I like the E-Power stuff for the EZ flying deal..next door park...back yard's. I like the foamy stuff for wild 3D practice. And thats what most of the guys at my field do... break out the E-Foamy stuff and fly for a little while...................................

Then.... go start up and fly the real thing.

Woody,

I pay $15.99 a gallon for 20% Cooper's Custom Blend. A local hardware/sporting goods store owner keeps the fuel in stock for us. Maybe you need to get in touch with Bryan Cooper to find out if you can get some of his brew. His user name here on RCU is "Fuelman".

John

P40LUVR,

I like the fresh air and flying with friends. Besides, I do not fly only electrics. My Byron P-40 will be done soon... [8D]

BTW, I fly the Realflight G-2 also.

Hi all,

Do any of you electric buffs know some good, fairly priced mail order sources for NiMH cells, Li poly packs, ESC’s, Motors etc……….. Web sites would be nice?

Clean and quite would not benefit me because the vapor contrail and engine noise helps my situational awareness for my aircraft and others. However the reliability, smooth running, reverse rotation, etc would be nice.

The motor, prop, and ESC cost do not bother me however the battery cost does. What is the best price per NiMH sub C cell have you guys herd about?

For me electrics just don't fit in. I LOVE the sound of HORSEPOWER!!! Four strokes talking to me at low rpm. Two strokes screaming at 14-16,000 rpm on a pipe. I love the sound of a Harley or a sport bike turning high rpm. And I really love the sound of a '50 Merc with a mellow set of mufflers. Oh, and F-14's at full afterburner!!!

Mett - sometimes its just the ease of having EP, I too love nitro engines but at times you just wanna take it easy, plug and play. I keep my EP to 350-400 sized motors ... I just got the Zagi Tazz, seems it can do a good 85 MPH, I wanna see if that is true.

First of all, I think there's no "one's better than the other." We're talking Apples and Oranges, so the different things take different actions/responsibilities. With the cost factor, the electrics in any size beyond Speed 400 get very expensive. Jason S. won the Nats with an electric powered Pattern plane, but he had over $1500 (easily) in the power system alone. And that's one battery, and one, maybe two flights from it before charging for at least an hour, with a custom charger for large packs.

Now, to me, here's the other part - He was carrying around a 100 lb. sandbag to put over the battery pack while charging. The potential, just the potential, of what those large packs could release if mishandled is what will keep me away from bigger electrics for some time. Would you want to keep a 5S4P (or bigger) pack in your home? Even your garage? How about several of them? Having several gallons of glow fuel tucked into the corner doesn't scare me like that does. I can pick up a gallon of glow fuel, drop it, and have a big mess to clean up, and be out $15-$20. I can pick up my little 2S 2100 pack, drop it, and it's ruined, possibly will short out and start a fire, and I'm out $55. Now I'm talking cost again....

Maybe electrics ARE cheaper in the long run. But it's a long, long run (at present time and prices) before that will be an equal cost option for a typical glow/gas setup. You can put together a typical .46 powered aerobat for under $400 bucks, radio included, and have years of enjoyment, and guaranteed 12-15 minutes flight times (if you set your engine right) for many years. I've got engines over ten years old that still run as strong as they were new. With an electric brushless setup on Li-Po's, you will amost double that, with a good charger and extra packs you will for sure, and I doubt you'll get ten years worth of cycling from those packs. Time will tell. I know the ni-cads are only good for three years or so before becoming un-reliable. Again, a different technology, but that's my experience. Some of the really old-time electric guys will have more data on that.

Finally, and here's where I get in trouble, is that I find most electrics "too lazy." Let me explain that. It is so easy to plug up a battery, and go fly. So you find yourself doing it everywhere, home, school yards, etc. Then fellows congregate up and fly them behind shopping centers, banks, etc. They plug in batteries, and they fly. Usually wherever they go, which is around other guys' heads, etc. It leads to a lack of discipline, which I believe will lead to injuries. That's what I mean, the lack of discipline that I've seen, especially among the elecric-only fliers. Yes, maybe the little park flier ony weighs 1-2 lbs. but have you ever been struck by one in the head at about 20 mph? What about the heavier planes? With the lack of discipline described, they seem to fly the larger planes in the same manner. (I've observed this.) I'm not slamming the whole electric crowd in ANY way, just relating what I've seen. No one would fly glow powered planes like that, yet the electrics have big props spinning thousands of RPM's also, and it's "Ok" because there's no noise attached to it. It'a potential, again, that people don't associate because your don't have the internal combustion engine whirring away to remind you of the dangers/respect one needs to have in dealing with model airplanes. Like all the instruction books say, "This is NOT a toy."

My Nickels worth,
phil in georgetown

Hello,

It appears that the reason why many of us don't go into electric because of initial set up cost, battery charge wait time, lack of tinkering, absence of smoke trail and realistic engine sound. Now I understand why some gas guys will be forever..... gas guys . Dai

phuff - sorry to say this, I am not a EP die hard, but you are looking at it in a draconian way. Of course with a large set up it will cost more than the national budget of some third world country. Someone like Jason DOES NOT buy his own batteried I think (I might be wrong) he gets sponsored, he is not saying that its cheap to go the way he has, its just a gimmick to show how great EP can be. Also, nitro fuel is very dangerous, it can easily blow in certain circumstances.

What you say about Jason's set up is like the nitro equivalent of a maybe H9 Ultimate with a Multiplexs Evo9 or even a nice Composite ARF 2.3M set up. The Hangar 9 will set you back about 4.5K I am sure.

What I am trying to get at it, this thread started about a simple query ... going EP. I think its not true that EP will give a tendency to be indisciplined ... its the same argument between NRA and Anti Gun lobby. A person flying at your local air field with a plane or heli can be about as dangerous. It all boils down to the flyer ... not the method of powering his plane.

My GWS Formosa cost like this:

Formosa - USD36
GWS mini servos - 12.00 each
Li-ion 2S1P 1,800 - USD17.00
Pocket charger for Li-poly - USD25.00

That is all it cost me (RC planes are expensive here) and I had a lot of fun too ... I love nitro engines and I am now moving into 1/4 scale and gas planes but I still enjoy my EP planes a lot. I got it brushed and brushless and I enjoy both. To each their own and if EP is that unsafe (lipoly or indiscipline) then the EP following will not be that big ... also you will not see the rise in EP products. Come 2005 and 2006 EP will be very big for sure.

Dai - keep it to 400 and below and for batteries stay within 2S1P or 3S1P ... its definately affordable. Don't fo near the 40 or 60 sized planes with 5S3P etc. I take EP as stricty park flying ... I got some friends who love 3D and they have the same plane as I do but they are on brushless and 3S batts ... I am happy with my simple set up be it brushed or brushless.

I like everything about electric.There is no doubt about it,the up front cost of electric in a 5lb.and up plane is more than the average guy is going to spend.Add up additional battery packs and it gets to be more.I think when the prices come down you will see a lot of conversions.Some will always fly glo or gas and that's fine to.I fly a little of both.I have to admit I have had more fun with some of my electric planes than any I have ever owned!!!!

joe - its Plug n' Play!!!