I have built the Turbinator E using the recomended fan jet set-up. It has the Wemotek 480 fan and the Astro 020 motor [3330kv]. I am using a 4S 2000 Li Po pack and a Turnigy 60 amp ESC. It draws 23 amps for approx. 300 watts on the average after the initial surge at start-up. The RTF weight is 43 oz, [2.68 lb] I am launching it with a bungee powered PVC ramp @ 15 lb pull. 90% of the time it will clear the ramp but it just barely has enough speed to maintain lift. Sometimes it will get "on the step" and stay up, but most times it will just "wallow" around the field. The LiPo pack always has a full charge upon launch.

I have E-mailed Astro Flite asking if I can go to a 5S pack without burning out the motor, but have not rec'd a reply yet. I can't afford one of the $200.00 70 mm super fan units plus a 80-100 amp ESC {plus not knowing if they would help any way }

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Knightflyer

It will be interesting what comes of this. The Turbinator is next on my building board. (I finally aquired all the pieces/parts).

Your build is a good one. Weight is definitely not the problem. The build article said 40-54 oz. The way it sounds "just over 100 watts per pound" is not quite enough.

I'm currently targeting the HiTec EDF combo of a 6904 motor and the 2w-25. I can't remember the battery setup I was targeting, I *think* it was 5S, but I could be wrong. Maybe only 4S.

Anyway... I also bought the Wimo EDF. And a Rimfire 28-56-3200. And a 4S setup.

AND.. I bought E-Flite's 68mm EDF setup.

After my current plane comes off the building board. I plan on making a test stand. Then test/measure all the motor combos. Once I measure, I'll determine what to build into the plane.

Good luck, and hopefully you'll find a good combo that'll work for you.

I do have a question for you.. What's the C rating on the battery pack? I'm wondering if you don't have the juice in the battery pack to push more than the 23 amps you're seeing. Just for a test. Can you hook two batteries in parallel? and see if you can push more amps? If you can, then you may need to rethink what batteries you're using...

Thanks for yor idea to temp. increase the mah capacity of the LiPo's. Are you saying that a 2000 ma 20c won't deliver the same amps as a 4000 ma 20c pack ? I thought that the only difference would be the duration of the flight. Keep us informed as to the results of your motor/fan/battery tests. RCPunk

I too just got some plans for the Turbinator-E. I started cutting a few parts and am going to try a foam core wing. About your first question,
you should be able to fly that with a 4s 2000 bat. I am using a 3S, 2350mAh 25C in a HET Sniper and it gets up and goes. I bungee launch this thing and have no problems. The Sniper uses a Wemo 480 w/Walkera 3900Kv motor and an Exceed 60A ESC it draws about 36Amps. Go to rcgroups.com as they have guys who are really into E-jets. I think that some type of tail cone however short may help. Here's what I mean.
From what I've read these ducted fans need good ducting to work better than having them out in the breeze. That tail cone is just a plastic Dixie cup cut to fit and taped on. A guy had a radar gun that the field and that plane did 78 mph avg. and again with a 3s battery. I need some 4 cells to go faster. More volts faster, more capacity longer flights. Another thing, someone told me higher C rating is what you need or jets, 25C -30C.

Oberfeldwebel, Thanks for the reply. I talked to Bob @ Astroflite and he didn't help much. He said to try a different ESC which I did and got no improvement in amp draw. He didn't comment on the C rating, but I am thinking that a higher rating of 30 or 35 C would help alot as you mentioned. However, my problem now is that after taking the Turnigy 60 ESc out and hooking up a Jeti 45 temporarily out of the fuse. I didn't notice a balsa brace that held the Turnigy ESC in was loose, and the fan ingested it !! I now have a fan with a nice dent in each blade. I am thinking of buying a Shulman 68mm 4S Fury fan unit @ $140.00 and I E-mailed them to see if my Turnigy 60 ESC would be OK to use. I don't want to spend another $140.00 for one of their 80 amp ESC's The spec say the fan will pull 60 amps max but I assume that is only @ full throttle. I am waiting to hear back from them . I will invest in a 30-35 C 4S pack this time. Have you heard any comments,good or bad about the Turnigy battery or ESC's ?

