Ed:

I just wanted to let you know that I went to your "everything you wanted to know about electric flight" thread.

Outstanding job. Thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort necessary to put this together. It's very informative.

I've often used the "water" analogy to try to explain electric flow, current, voltage, and resistance (or impedance as applicable) so when I started reading your post, well, I had to smile.

I book-marked it so I can go back to it and read on.

As I am primarilly a glow guy, this electric flight is often confusing because there is no real correlation between glow engines and electric motor power. What I mean is what electric motor is comparable to a .46 glow engine? The current draw, ie. batteries and ESC's.. is pretty much self explanatory... as long as things match... as defined as: if you need 30 amps then it behooves you to get at least a 30 amp ESC and a battery pack. Match components that are capable of providing the necessary constant and burst current to run this motor also at the right voltage. (see below)

There seems to be more information coming out on the web from various locations about this correlation but it still needs work. At least it did the last time I tried to find out some specific information on what I was building and how to power it. It seems that everybody (meaning suppliers and manufacturers) has a different methodology and terminology for determining what to use.

I learned the hard way with my Bug ( The Bug www.lightflite.com ). I used the provided 2 cell LiPo pack and it flew great. Then I thought, well, if two cells works, the added voltage of the three pack of approximately the same capacity should work better, right? Ok.. we live and learn. The KV of the motor was fine with the 2 cell, but when I hit it with the 3 cell, well, things happened, and happened very quickly. Needless to say that I threw that motor out (an inexpensive, throw away CDRom motor ) and learned something about electric powered flight.. The components must match!!! As soon as I hit the throttle, the engine mount was not strong enough for the increased torque. This twisted in the mount and wrapped the wires around the mounting post. On top of that, it seems that the windings in the motor were not necessarily appropriate for the increased heat caused by the increased current draw and voltage (Ohm's law.. If resistance remains the same, increasing the voltage will increase the current). Soooo...

Anyway, I could go on, but you get the idea.

So, thanks for your work and for putting that where we can find it. It is really useful.

CGr.