Gas or electric
 

Hi I'm new to this and ready to buy my 1st trainer but not sure if electric has the same power as gas. thank you

RE: Gas or electric
 

wrong forum,

Sorry guys ...

Harry

RE: Gas or electric
 

There are electric power systems that have output equal to, or greater than, gasoline (or glow fuel) engines. I do not know much about electric power. All of my models are powered by glow fuel. A lot of people referto them as 'gas powered' because they have an engine but it is actually an alcohol based fuel. Models that are gasoline powered are usually big and expensive, and most are not suitable for beginners.

Old Sloppy recommended, or joked about, a few helicopters. Since you posted the question in the 'Airplanes' area I will reply based on the assumption that you want an airplane.

If you are new to RC, and you want a trainer airplane, RCKen (RCU moderator and experienced instructor) has put together a big list of models that are good for learning to fly. He also added a list of "second planes" for when you're ready to take the next step. Here's a link, and the list is always at the start of the "Beginners" forum:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm
You will notice that everything listed is glow fuel powered. There is not a list like this for electrics.

RCU has a complimentary site that is dedicated to electric flight. http://www.wattflyer.com For specific info on electrics, you might want to register there and ask a few questions.

One of the best ways to get info is to find local flyers and talk to them. The AMA has a club searc feature that lets you find RC clubs within a certain radius of your zip code. http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx Randomly choosing zip 33432 found 3 clubs within 25 miles, with web sites and phone numbers.

RE: Gas or electric
 

adamiani,

Welcome to RCUniverse and the world of RC aircraft. The difference in trainers your looking at is electric and nitro powered. Gas refers to the larger aircraft that operate on gasoline while nitro powered, the most common, uses methanol and nitromethane with synthetic or castor oil for lubrication.

I'd suggest you look through [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm]RCKen's list of trainers[/link] to see what is available. Also spend time reading through the posts here in the beginners forum and you'll pick up a lot of useful (and some not so useful :D) information. Kens list is also stickied on the top of the beginner’s forum.

You also need to search out a club and find an instructor before you get any plane. This will allow you to get a trainer that is preferred in the area you live in. You may even be able to pick up a good deal on a used trainer.

As far as electric or nitro goes, most of the trainers you'll find are either .40 or .60 sized nitro. There are very few electric trainers in this size as most are closer to the park flyer size. The larger trainers are much easier to learn to fly on, but electric in the .40 to .60 size is still quite expensive.

Uh, Harry, I think you hit the wrong forum. Good info for heli's there but this is the fixed wing beginner’s forum.

Hogflyer

RE: Gas or electric
 

Thank you gor the help!

RE: Gas or electric
 

Thank you!

RE: Gas or electric
 

I agree with hogflyer
Getting started in electric airplanes .40 size or larger is expensive! It could cost twice as much as nitro power, depending
on your choice of equipment brands.

If you do decide on a nitro powered trainer, you can still use the receiver and servos in future electric planes.

Plus , if you crash your trainer, a nitro engine will hold up better than an electric motor.
Id Save the .40 size electric planes for after you have soloed and are less prone to damaging equipment.

RE: Gas or electric
 

If you want to start electric, you should do it with a smaller plane with lower cost power system. Small planes usually have the benefit of being able to use smaller fields but they are also more sensitive to wind.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Alot of good advice has been given already, when learning how to fly
with a trainer my opinion is to go with glow power. I am a very big
fan of electric power, but the power system that you will get in a
trainer will not be adequate enough for your more advanced planes
later.

Example: the hobbico electristar trainer comes with an outrunner
motor comparable to a .40 size glow and uses a 14.8 volt 3200 MAH
Lipo battery. If you were to put this systen in a low wing
intermediate style plane it would not have the power to make it
perform as desired, Basically it will still have the power of the trainer.
To get better performance you would have to upgrade the Motor, ESC,
and Battery, this will cost more than the trainer did.

The cost of the electric setup is also a factor. Using the electristar
as an example again, You can use 8cell NIMH batteries and get about 6-8
minutes of flying, or you can use the 14.8 volt 3200 mah lipo and
get 12+ minutes of flying. The 8 cell packs cost $50 for 2 packs and for
a good day of flying you will need like 4 or 6 packs (uses 2 at a time).
The Lipo cost $160, and you will need 2 or 3. A lipo cabable charger is
about $75-100 for something that can charge 4-cell packs ($100-200 if you
get into the larger electrics later and need to charge 5+ cell packs)
A cell balancer $30-50 for 1 to 4 cell packs ($100 for 1-10 cell)

There are some good sides to electric power.
1. Motor has more linear throttle response.
2. Much cleaner than Glow.
3. Electric power systems sizes range from smaller than any glow
engine to comaparable to the largest gas engine.
4. Barely ever a deadstick.
5. Batteries And ESCs can be swapped into multiple planes in a
Matter of moments.

Whatever you choose good luck and keep us posted.

RE: Gas or electric
 

thank you for the info

RE: Gas or electric
 

In my very humble opinion it really depends on your likes and budget. I personally love the sound ans smell of nitro engines, I don't mind tinkering with them, but like just about all gas type of engines, they can be touchy and it takes a while to really know them. An electric is pretty simple once you get it set up. For my dad to start flying, I would push him into electric just because he tends to like clean neat things and does not like to mess with engines that much. A good compramise might also be a 4 cycle engine in a trainer.

Hope that helps a little.

Jon

RE: Gas or electric
 

Flying styles with electrics really influence the flight duration of these planes. If you are heavy with the throttle, as many beginners are, your flight duration will be considerably less than it would be with proper throttle management, which is something learned and is not done automatically. Like most beginners, you will add throttle, take off, then leave it there for the duration of the flight. This will usually drain the battery pretty quickly.

