Okiessss Thanks 4 all the help people!

NOt all electrics are toys. In fact, electrics are becoming the dominantsource of power for planes. They have these new motors called brushless motors which are very efficient and powerful. THe reason why glow power is still around is that it is much cheaper. I am still a glow flyer, but i also received a tiger moth from hobby-lobby.com with all the brushless equipment needed. It sot a bundle, so im taking my time with this baby. By the way, take a look at this site:

www.hobby-lobby.com

It is an international site that will deliver world-wide. IT has probably the best electric selection you can ever want. THey have great trainers too. Check it out. I think its great.

Samalot,
While electrics are becoming more popular these days, they are far from being dominant in the hobby. The popularity of electrics does continue to increase as newer and more powerful motors and batteries are introduced the market, but I feel that glow/gas will be the most used power source for a long time to come. But for many using electrics is more than a personal choice, in some cases I know that electrics have saved flying fields because they are so quite. But I do doubt that they will ever become "dominant". Well, at least in my lifetime (I'm only 41).

Ken

True, but a large percentage of the electrics that the average consumer will see are toys. This is especially true if the only "hobby shops" they've been to are the local We B Toys, the toy section of Walmart/Target, or arts and crafts stores that happen to have a token display of plane stuff. The toy vendors do a great job of using a fascination with flying things to sell cheap junk.

And that's exactly how Horizon Hobbies has sold so many of their Pro Boat Budweisers. They played up the "looks cool" factor, as well as the inaccurate "RTR Beginner Boat" lable, and sold hundreds of the "toys". Unfortunately, it's also how hundreds of these "toys" ended up as shelf queens and E-Bay fodder. Granted, the Budweiser is a hydroplane, but it's a good example of the "cheap junk" Piper Chuck is referring to.

BTW, Samolot, have you ever seen an electric 20% or larger plane? I haven't, so I have to agree with RCKen on this one. Your "off the shelf" electric drive systems can't handle much over a .40 sized airplane. Granted, I've seen electric Kadet Seniors, but that's the exception and not the rule. Nitro and gas powered aircraft will be the dominant planes at the flying fields for decades to come since they can handle wind better and cost considerably less than an electric with lipo's and a brushless motor.

I agree that electrics will NOT dominate this hobby anytime soon! For the simple fact that other than the many Toy class junk planes out there, Electrics are far more expensive! Just to set up a little 3d foamie type plane to perform properly is in the neighborhood of $300, & more if you really want unlimited vertical perfomance from it. The largest electric I've seen in competition was about a .60 size plane @ an IMAC event this year. It was dwarfed by the rest of the 28% or larger planes in the competition & I had oppertunity to talk with the man that owned it. He had $600 worth of lipo batteries in the plane, & $ 600 more sitting on the charger for the next round. God only knows how much the brushless motor powerful enough to fly that kind of weight effectively in competition cost. Not to mention the speed controller with a high enough rating to handle all the amps being ran thru it. That's $1200 just in batteries alone, where a .91 to 1.20 size 4-stroke would have flown the wings off of the that plane! For $250 to $400 tops depending on engine choice.
There are also many 2-stroke engine choices that would do it as well for even less money. The other thing you will never get from electrics regardless of how much $$$ you are willing to spend is the type of throttle response & feel that you only get from a real combustion type engine(IMO) Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to bash electrics here, I have a few & they can be great fun, I just want you to realize to get to the great fun bracket with electrics, plan on spending some real $$$.


Mark

Hello RJ1991,
Unfortunately this has turned into the usual thing of which is best,glow or electric.
Both have their good and bad points.In my opinion glow wins and that is that,for this
simple reason,glow is much harder work than electric,thats what makes it so interesting.
If you fancy flicking a switch and away you go in silence,go electric.If you want to learn how engines work,why they work,smell beautiful burning fuel,hear a fantastic 2 or 4 stroke engine,that you broke in and tuned yourself pulling your plane around,making it manouvre as close to the real thing as possible,go glow lad.Sorry electric heads,it's just an opinion.

