Icrashedthecub

My Feedback: (1)

working on a electric cub from great planes with my
13 yr old daughter. does anyone have one? if so
how do you like it ? or what did you not like about it

Bill Germanson

My Feedback: (4)

I have one also that I have not yet started. Here are a couple links about others that have been built.

http://www.ezonemag.com/articles/200...ub/e-cub.shtml

There is also a lot of info about the ElectriCub over on the ezone.

go to this link and type electricub in the "search by keyword" box.

Good luck.

- Bill

jollyroger

My Feedback: (6)

I built one a few years back. Here's some mods :
Use a separate tailwheel mount - do not mount the tailwheel to the rudder as it will break off . I used a Dubro mount for 40 size.
Watch out for warping when you cover the wing as it is built a little on the light side. This may have changed with the new version.
Use a gearbox. Directdrive does not provide enough thrust for even takeoff let alone keep it flying, unless you plan to use a Jeti phasor or Axi.
Use a good lightweight covering stay away from the heavy ones.
I used a Magnetic Mayhem with 2.5:1 gearbox and 8 cells. This provided enough power for ROG.
Use mini receiver and servos to save weight.
Have fun!
If I build another electric cub I will probably use the GP .20 size.
Let us know how it turns out. Good luck with yours. jollyroger

rahtware

It's simple to get an E-Cub to fly... Strap an OS on the nose!

Before I take heat for saying that, let me explain. When the E-cub first came out I got all excited about E-power. My favorite place to fly was closed to nitro due to the noise, but in my price range I was limited to gliders and a Hi-Start. What I really wanted was a scale plane, and more specific, a Cub. One of the guys I flew nitro with (when I drove to the local strip) had a 1/4 scale Cub and I loved the way it flew.

So, along comes the E-Cub.... My problem was solved, I thought. This was not my first kit, so it was built well. Not heeding the advice of my "Nitro" friends, I built it just as the plans said not beefing anything up.
I took it out to the field for the first flight, and nothing! Not only could it not ROG, but when launched from a slope all it did was a very nice powered glide / landing.

When I contacted the company I was told that I must have built it heavy, or my battery pack was wore out (new pack) etc. etc. What was finally suggested was that I buy a motor from Astro Flight or Leisure to make the plane fly. If that is what it took to make this plane fly, why did they include one that wouldn't?

When I found out what it would cost to get this E-plane to fly, it quickly became a Nitro-plane. On went an old OS 10, that I had and it flew great.

A few years later a friend convinced me to try it on E-power again (we were flying Electras at the time). He loaned me a geared .05 that he had. Off came the OS and on went the E-motor. This time it would ROG, and even cruse around for a couple of minutes, but still didn't fly like I had been lead to believe it should have by the company. After not flying for a few years, I got back into RC this summer and the first thing I did was slap an OS 15 on the old Cub. Once again it flew great.

I have sense "scratched" a 1/8 scale ultralight that flies nicely on an IPS and, on the advise of some on this site, put together my first ARF, a Slow Stick which also flies great on E-power. Actually, I have had such good luck with the new electrics that I am no longer planning my next Nitro plane, but I have three E-powered ones on my list.

As for the E-Cub... It is sitting up in the rafters. I might put E-power back in it some day, but I just don't feel like wasting any more money or time on electrifying it right now.

OBTW, I have heard nothing but good about the newer ones, I guess I was just too early.

robyn_r44

What covering materials would you consider to be "light"? Is regular Monokote to heavy for this plane to fly on 8-cells?

TIA,

Robyn
SE Michigan

BillBo

My Feedback: (6)

I built my electricub almost exactly per plan. It is covered with Nelson Color Fab, which is only slightly heavier than Ultra Coat. I'm running an Astro 05 Geared on 7 cells and a Castle Creations 35 Amp speed control. I get 10 minutes of cruising around on 1700s and over 12 minutes on 2400s. ROG take offs are no problem.

blvdbuzzard

I had one of the first year they came out. It flew very well on the old school power systems I had at the time. I was using a Reedy Modified 12t motor running direct drive to a 8X4 prop. It would ROG and fly for just about 6 minutes.

Mine was covered in good old Monacote. I had it all over red with white star burst on the wing and tail. I flew it for 4 or 5 years before it fell victum to gravity and tried to bury itself in the dirt.

If I was to do it again I would run a Magnetic mayham or endo motor with a 3:1 reduction, powered by some NIMH cells. I could not justify the cost of a brushless setup even though it would be the best.

Dru.

rahtware

I love to read these positive E-Cub stories... But do you notice that they never say "Using the supplied Thrustmaster motor and suggested 1200 mAh motor battery it flew great!" There is a reason for this, they didn't! Which brings me back to my original post, why supply that crummy motor if Great Planes knew it wouldn't fly the Cub?

I wonder how many other RC flyers were turned off from E-power (I was for 10 years) because of that plane / motor combo?

blvdbuzzard

I did get mine to fly with the supplied thrustmaster 540. It would ROG, climd up to about 250 feet and then I would have to land because the battery was dead. I put a better motor in to get a longer flight time. I went from 2.5-3 minutes to 6 plus with just a motor change. With the newer batterys coming out I may just get another and try it with a MM 3:1gb and some 3000 nimhs and see how much fun it is.

To get the stock set up to work you need to watch every thing to make it as light as you can.

Dru.

Jim Finn

My Feedback: (2)

The reason they sell this and many kits with a marginal motor is that if they included a good motor you would not buy it. $$$$$ Nor would anyone else. I know ,I know,.... in the long run they are giving themselvs a bad name but it is mostly newcomers that want it all in one box and they look at the price only. Experinced electric flyers buy planes to fit their motor set up. I worked in a Hobby shop and almost everyone just starting out in electric asked for something complete in one box. Maybe that is why there are so many firebirds and fighterbirds out there!

BillBo

My Feedback: (6)

This week I ordered an AXI 281412 motor + a new Jeti 40P3 speed control to replace the geared Astro in my ElectriCub. I've sold all my other brushed motors, and the one in the Ecub is going on the block later today. The brushless motors are incredible!

pikebishop

I had an electricub and it flew well on 7 cell 2000 pack and stock gp gd very flimsy plane. lost it due to a servo that went hard over,rudder. can you say death spiral?