What is the biggest challenge in electric flight?
Flying time, battery set up, motor, charging time verses flying time?

All of the above. Depends on what day of the week it is.
WHAT DAY IS IT???? I need to look up the challange for today!!!

Seriously, they ARE all a challenge. I've been in the hobby for 30+ years and was away for a while and decided to get back after it, but not mess with the fuel and hard starting engines. Just like home now, just flip a switch and away you go. I personally think electrics are a thinking mans toy.
Lots of variables to consider. Weight, motor size, battery capacity, number of cells, right capacity ESC, gear reducer or direct, what gear ratio for gear reducers, maybe a belt drive (make sure you have the correct rotation for the motor), prop pitch, prop size, wind, hard surface, grass and on and on.
For me, as a builder, how to mount the motor can be a problem. With "wet" engines you have mounting surfaces to screw it down but with electrics they are all different sizes and mounting ways and the little buggers don't have mounting lugs. Because of all the different motors on the market the motor mounts are very specific to the manufacturer of the motor. Another thing is the kit may have been drawn for one style of motor and gear reducer and naturally what you have is entirely different so when you get to the front of the plane you need to plan ahead to be able install what you have in your inventory.

Your question will get as many different answers as there are postings. But, I love all the aspects of making it fly and fly right and invite all the challenges. Electrics are really taking hold now since some people in the hobby are losing flying sites because of noise and the fact that electronics is moving at a fast pace to introduce workable products at a reasonable cost. Battery and motor technology is changing almost every day and flight times and powerful motors will let you do everything a "wet" powered plane will do. The December issue of Model Aviation had a picture of an electric model that an old friend of mine, Joe Gross, used to compete in pattern at the nats. I watched guys do a hover with electrics, so it's come a long way and will only get better.

See ya!

It sounds like my story. I'm having a bal with electric flight!
Right now I,m converting two warbird kits to electric flight, these are not you every day toy, H9 P51 .60 and Airborne F4 U Corsair .40. both of these are set up with High performance B50 Hacker motors and boy will they fly. These motors bot out +/- 8-9 pound of trust with a 24 cell bats. I also have a couple of 51" 3-D models that just perform great thanks to the help of www.espritmodel.com. Any way I love e-flight its clean and I know it will get better and catch on very soon in a big way.
thank for you reply. I like to compare notes any time...
Flyboss

Biggest challenge to electric flight?

1- The mindset that you must have a “40-size trainer” to learn how to fly, and that unless it has a 55”+ wingspan that you can see from 1000 feet up it’s not a “real” plane.
2- Wind. People not getting it through their heads that these smaller, lighter, and slower electrics will not handle any wind to speak of like the larger, heaver, faster, more powerful gassers they saw at the club field. Just look at all the “Parkflyer that can handle some wind?” posts.
3- The futile quest (in general!) of electrics trying to equal gassers. Of course there are instances of individual electrics that meet and even exceed the performance of gassers. I’m talking generally, as whole groups. I don’t think they can, or should, be compared to one another. Both have advantages and disadvantages. One isn’t better than the other. They’re just different. Fly what you want. (Another way to look at it is, why aren’t the gassers trying to compete with these parkflyers- the fastes growing segment?)

Challenge? I don't see any. My planes fly just fine.

Goofup

Biggest challenge you ask, well my challenge is trying to leave work early & ditch the family before dark so i can go fly. I hate just flying on the week ends and there's no way i'm getting up at 4:00am. There should be 30 hours in a day. Fly for 24, eat & sleep for 6. NO WORK IF I WAS THE PRESIDENT.

You know, up until the advent of the Tiger Moth, the .40-size trainer was the ONLY way to learn to fly at all. Electrics were .20-size glow planes with a car motor and 6 or 7-cell car pack, and flew like crap for two or three minutes. .20-size trainers were too heavy and susceptible to wind, and .60-size trainers were prohibitively expensive for most people. Anything with a Cox engine was virtually impossible to start, and flew like a drunken hummingbird if you could get it off the ground.

Having a choice of AFFORDABLE, viable, alternative learning paths is still a new thing. We're talking about changinging a 30+ year old behaviour at the field when someone says, "I want to learn to fly." Give the glow guys a break. They're not responding that way out of spite; they're giving you the information they have.

Mkirsch, I totally agree. It's just too bad that when an newbie goes to a club to learn how to fly he gets the old "First you need to get you a 40-size trainer. Then we'll be glad to teach you how to fly."

Hopefully, in the future, he'll get a response like "Sure we can teach you how to fly! Bob over there can teach you on a gasser. Talk to him and he'll advise you on which 40-size trainer to get. Or, if you want to learn how to fly electrics, Joe here can teach you on a Tiger Moth, Slow Stick, or Wingo."

Again, I agree. 30+ years of behavior is hard to break.

Goofup

don't know if this is the right place to ask, but what would you say to a modeler with 30 plus years of building and flying experience wanted to try an electric? One who really does not want a lightweight 'park fly' or 'slow fly' (seen them, didn't impress me at all, sorry!), who doesn't ant an ARTF (will build from a kit a pinch but prefer plans or O/D).

A few years ago I became interested in trying electric, just for the change, and converted a Sig 4 star 40 with an Astro 25G and 16 cells. Sadly, I sold it before flying it and learned to fly helis instead! Now, the heli fuel bill os getting out of hand and I fancy something different, but where does one start? I read the FAQ at the E Zone and it seems to be for the complete beginner, not the experienced modeler looking for a new challenge.

A high performance brushless motor is out of the question at the moment due to budgetary constraints, but a reasonable priced, build-it-yourself model with a decent aerobatic performance (but not a 3D fun fly) can't be too much to ask, or is it?