Im not saying that electric will be dominant. I have now both electric and nitro engines. THe electric RTF Setup for my tiger moth costs around 650 (without radio gear). My easy sport with engine setup costs around 250 without radio. THe nitro setup is faster, heavier, more powerfull, and cheaper, but not reliable. THere were about a dozen of situations where i took off and the motor quit (I had a fualty motor andi sent it to repair where it got lost, GRRRRAARRH@!!!. Anyway, im not saying that any one of them is bettter then the other. If your filthy rich and dont want to get messy with your plane, go for electric, if you would like to hear a real engine roar and experience the beauty of the sound, and have fun tinkering, go for gas. None is better then the other. If they invent an electric motor that has .46 power, sound of a four stroke, costs 100 bucks (With speed control), that would be grand, but until then, neither is really BETTER then the other. I guess it was my mistake for putting that electrics will be dominant. I agree that gas wont ever go off the shelf in my lifetime (16 y old). I enjoy filling up gas tanks more then charging lipos.

PS: I was reading an issue about an ELEctric GIant in Fly RC. Check out pg. 58 of this issue: http://www.flyrc.com/toc_09-05.shtml
What % is this? I think its pretty big, but DARN EXPESNIVE TOO.

Strong disagreement with your conclusion about glow engines being unreliable. Glow engines are as reliable as the person operating them. With most of my engines I take them to the field, I fill them up, prime, attach the glow connector, and within a couple flips they are running. Then I give them a quick check to confirm the needle is set right and away they go. Most of the time people who conclude that they are not reliable have:
1) Bought junk, you get what you pay for.
2) Were unfortunate and ended up with a defective engine, but it's hard to understand how someone could form a conclusion about an entire class of engine after owning only one.
3) Never took the time to learn how to adjust the things.

I've got to agree with Chuck here. It's reckless to make a conclusion about ALL engines because of an experience with ONE engine. I find glow engines to be extremely reliable (experience based on my glow engines than I can count). All of my engines are fuel, prime, flip, start, and fly. Yes, occasionally a motor will burp and maybe die, but for the most part I can always count on my engine to run and run well. It's like everything else in the this hobby, it takes some time to learn how to properly set, start, and tune a glow engine. Until you do learn you will more than likely have problems with your engine quitting and being unreliable.

Ken

Ok my bad. I guess i bought junk, rub it in. Ill whip some cash out and buy the .46 AX then ill post my remarks. Ive heard nothing but good stuff about the engine. I am rather new so i guess im not entitled to make such remarks.

Samolot,
We are not rubbing anything in. Nor are we telling you that you can't remark on these issues. All we are trying to get you to see is that you shouldn't make such wide sweeping comments based on one or two items. Rather you should have made comments like "Electric motors are growing in popularity and there are lot of them out there" or "I've had a brand XX motor and I had nothing but problems with it." Those kind of comments are more accepted by the people here on RCU and welcome in any discussion about any given subject. You have to realize that here in the beginners forum we have to be a little more careful about how, where, and why things are said because of the nature of this forum. We are always getting new people in this forum who are just getting started in this hobby. When they come on here and they see a member that's been here for over a year saying that "glow power is unreliable" they are going to think that statements is a hard fact. That is why some of the more experienced modelers do hang out here to help in the forums, and why they will correct false facts that are put out, so that newer people don't get steered wrong. It has absolutely nothing to do with you at all. We do understand that newer pilots get excited about the hobby as they start to learn more about it, and they are eager to start taking place in these discussions in the role of somebody that has answers instead of always asking questions. It's just human nature. I'll let you in on a little secret, everybody in here (and I mean everybody) is still learning. Nobody here knows everything, and we do still make mistakes too. Hey, we're human too. So hang in there, we do appreciate you as a member of this forum and we welcome your participation in the threads. That's how you're going to learn things.

Ken

Well put Ken, Samolot, I'm glad to hear you're getting an OS .46AX I think you will be extermely pleased with this engine. I know I am with mine, and I'm no tuning Guru by any stretch of the imagination! It's still very new but not a single deadstick with it yet (guess I just bought me one by sating that) but that's ok too. I need the practice! Good luck with your new engine.


Mark

First off, i want to apologize for making such ridiculous remarks. Coming back to what RCken said, i just want to warn people that the tower hobbies engine is junk. Ive heard i from not only me, but everyone in the club. Its good for a few rounds and to make you a soloed pilot, but dont plan on keeping it. I put it on my second plane and failed. I guess i did kinda over react about the issue, and i shouldn't have mentioned things that i said. You can say that by meaning !QUOT!engines!QUOT! i meant the Tower Hobbies .46 Engine. Right now I'm enjoying my vacation here in Europe. Its frigid cold out here, and it wont stop snowng.

Hey RJ, hope this is getting your questions answered!

Only the questions he hasn't asked yet