My first electric to glow conversion…

I'm converting a scratch-built 60”ws Decathlon from electric to glow. Why? Because I had nice running OS 46 and I didn’t want to spend the $$ for an electric motor and speed controller. Assuming no defects, do the electric airframes hold up under the vibrations of glow engines? Am I asking for a structural failure here? With its light weight, I want to use this plane as a slow flyer – no acrobatics.

Thanks

if its a scratch built plane, ie: balsa built, it should be no different then any other balsa plane that uses glow power.

only difference i can think of maybe the thickness of the firewall and it may need some additional bracing inside... Depends on the design your building.

Bill S.

Thanks. I did build-up the firewall, and I'm really looking forward to giving this a try - it's a light aircraft for its size.

Go for it. I have flown some really lightly built Eplanes on glow with big shaking four strokes and had no issues. now with that you also need to upgrade to the next bigger servo size usually or go up in torque. make sure you balance the prop and spinner well.

I'm putting in some older but good working Futaba S3003 servos - flying on a budget.

Btw, I thought if this one does fail (or I my flying skills fail), maybe I'll break down and by an electric twin arf. It would be my first "new" plane that wasn't made from a kit. So actually I win either way!

The 3003's are a good choice..........