First plane. Some guidance?
 

I got a plane in trade, i've had a bunch of smaller planes but nothing this big. It has a 6.5ft wigspan and from prop to rudder its 5.5ft. It has a os.48 motor, but me and nitro don't get along, but i like brushless. I have no idea where to start, but any help is appreciated!

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That looks like it has been around. That is an older surpass engine and if it's in running condition it may be worth $30.00 toward your conversion. Does the wing have ailerons ? I see a servo mounted on it's side in the front....not sure from the pics what that would be for.
If you want to convert it to electric you would need at least a Power 46 motor(or equivalent ) a 60amp ESC and a 4 or 5cell lipo.
If you have the equipment lying around I would do it. If you have to buy it I would think twice.

From what I know, a 46 sized motor on 4 or 5 cell power would be a good match. More power than the old 48.

Looks like the horizontal servo operates a bay door for dropping stuff?

Motor
http://www.valuehobby.com/power-syst...g32-800kv.html

Battery
http://www.valuehobby.com/power-syst...0mah-4s-t.html


ESC
http://www.valuehobby.com/power-syst...connector.html


Buzz.

Suppose it could be a candy-drop box door release.

I don't mind buying brushless stuff because i can always use it in other projects. Yeah shes old, pretty cool tho. Mostly mono kote and balsa wood. No ailerons, should be interesting the first few flights!! Anyone wanna buy this motor! haha


you are correct, the side door can come off and that whole velcro piece moves. pretty neat. Thanks for the links, gives me a better idea.

So as far as the motor and esc, im set, the battery, should i get as high as a mah as i can fit where the fuel tank goes? It'd be neat to run 2 5k mah batteries for 10k mah. I think the only other question is about prop.

The more battery you have the more weight you have. A 4000mah should give you around 10 minutes of mixed flying.

The prop suggested on the site is a 12x6 with 4s or 13x8 on a 3s.

If you used (2) of the 4000 mah packs, you would be hauling around almost 2 pounds of batteries.

You can always send me the O.S. .48 engine if you don't want it. :) :) :)


Buzz.

Ill send ya it for a small paypal amount (:

I see your point. Ill probably run all mentioned but a 4s 5kmah cause i can run it in my truggy aswell.

Old Sig Senior Kadet. I learned on one however mine had ailerons. Mine had a Saito 45 on it that did do the job. About the same as your old OS.
A great plane to learn on with a little help you should have a lot of fun with it.

Well thats a helpful piece of info. Thanks!! So it seems they make an electric version. Should i follow that. At all or stick to the above info. Also. How hard is flying one with just tail controls?

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...psklbd1vxl.png

Yours is the kit version, stick built, the print out you did was for the ARF, a nice plane for sure but much more weight. Yours will fly fine w/o ailerons, thats the way they came. I modified mine as I built it adding ailerons to about 2/3's on each side about 2 inches deep. Add your servo mounts, "Y" harness and you are good to go! They fly much nicer that way. My advice, fly yours and then make the changes if you like it!

Ah! Learning evrey day. Good to know what model it is tho. If i can land this without crashing it i might add the alierons.

One of the easiest plane ever, a whole bunch of us older guys learned on this one. A floater in the wind so be mindful of that, good luck!;)

Fly it w/o ailerons to get the feel of it . When/if you get bored, add ailerons if you have the building skills, etc. Sig probably sells plans showing aileron installation. Ailerons will not be quite as effective due to dihedral. Dihedral is what makes it turn nicely via rudder and elevator inputs w/o ailerons

Well. Ordered the motor and esc. Showed up today. Wow smaller than i figured. But anyways. Should i remount the glow motor and prop and take measurements where the prop is in relation to the fire wall or should i just mount it where it looks good. Also. How do i balence the plane front and back. I dont know if i should put the battery where the fuel tank was. That might be too nose heavy.

Just need the 4s and balence it. Does anyone know where i should put my 2 fingers on the wing in order to balence it roughly?

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Measure the width of the wing (cord) from the leading to trailing edges as close to the fuselage as possible.
Take that number and divide it by 4. This will give you the standard 25% figure.Example: if the wing measures 12" then the CG figure would be 3"
Using this number,measure back from the leading edge close to the fuselage and put a mark on the bottom of the wing on each side. Typically this works out to be very close to the main spar in the wing.
Lift the plane up, put a finger or thumb on each mark and test the balance or you can use a balance machine.

Awesome! Thank you very much!!