Glow engines, on the other hand, will pretty much give you at least a 10 minute flight no matter how you abuse the throttle.. within reason. And are considerably less expensive and much less complex.

I would stick with glow for a beginner.

CGr.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Small electrics are not particularly expensive or complex.

The only real drawback is the wind-sensitivity of small planes. Oh, and when the battery is connected, you treat the plane as if the prop were turning at full power.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Electric is great for toasters and vacuums. Internal combustion is better for aircraft.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Small electrics are useless as trainers.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Can you elaborate a bit?

RE: Gas or electric
 

Welcome to the hobby! Punchline, go for glow to start with (my opinion of course). Cheaper to begin with in a decent size plane, and much cheaper to support repeated flights as a typical Lipo battery takes 1 hour to charge and who wants to wait an hour between flights, especially when learning?? That means multiple battery packs, which means a lot of cabbage ($$). as a beginner, you'll likely (and hopefully!) be finding the help of someone experienced to learn to fly, and that person will more than likely be able to help tune an engine if you have any reservations about that. As others have said, bigger flies better, and electric gets expensive quick in the bigger planes. I fly, and enjoy, both glow and electric planes and helis (nitro and electric cars too). I typically fly the electrics at home to not annoy too many neighbors, but when I go to the field I usually fly the bigger ones.
Really boils down to preference and budget, whatever your choice good luck and enjoy!

RE: Gas or electric
 

I already did.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Many beginners are leaning towards electric more than ever before because price is now very competitive, it's simple to use, and many brushless motors can meet or exceed nitro power in certain applications. You don't need to learn how to break it in, tune it, mess with fuel, pumps, glow igniters, fouled glow plugs, a big heavy flight box full of fuel line, filters, props, lots of tools, 12v battery/panel/starter, checking receiver batteries for a safe flight, thread locker, spare muffler parts, and you don't need an electric starter or brass balls to flip it over by hand. But electrics can be frustrating when you charge for an hour to run 15 minutes, see the cost of easily damaged batteries and speed controllers. Generally speaking framed up electric planes are built primarily for light weight, not strength. Most nitro trainers are very forgiving on crash landings compared to any electric. I'm sure you could find some foam type trainers that are up to a beating that trainers go through while you learn orientation and get some reflexes to the attitude of the plane. So buying li-po batteries to cover flight time of the day gets expensive, and charging requires a balancer when you hit 3 cells and they cost more generally than nicad chargers. Doing it wrong starts fires, burns things up, so I've read and heard. Ultra Deans connectors are a great idea to help you keep polarity correct too.

I am die hard nitro user and doubt I'll li-po again. I tried a Stryker and sold it inside of a week. Been in nitro for 35 years. I like the sound and tinkering. The castor clean up is a bit of a ugly chore though, and I have to detail the car often. But, it's hard for me to see a plane humming or whining by and not chuckle. Many modelers even justify the expense of a 4 stroke just to get a more scale sound and torque response to their plane that you cannot get with electric. It's all a matter of taste. But to simplify a beginners learning curve, I suppose I would suggest you start in electric, then move into nitro. Lots of controversy on this subject is out there though, this is just my crazy opinion.

RE: Gas or electric
 

The thing about flight duration?
I taught myself on a GWS E-Starter small electric, after quite a while of orientation on a free simulator. I know, I know, not the greatest of ideas.... but the plane survived it anyway.
I never really clocked my flights but pretty soon I was getting around 20 minutes of flying out of a relatively cheap LiPo pack, split into two or three flights because I could not stay focused enough for that long.

RE: Gas or electric
 

Don't get me wrong. I have both glow and electric. But, after playing with the electrics, I much prefer glow.

The electrics are more expensive initially, and can be more in the long run. If you want two flights in an afternoon, you either have to spend another $150 or so for a good LiPo charger, a charge bag or something to put the LiPo in during charge (prevent potential fires) and, probably have two batteries. A good battery is not cheap, so two batteries ...

They (batteries) may not last as long as a good glow engine and require special care during charging and flight. Flight durations with electric power, for a NEW flyer, are no way as consistent as glow aircraft durations are. When the battery approaches drain, the plane becomes sluggish, and lacks power. You are forced to land immediately. At least with a glow, you can set a timer for, say 10 minutes, and at the 10 minute point, land.. and the engine has the same authority as it did upon take off.

Nope..I will stick with and always recommend glow.

RE: Gas or electric
 

A nice thing about the small, electric powered planes is that you can fly all winter indoors. I'd like to see a nitro pane do that! Nothing quite like a brushless Zagi knock-off doing 60 mph indoors!

RE: Gas or electric
 

I just watched the show, How it`s made. They were showing how Lipos are made. After watching that , I look at the Lipo I had just dropped $90.00 for . Never again, someone is making a killing.

RE: Gas or electric
 

You can get started with less.
A somewhat basic charger can be found for as little as $30. Personally, I went for a more versatile and expensive solution.
A LiPo suitable for small electric can be around $20 to 40, depending on if you need 2S or 3S
Charge bag? that looks expensive at close to $30, I have been coping fine with a flower pot (no hole in it)
(Just looked at the prices at http://www.hobby-lobby.com )

The ground equipment for glow is not exactly free either if you are starting from nothing.

Also, don't get me wrong. I started electric and am comfortable with it. I have a couple of glow engines too but no suitable planes at the moment. I know that glow, or gas, has its advantages and appeal. ... Or at least appeal :D

RE: Gas or electric
 

60 mph is 88 feet per second. That does not allow much time to react when indoors.