I'm putting together a flight box and need suggestions on choosing the best power panel to install. I'm not concerned with price as much as getting one that I don't have to upgrade later. Please send pictures if available, and/or links to website.**any help greatly appreciated**

Cermark has a control panel that will charge your glow starter Nicad, checks it's 12V internal battery and tops off the airplane receiver battery. $60.00
http://www.cermark.com/Merchant2/mer...t_Code=PANEL-L

I have one of the Tower panels.
It's worked for about 4 years now.
Still works but the glo meter died this summer.
I'd probably buy it again but I'm goin all cordless this season.
Either the hobbico or the tower panel would be a good choice for $19.99
The $29 hobbico one seems to only have a different glo driver setup and a main battery meter for 10 bucks more. (the gloplug sensor might be cool)
They all have the cordless glo driver charger on em.
I think quality wise these 3 (tower and hobbico) are prob the same.
I have not seen the Cermark panel yet but I'm gonna look it up.

Power panels and electric fuel pumps 'come and go' for some strange reason.....I've seen relatively 'new' power panels quit working and I've also seen some real 'OLD' ones still working - go figure. Fuel pumps rarely last two seasons, one if you fly a lot!

Jerry

I done away with the power panel all together and went with a manual pump and a self contained starter, that way I don't need a battery in my flight box and it's a lot lighter to carry. Just the radio,starter, fuel bottle[1 qt-2qt] and hand pump.plus a few tools. Anything else I might need is as close as the car. Over the yeats I built many flight boxes, some carried everything but the kitchen sink and came to the conclusion all that parfineilia was not needed.I could have everything for extensive workover in the car and not have to carry it around.

I second the vote to skip the panel.

With the little Nicd glow ignitors, the primary use of the panels is outdated and useless. They were developed to aid in providing reliable glow plug power.

The pre- "Hot-Shot" days... you either used a "doorbell" battery (appx 2.5 inch dia 7 inch tall 1.5 volt) or yo used a power panel... the doorbell batteries were somewhat unreliable, as you never knew how lng the thing had been on the shelf. (somtimes they were good for just one start... sometimes 6 months of use...) These heavy batteries were expensive and you had to deal with the wires from them to the engine. (so the wires from the panel were not considered incovenient then)

Power Panels were THE sign you were a knowledgeable modeler in some clubs. If you didn't use one... you didn't know what you were doing.

NOW, you have that nifty little Hit-Shot or Ni-Starter (or whatever brand..) and don't have to worry about wrapping the power panel's (or doorbell battery's) wires through the prop. You have a nice little power pack affixed firmly to the bttom of your starter. (no wires in the prop again... this is looking GOOD!)

What's left to plug in that Power panel? The electic fuel pump... well those things are about as reliable as a snowball in a microwave on full power. (to update an old saying...) Skip the $10 to $25 electric pump because they never last more than a couple of months. Get a "Six Shooter" and it will last you till you crush it. You can whack it and break it... it won't wear out from pumping fuel.

Now the power panel is sitting there doing NOTHING. Just a decoration on that overpiced toolbox you got. (there's better choices than the flite box kits too.)

I also skipped the panel. Mine flight box already had the cut out. So I covered a piece of 1/4" ply with monocoat to fit the hole. Then put two brass bolts through it connected to the battery. The pump and starter I use have clips on them already. They just clip to the brass bolts and it works great. I don't like the glow drivers with a cord on them so it was not an issue. This set up has worked great for 15 years.

David