I'm just waiting on Paypal to do it's magic so I can get my kit in the door.
Power setup will be...
Mega 22/30/2
MEC Superbox, 5:1 ratio
Castle Creations 60 amp controller
20 Sanyo 2600's
APC-E 16/10

This gives me a 68mph pitch speed, and almost 9lbs of static thrust. I plan to lighten the kit as much as possible during construction. If I can shave 1/2 a pound off the AUW I should have no problems coming in at 8lbs or under with everything. Of course the use of lightweight mini MG servo's will help things also.
Duration should be good as I won't need full power except for take-offs, and anytime I want to do big loops or vertical pulls. More or less I like low slow fly-by's with a little wing wagging.
The best thing is the total power system GB/Mega/ CC 60 amp ESC costs only $272. Isn't bad considering a OS .91 4-stroke will run $250. I suspect this combo would fly any of the Skyshark kits. Even the Avenger at 13lbs with it's huge wing wouldn't be a problem.
I chose the Stuka because I like them (duh! lol) and because it saves me booko deneiro because I don't have to buy any retracts, and it's still scale.

That does sound like a nice setup!

Let us know how it flies.

I am very curious how this is coming. I have a buddy who is building the SS FW-190A and am very impressed with the quality of the kit. It is already exceptionally light. There are lightening holes in every piece of wood, so I am not sure how you are going to shave much more out of it. The cockpit is very detailed and the laser cutting is phenomenal. What are you going to cover it with? Are you going to sheet it and glass it or will that be too heavy? Please post your progress with photos if you can I will be following closely. I plan on getting the TBF Avenger this fall and e-power would make it so much cleaner.

Thanks,

JimboP

Well I had to wait on Paypal, and now I'm waiting for the big brown box in the mail.
I may actually be changing the power system though. With the system I listed before, and if I built the Stuka stock with all the fancy painting, and scale everything I could it would fly like a CAP.

It's too much power for the airframe really, and too much prop. So new setup will be a Mega 22/30/3 without a gearbox swinging a 9x8" direct drive on 16 cells. This will still make the Stuka crank, and bank. On the upside there's no gearbox hassle or whine.
I think I was going to have some prop clearance issues before. I plan to scale it out as much as possible. If I can save enough I'll be ordering a set of scale struts from Robart. I was pleased to find they make a pair of scale struts for this size Stuka. Also will be using scale wheels. I will also be hinging the ailerons so they look scale as well. Robart has some really great stuff for scaling one out I think.
Other than that at the moment I'm collecting all the real pictures of Stuka's I can find. So I can get all the little details, and figure out what paint job to do. It will be sheeted, glassed, and painted with an airbrush.

I have plastic covering it hates me too so it's mutual. I'll start posting pics as soon as I get everything, and get started.

Oh to answer your other questions your right about the lightening. It doesn't really need anything as weight simply will not be a problem with all the power it'll have with the big Mega. Amp draw will be in the low 20's so run time with throttle management should be in the 8+ minute range. Thats as good as glow in my book.

Plus with the direct drive motor it will sound very smooth. Especially with reduced throttle on low fly-by's with nothing but the flutter of the prop beating the air as it goes by.

Hi

if you loose the gearbox you´ll probably loose half of the power too.... not by lowering the input watts but by lowering the eff.

I would´t use a mega 22/XX "inrunner" for direct drive, unless it is a very fast plane.

If you want a quitet gearbox you need one of the more expensive ones, for ex the Mega planetary (large black one)should be as quiet as the maxxon ones fitted on a Hackers, or maybe a belt drive ?!

hope this helps

I need around 600 watts to fly nicely, and scale. Just for an idea my previous choice in power would have produced 9 3/4lbs of thrust static. In a model weighing in at 8lbs or less thats vertical.

The Stuka doesn't require anywhere near that kind of power. If I decide I need more power or prop I could go with a big Axi outrunner brushless which can produce roughly 900 watts. Thats over 100 watts per pound. It's always good to have a little extra power to be safe.

