Hey guys,
A couple months ago I got a superstar ep. I thought I'd try electric out , I usually fly glow. I was happy enough with the performance stock because I wasn't expecting much. I found it fun enough and so easy just to charge up battery and go. Well I started reading about upgrades to power this plane and found it pretty confusing as a newbie. But here's a few things I've learned that apply to me any way and hope it's a help.

Nicads and Mmih batteries are ok, Of course lipoly is best best but my cheap hobbico charger works on my nicads and Nimh bateries. I'm not ready to make the plunge into all that expensive stuff. In Fact My son's 7.2 v 6 cell 3000mA truck battery worked just as good or better than the stock 7 cell 8.4 pack 2100mA so I learned that milliamp are more important the an extra cell in this case.

Any way I was having a hard time coming up with the combo to give my plane more power til I checked out you electric guys and got my head out of glow (Still LIke Glow) anyway try this combo worked great for me and cheap, and Matt if you're reading this I'd appreciate comments.

Great planes g-600 gear drive with stock pinion 2.5 to 1, Magnetic Mayhem 11x7 electric prop, modify the stock motor mount by removing tabs and use a small piece of rubber when I clamped it down, so it's secure. I used 3 inch foam tires to get more prop ground clearance with new large Prop. 2 1/2" would work too. 3" was all I had.

Anyway it was easier than I thought and man what a difference!!!
I have another gear set up and an Endo Plasma motor for my next project. super star 40 converted to electric as cheap as possible. I'll let you all know

Randy

Just an update guys,
A friend of mine at properly discharged and cycled my stock 7 cell nicad battery 2100 mA.
He explained to me that how fast the motor runs is a property of voltage. 8.4v in this case.
Anyway boy what an improvement. It flew great. I might add that the great planes gd-600 list magnetic mahem motor as an option. It is a good motor and way better than stock.

But I would/will next go to the EndoPlasm it'll spin faster, go with the 12t gear and 12x8 prop as suggested by the other guys on this site, The stock esc works fine up to 7cells. so I'm going to get a 3000-3300- nimh battery next. so try that guys .

Unless you go brushless, you probably won't be able to do much better.

Probably what you were seeing with the 6-cell 3300mAh packs vs. the stock pack is a difference in cell quality and internal resistance. Cells with lower internal resistance, like the 3300mAh cells, give up their charge easier, and hold up under high loads better. Generally speaking, physically larger cells, or higher quality (usually more expensive) cells will have lower internal resistance.

Hey guys , another update I put the 15t pinongear and 12x 8 prop on and wow what a difference, I should have listen to Matt in the first place, I would imagine the 12 t gear would really help the climbing power but I love the top speed @ cruise.

I might suggest that you go with the Hobbico EP Superstar ARF. My Son-In-Law soloed on it in about 4 flights and he had never flown before. He did spend about 4 hours on the G2 Flight Simulator between flying days. A good investment for under $100.

It comes pretty much complete and in about 3-4 hours is ready to go fly. To fly off grass we put 3 inch wheels on it. It does hand launches easily and flies very stable.

It flies for about 6-8 minutes with the Nicads and Motor that come with it.

On mine the first thing I did was replace the Nicads with 2S-2P 1500 MAH batteries, and a 30 Amp Li-Po Speed control. Still using the Can Motor that came with it. Flight times then went up into the 12-15 minute range and weight went down drastically. This allowed it to thermal, and most of the flights were at about half throttle or less. Cost about $150 - Plus a Li-Po Charger which I already had.

Next to improve the performance, I put a Brushless Motor on it . I had a Multiplex Permax BL-480/6D with a Castle Creations 25 Amp Speed Control on it for a few months and it flew with authority and was a bit more aerobatic, for Rudder and Elevators only. Still using the same Li-Po batteries. Cost about $125

I have since added ailerons, Reduced the Dihedral by about 3/4, added a much stronger Brushless motor, 2000 MAH Li-Poly pack and and Wheel Pants. Now it flies like any advanced Glow Trainer I ever flew. Flight times are in the range of 12-15 minutes. It does aerobatics, and about the only things it won't do are climb Vertically, and fly inverted for any length of time. Cost about another $100 and 4-6 hours of modification to the wing.

So as you advance the plane is capable of advancing as well.


Click for fullsize

Yeah That's a heck of an upgrade And a substansial investment. so I am sure your plane really hauls. My Idea though was to hop up the superstar ep with a minimum investment. Quite a few guys I've talked to were discouraged with there Planes. So I just put in some ideas that wouldn't break the bank.

Available from Tower-

Magnetic Mayhem motor $19.95
Great Planes GD-600 gear drive $12.00
Apc 12x8e elec Prop $3.75
Great planes 15t 0r 12 t pinion gear $3.29
2 3/4" light foam wheels for groud clearance for larger Prop-
$4.00

From Amondtech.com 3000 milliamp battery pack 7 cell- $17.50

so you've got a good combo with much better performance than stock 10 to 15 minute flights with throttle managment and your only out $60.49 if your real cheapjust use stock geardrive pinion it's an 18t with a 11x7 e prop, forget the wheels and new battery and you got $35.70 you could even just purchase gear drive a prop reverse leads at esc. and improve performance


$4.00