My E- Turbinator is powered with a HET 70 mm fan. Electric Jet Factory sells a combo unit with fan,72amp esc and motor that is good for 4s lipos. Use any 3500ma 30C Lipo. The turngy's are excellent for the price. You will get all the performance out of plane. It was not designed to be a speed demon.

rcpunk,

You might want to try Electric Jet Factory, I ingested part of the bungee string..long story..and destroyed the Wemo in the Sniper. I called EJF to see if they had any but they had none. The guy I talked to suggested the HET 6904, which I purchased. It came a few days later and I installed the Walkera motor and ran it today in a test mode. It was pulling the same watts and amps as before. It was actually 48 Amps & 500 Watts. EJF
also has a fan set (fan, motor & ESC) for the same price you mentioned above. I mentioned the amps & watts on rcgroups and 1 guy said I should be using at least 3000mAh and 4S with this setup I have. I know that I am abusing the batteries, they are quite warm at the end of a 4 min flight but that's all I've got for now. I hope you get problem resolved.

Thanks for the replys. Can you give me a phone # or E-mail address so I can contact the Electric jet factory ? All I get is other toy stores or Yahoo ads concerning EJF on my computer. rcpunk

I just got my het 6904 fan and 2w-20 motor. I didnt check that the impeller was centered perfectly and sure enough, a light touch of throttle and it scraped. There isnt any amount of finegling I can do to get the motor shaft centered. Is there a trick to getting it centered? Or do I contact EJF about this? I know I have to balance the impeller and polish the fan bore.
Edwin

I"m not really sure of Nick's motor but I know he is using a HET 6904 fan and 32oo 4s pack. I personally flew his plane last summer when he was working for me up here in Md (See the MAN Article on the rear page this month on what we were building) and we went flying two or three times a week. His plane flies great and 6-8 of us are building them from the LDS short kits. Anyway Nicks setup was putting out 900 watts on my watt meter so I'll try and get him to give me the curent setup for what motor and esc he is using.

Dick,
When you get your 6904 you may have to file the motor mounting holes. I had to do that to get my motor centered. My setup (het 6904 with 2w-20) is running now on my test mount. Did some finish sanding to fix the scrap damage. With a mystery 2800ma 30c, 4 cell lipo, 60amp bp esc, I get about 48 amps peak and about 550 watts. That wasnt on a full charge, I'll try that tomorrow.
Edwin

Anyone using the Shullman Aviation Fury metal EDF? They claim 1000W. I saw one at the Toledo show last year and it literally wanted to go vertical in their Electric Turbinator ARF. I'm thinking of building one of the LDS kits this winter and I want to use the E-flite electric retracts. It will need to ROG from our grass club field so I'm thinking about using the Fury fan. Any building tips on the LDS kit? Would a wing jig be the way to go?

There are Turbinator posts in E-ZONE by the way. I have the Shulman arf version with stock 4S Lander fan/motor and SpringAir retracts. Weighs a whopping 66oz !! No way will this arf build out to the stated weight. The new E-Flight electric retracts will fit and save much weight and some $. I am using Hyperion and XPS 4 X 3300. 35C packs. Flies great but is admittedly heavier than most 70mm jets. Looks very smart in the air, will also look that way for longer than your foamy! Hard G turns will snap at this weight but normal aerobatics are beautiful. Landing is faster than my Lander Panther, Hunter or the Habu but is very stable and much more jet like it sticks! No problems on grass. If you want a "scale " flying jet the Turbinator is very good. If you want to hand launch and do Mach 2 you will not be happy. The Lander fan also has a much nicer turbine sound than Wemo or HET. I originally flew with fixed gear, no really noticeable speed increase with retracts but fairing in the fan and ensuring that all the intake air goes to fan face did improve, standard, the intake is very dirty. I t would be easy to make a fully faired in intake duct but on the arf model would have to cut the fuse open on the bottom not a disaster as the fuse is square in this area. All in all it is a very enjoyable model and is one you can take to field, add battery and fly.

Hi RC Punk,

I've seen both of Nick's planes fly on several occasions, and last time I asked, he couldn't remember exactly what motor he was using (it was given to him). He is using the HET 6904 fan unit. Most importantly, he stated for this plane, 500-600 watts of input power flys it reasonably well. But 900+ watts makes it fly more like a jet! I know he is using a Thunder Power 3350 mAh 40C 4-cell battery, and with the 40C rated battery, we were seeing 1050 watts WOT with his power setup. Also, for future reference, I've heard from EDF guys that generally, you want a minimum of 150W/lb for the EDF jets.

I'm building one, too, but my basement is so cold now, I can't stay down there too long working. I'll be using the HET fan with the Jet Screamer 1400 motor on a 4-cell, 3500 battery, and it has been tested at about a 70A draw with 945 watts at full throttle.

Good luck. CC