mongo

My Feedback: (15)

hey, it is only money.
go ahead and spend it.

i run mine on 3s lipo, i just don't use full throttle for much of anything. course i have also converted over to standard rc control and only use throttle for speed, not steering.

ARF Guy

I'm running 3 cell li-pos in my AF-1 and have about 20 5 minute or longer flights. The motors should be able to take a bit more power without too much harm and 9.6 vs 11.1 ain't that big of a jump. Besides, I'm running a full house radio and as someone else pointed out, NOT using thrust for steering. Full throttle is used for take off then flying scale uses about 1/2 throttle. Anyway, how much do those can-motors cost? Five bucks? You could try a 2 cell but that would be less voltage than the ni-mh. Of course there's always 4 brushless (WITH the required 4 ESC's). Myself, I subscribe fully to the K.I.S.S. theory!

Got some folks from an assisted living complex coming out to the field this morning to watch. Hope the wind stays down.

ARF Guy

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

Sounds like the 3 cell LiPo with some throttle management is the ticket for more power. My guess is that a motor would cost $6-$10 to replace if you smoked one.

ARF Guy

Yep, I have dozens of flights now and the 3 cell li-po has worked beautifully.

ARF Guy

PilotSmith

My Feedback: (1)

I'm keeping an eye out for one of those airplanes when they go on sale. I need one as bad as I need a hole in my head given I need to get rid of some of my RC planks rather than add to my collection. But this one seems quite unique. Once they go on sale I'm going to grab one and convert it to full RC. If anyone see one on sale for 50% off let me know!

ARF Guy

If you think of it, get two! Emailed Estes about replacement impellers and they said I could buy 2 entire motor/fan units for $25.99 (out of stock, of course) and you need 1 assembly per wing. Said I don't need the whole deal, just impellers. They said not available. Going to check aftermarket since $52 plus shipping is almost what I paid for the whole plane. He also mentioned something about the 'new' line of aircraft. Hope the 747 makes it into their future line.

ARF Guy

epagel

I would suggest replacing two of the fans with EDF55 units from Tower hobby and leave the other two dummy. You will get more thrust and less current. They only cost about $12 each. I think the 747 might have the same wing as the VIP airliner.

ARF Guy

Thanks, I keep that unit in mind. Till then 4 slow rev'ing motors sound pretty cool!

ARF Guy

kahloq

Yep, very nice plane. Buddy has one and flies it on a 2100 3s. He's using a jeti 30 amp brushed speed control for all 4. Woprks well and cruises around a 1/4 throttle easily.

c260b

anybody try putting a 7.4 v li-po battery in the af2? the stock ni-mh battery is 7.2v. Will it fry anything? what MaH is best?

epagel

I use 7.4 lipo and they work very well. The extra voltage is insignificant. 900 to 1000 is a good size.

ARF Guy

Still flying with 3 cell li-po's and stock motors. I could get my "toy" to take off from our dirt runway when my bud couldn't get his E-flight airliner to. I'm guessing the drag of all those wheels kept him from rotating. Anyway he lost his plane when flying in too much wind. Sweptback wing planes will "Dutch roll" at slower speed and his was gyrating quite a bit when he finally "corrected" into the crash. Too bad, it flew nice.

ARF Guy

Dave ESPI

I know it has been a while that this thread was active, but I reciently decided to FINALY convert my AF1 into a flier again.

If one of you guys could post pics of how you mounted the servos and did the alerons and elevator I would appreciate it as I'm not sure how much I need for it to be functional. How did you vent for the ESC and the lipo to get air for cooling?

Also did anyone add some carbon fiber spars to the wings by chance ? I was worried they would fold with quicker rolls on the yaw, but maybe I'm over thinking it.

thanks !

mcnamajp

I hope someone will see this and respond since I realize it's been a while since these posts were made in the thread. I'm new on this wesite so maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. I have the 4 engine Estes 747 Air Force One. A very clever guy I know converted it to 3 channel with ailerons and elevator. It flys great. I ingested goose crap on a landingin one motor and flew it again not noticing it and friedthe motor. Posted in this thread by PRKFLYRRICthe Mabuchi FK-130SH 6-7.2v motor I believe came from the 747 two engine model. In the 4 engine model it appears that the Mabuchi FK -180-SH was installed (I say appears because the removed motor has no markings on it)based on motor layout and physical dimensions everything appears exactlythe same (as the Mabuchi 180)except the output shaft is 13mm long on the installed motor vs8.55 mm for the Mabuchi FK -180-SH. So did they make a special batch of these withlonger output shaft for the estes 747? I think the 130SH would fit but it's output shaft is shorter by about the same amount. Has anyone sorted this out and replaced a motor on the 4 engine 747? Does anyone know where I could buy these Mabuchi motors or the correct motor? Thanks for your help.

http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-b..._ID=fk_130rhsh
http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-b...AT_ID=fk_180sh