RE: Convert old Sequel pattern ship to electric?
 

More weight reduction can be done if I look around.

The landing gear mount plate in each wing panel is made of 1/4" ply wood. While I do not want to yank the entire plate off the wing, I found I can at least trim the exposed part of the plate off, with a dremel tool.

Shown below is the trimmed mount plate. Later on, a cover will be installed to cover the entire bay.

RE: Convert old Sequel pattern ship to electric?
 

The current weight distribution.

Left wing panel (with the 9202 aileron servo): 1 lb 1oz
Right wing panel (with 9202 and the alum wing tube): 1 lb 7 oz.

Fuse with everything except the battery pack: 5 lb 14 oz.

A pair of Blue 20C 5000mah packs: 2 lb 11 oz.

The total weight: ll lb 1 oz.

Possible future weight reduction: 4 cell 600 mah nicad replaced with 2 oz 800mah lipo + regulator: -1.5 oz. Carbon wing tube: -1.5 oz.

RE: Convert old Sequel pattern ship to electric?
 

The completed electric Sequel.

RE: Convert old Sequel pattern ship to electric?
 

Did some work on the bottom hatch cover. The purpose is the close the big open area at the bottom while still allow air flowing through the battery.

The original cover was cut into two pieces at the middle. The front one is removable via two nylon screws and is removed to mount/unmount main battery pack, or to take out the lipo rx battery for charging (Thunder Power 480mah Pro Lite weighted at 1oz!). The rear cover is installed most of time via four screws. Because the motor produces so little vibrations, there is no need to lock-tigh these screws.

A cut of 2"x2.5" was made on the front cover to facilitate air flow and for the ESC cables and control wires to enter the fuze. The area of the cut seems adequate for flying at 80 degree of weather (yes, we have been flying in 80 degree perfect weather in Texas in in Feb 2011!). Some adjustment may be necessary if the heat from the battery becomes an issue during summer time.

RE: Convert old Sequel pattern ship to electric?
 

During the past two weeks, I have been flying the converted a lot trying to get it trimmed. Since the plane was not used for over 5 years, I did not even remember the original settings.

Anyway, I think the following are the good settings, at least for intermediate class I am practicing.

Elevators: 0 degrees
ailerons: 0.5 positive
Motor thrust:
down: 0
right: spinner back plate aligned with the nose front

The down thrust angle is adjusted by adding a small piece of ply spacer for the bottom 2 motor mount screws. See pic below.

RE: Convert old Sequel pattern ship to electric?
 

Here is the settings for Castle Creations HV 85 ESC controlling HiMAX 6330.

Fix point
throttle response 6

break strength: 50%
delay: no
brak ramp: very fast

Cutoff
3.1 v/cell
current limiting: insensitive
cutoff type: soft

Motor
start power: 35
timing: 7
PWM rate: 12 hkz

firmware: 3.2