The Mega 22/30/3 will give me around 650 watts. I may end up going to an Axi though. It'll all depend on how I feel once it's built, and how many cells I can squeeze into the fuse. Also weight will be an important factors.
If it comes out heavy I'll likely switch to something with some more power. If I come out around 7lbs with batteries though I will have plenty of power.
One other reason for the Mega 22/30/3 is later if I want I can use it for a large ducted fan.

600watts on a 16x10 equals 900watts on a 9x8 (or something like that)

Your getting my power systems crossed up. The Mega 22/30/3 get's 650 watts with a 9x8 @ roughly 50amps.

The 16/10 was for the Mega 22/30/2 mounted to the MEC gearbox on 20 cells. Which I actually may end up going back too.

Some other people had pointed me in the wrong direction on power systems. I'll just stick with the 9 lbs of thrust the geared combo will give me. I'd rather have gobs of power than get into a bind, and lack any.

The power cross-up was somebody recommending a good power system for a .40 size bird vs a good power system for a .60 scale bird. I wouldn't fly one of these on a .45 2-stroke for sure.
Let someones advice get in the way of my better judgement.

So I hope I didn't offend you or anything. Thanks for trying to steer me back in the right direction. Your post did make me reconsider, and go figure it all up again.

I´m sure you´ll get an exelent looking and flying plane!

Thanks I hope so. They sent me an e-mail saying they were out of Stuka cowls. So looks like it'll be this wednesday before it'll ship out. It's a new kit so I'm not complaining just have to wait a little longer. I've just got the building itch.

Looks like it shipped today according to the e-mail I just got from Skyshark. So should be here later this week. At which point I can begin my building frenzy.

Well it all arrived today so I'm ready to begin. Just scanning through the instructions first to get an idea.
If I were to rate the kit quality from 1-10 I would give it a 9.5
It was packaged incredibly secure with enough bubble wrap to keep my nephew occupied for hours. Laser cut parts vacum bagged. Vinyl cut decals are awesome, scale CNC cut hinges, molded parts, and everything are just outstanding.
Maybe it's just because this is my first laser cut kit, but it's looking to be a very easy build.
The only difficulty being finding the best way to stuff 20 cells in this bird. Should be planty of room without having a fuel tank though.
It's also much bigger than I pictured. Definitely not a .40 size bird.
Plans are original prints, and come in two sheets rolled. One is all of the wings, tail feathers, and the other is the fuselage. Everything on the plans is colored so not just all black, and white.
Instruction book is very nice, and reads very well.

Well I'm about to get started already have everything laid out on my building table. Just need to run downstairs, and steal some wax paper from my mothers kitchen to protect the plans.

This is horrible. So far I've gotten two bad bottles of thin C/A from the store, and only managed because of it to get the stabiliser, and rudder pinned onto the plans.
So I'll have to make another hour trip in the heat tomorrow to get a thrid bottle. I think he's got a bad batch. I'm going to get a different size, and hope it's ok.

Actually, I think Henke was talking in terms of EFFICIENCY here. You'd get just as much effective "oomph" out of the geared 16x10 prop at a much lower power level. With the direct drive 9x8, you're just stirring lots of air for not as much "go" value

exactly Matt!

=)

always aim for as large prop as the undercarrage allows...
I usually even have to higher the undercarrage 2" or so on a .40 size plane to fit a proper 14-16" prop.

Well just an update on my progress. It's taken me less than 2 hours to finish building up the tail feathers for the Stuka. Would have taken longer without my trusty dremel tool though.
There's another building thread in the Warbirds section so unless I get to a point of bypassing that which I doubt I'm not going to bother much with pictures. My camera really stinks anyway.
If I deviate from the instructions any for weight reasons which I doubt I will I'll post pictures of that.
All in all so far it's a really easy building, and nice kit. Laser cutting is excellent, and everything fits. I've wasted almost no wood so far unless you coun't sawdust as waste lol.
I'm taking a smoke break right now before I start on the wings. I predict I'll have this bird built by the end of next week at the latest. Probably not finished, and detailed, but built anyway.