Need to learn everything about
 

Hello All;

I have been flying R/C Airplanes and Helicopters since 1979. I took a brief hiatus (>10 years) from the hobby, but a trip to my local flying site last week opened my eyes to several unexpected changes! Namely electrics!

What I saw impressed the heck out of me. I saw a helicopter the size and weight of my circa 1993 X-Cell 60, powered by an electric motor! WOW! I started doing some reading, and found that there are motor / battery combinations that can power even the largest scale airplanes.

My question to this group is: How do I figure out just what motor / battery / Prop combination I would need to power a given Airplane? For example, I am kinda in love with the Goldberg DECATHLON ARF, as well as the Goldberg YAK 54 ARF. What would I need to power birds like these?

Let me know!

Cheers,
Renwick

RE: Need to learn everything about
 

I've alsway had luck talking directly to the suppliers like Horizon, Hobby-Lobby and BP hobbies. Thier customer service departments can figure all that out for you once you tell them the size, type and weight of your plane..

http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=A0320072

RE: Need to learn everything about
 

And if you want to know more in general about electrics for aviation then read this:

http://www.oz********.com/2007/01/el...ic-flight.html

These are the questions you need to answer:
1. What's the approximate AUW of my aircraft?
2. What type of aircraft is it? (determines how much power you need per pound, as well as what sort of motor speed you want - high speed model - smaller prop with faster spinning engine, 3d plane - larger prop with slower spinning engine etc).
3. Choose a battery and motor together (normally best) or choose a motor that works with your existing fleet of batteries (cheaper). The number of cells in the battery will dictate the voltage and hence how fast the motor spins, which when coupled with a prop determines how many amps the motor draws, which when multiplied by the voltage gives you total watts.

It sounds confusing (and no doubt my explanation hasn't helped), but it makes sense once you've tried it once or twice. The important thing is understanding that the prop, motor and battery are all interelated and the choice of any one of these affects your choice of the other two.

Cheers,
Oz.