more research than normal. I don't want to go past the normal 3 cell park flyer packs as higher cell counts would have no pratical use for my other planes. The 40 amps (to be safe) top end of my HXT 20C 2200ma 3 cell packs is my amp limit, so I'm looking for something in the 30-40 amp window. Luckily the variety of new EDFs and motors at Hobby City (United) makes 3 cell and that amp range possible. Right now I'm looking at 650g of thrust but still have more research to do.