DarZeelon

Cleaning the goo is not only a budget matter.

The attractiveness of electric power to many, is that they fly, yet don't get their hands dirty.
Prop-bites are also less common (I have seen it happen, though. The guy needed 13 stitches, after something pulled the throttle stick up... the 13" E-prop 'ate' his thigh.).

Mr Cox

Sometimes I even get bits of grass and mud on my planes, imagine the horror and cost of having to wipe that off after a flight...

Mr Cox

Yes I would...

spaceworm

The safety consideration of electric is that like the Energizer bunny, they keep on going after a strike and keep on cutting and cutting and cutting.[]
I have small electrics, medium size glows and bigger gassers.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I would bet that there are more prop cuts from electrics than glow. A lot of that is because they don't seem like real engines and people are complacent. Also, there is a lot of indoor electric flying. Just my hunch.

Dar- OS engines have not been cost effective for some time now to some in the hobby. Maybe they are simply facing a downturn due to the monetary risks of new product lines and waning interest in expensive engines. There is a lot of tough competition out there, and frankly, some of the competition is better.

We've heard about the death of glow engines for years. An electric here and there is okay with me. I don't particularly want one for flying out side past the little foamies, but I like to fly indoors and they fit the bill.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

Not everyone uses economics as the primary rationale. I have nitro, e-power and gas, glow and gas are my main birds. Also, I rarely get 100 cycles out of a pack and use them at 70% capacity.

Sport_Pilot

I think so.  I might try it again, but doubt I would like it.

Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

You should be asking MVVS that... Do you think MVVS will drop their electric motor line like they did with their "most popular" sized glow engines now that O.S. is making Electric Motors?

earlwb

Well I think OS was heavily impacted with the cheap Chinese engine Tsunami that washed out over the world. several model engine manufacturers threw in the towel already because of it. Then the recent recession hasn't done them any favors either. Having the value of the Yen go up in relation to other currencies makes it more expensive to buy the engines and harder to export too.
So technically they just might throw in the towel too. I beleive that OS also does like the other companies do and manufactures lots of other non-RC related parts for businesses or the government as well.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

BW,

MVVS isn't exactly a dominant manufacturer either.

MetallicaJunkie

i would look for another place

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Yes! I would take up knitting!

Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

I just can't get into it....

Mike06659

Glow engines are still around????? Now that's funny!!!!!

We had some good times but those gassers and electrics killed you []

Rest in Peace my little Glow Engine

Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/gallery/ga...memid%3D261819

GerKonig

Many eons ago, when I purchased my first "big" (at the time) electric from Hobby Lobby, (Telemaster) the tech guy gave me a very sound piece of advice. When you are not at the field, loosen a bit the prop nut. If anything happens in you shop while you are working, the motor will turn, but the prop cannot hurt you. Well, anytime I work on the bigger electrics I loosen the prop nut.

All my smaller planes are electric (up to 1.2 size) all the rest, gas. After using OS for 35 years, I got rid of my last nitro power plant many years ago. I loved OS, never a problem, no break in, always running, year after year, after year. In my hobby life had all OS, 2 Super Tiger and one K&B. Life is too short to have to fiddle around with your toy power plants. OS never grounded me, they always started. The difference in price was never enough NOT to buy an OS. But, as good as they were, I do not miss nitro.

We will see what electric power plants they come out with. I am sure they will not compete based in price:-) They never did. I thought they would come out electric much earlier in the game...

Gerry

Mike06659

Broken Wings !!

Thank you for the memory, lol that was actually my last glow I sold, and it flew great and ran even better but I hated the mess.

Thanks for the pic

MinnSpin

My Feedback: (40)

Thatlooks like a knock-off copy of the Hacker A20 series.

Electrics are fun, but nothing will ever replace the smell of nitro in the morning.

earlwb

That is good advice to loosen the prop nut until you are ready to fly it.

Many years ago, a couple of my biggest electrics were a 40 size Ugly stick and a  Sig Senior Kadet. I used a direct drive Astro Flight 40 motor in the Ugly Stick and a gear reduced Astro Flight 40 in the Kadet. I used three heavy 1500mah 6 cell Nicad packs in series to power them. The ESC did not have smarts built in. If you turned on the plane before you turned on the TX you were in a world of trouble if you were in the way of the propeller.
If the throttle was bumped up when you turned it on, it was instantly ready to go. Dangerous stuff.

My biggest plane at the time was a large Hotliner using a German motor with a name I could never pronounce, with 36 nicad cells crammed into the fuselage. I had to hand launch it. But it could go vertical straight up for about 30 seconds before the motor would start to melt. You had about three to four vertical climbs before the batteries got weak. it also had a "dumb" ESC too.

Back then the RC systems were 72mhz no 2.4ghz stuff existed yet. The motors used brushes as brushless motors didn't exist either. The first brushless motors that came out also came with matched ESCs and they were very expensive.

So yeah, electrics have come a long way over the years.

mike109

G'day

Old technologies never die, they just fine a niche. Sail was replaced by steam and then diesel but both the older ones are still around in some form. Propellers were "old hat" in 1950 but they still live on in smaller planes and turbo prop. And so on.

I got into this hobby not because of the planes but because of the engines. Back then it was small diesel engines then it became 40 size glow two strokes, and now it is four strokes mainly. For me that is.

I also have some electrics for when I want to glide or when I want something small which I can easily cart around but my main planes are glow powered.

Gas holds no interest for me. It smells too much like mowing the lawn and the size of models for gas engines is generally too large to be easily carted around for me anyway.

So I still fly some diesels, some two strokes, many four strokes and a few electrics. It will take a lot more changes to eliminate glow engines from hangers around here in the wide open spaces of rural Australia. Now in the cities it may be different.

Oh by the way, back about 1900 electric cars were a big thing but they died out and were replaced by petrol and diesel. But they do seem to be making a comeback. Perhaps in 100 years glow will be rediscovered?

What goes around comes around. There rarely is an "End" where technology is concerned.

Mike in Oz

SCALECRAFT

My Feedback: (13)

Nothing wrong with more options. Just price it right.

Steve

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

Who's gonna be the first wise guy to say something like "I wonder how long before the bearings go bad" or "how long before the Nickel plating flakes off the Neo magnets"? (I guess it's gonna be me... )

DarZeelon

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Broken Wings

...Do you think MVVS will drop their electric motor line like they did with their ''most popular'' sized glow engines now that O.S. is making Electric Motors?

BW,


MVVS did not 'drop' (or rather 'scaled down') their glow engine line, because of 'competition from OS'...
Glow engine sales world-wide are going down; and of what's left, inexpensive Chinese engines of reasonably good quality; mostly from Sanye in Shenzhen, are taking a rather large chunk.

So large a chunk, in fact, that Super Tigre moved production to China (it was no longer as profitable in Europe); and Webra became bankrupt...
MVVS just scaled down their production.

MVVS hired a real expert engineer to head their electric motor production.

Their balance and bearings are so perfect; that you can have one of their motors in the palm of your hand, running 30K RPM; yet you hear and feel virtually nothing.
Their small-medium motors; up to 5.6/###, are of encased brushless outrunner design; not your 'run of the mill' Chinese/Axi/Hacker/similar open outrunner.



They are like no other.
And it is not merely a cost issue.

Mr Cox

I was very close to saying something like that earlier, but then I thought that it is not nice to kick someone who is already lying down...

Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

Looks heavy duty...

Over "expert engineered" perhaps? Does the added weight of the "encased brushless outrunner design" make them fly better than the Chinese/Axi/Hacker/similar open outrunner?

That tapered shaft looks like it would be expensive to replace.

How much are these MVVS motors?