qinamil

I recently purchased a Cessna 182 electric with a 380 size motor and 8.4V 1100mAh NiMH motor battery inside. I wasn't very impressed with the performance of the plane in general and am looking to build something to put the motor on. Any ideas for a fun park flying plane that I could use that motor on? I am an intermediate pilot just getting back into flying and looking for something fun to fly down at the local church parking lot.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

vega2614

I'm no expert but I'd say put the 380 in a plane that has high lift, like a piper cub or a glider. The motor and NiMH are heavy, so I figure you'll want a plane that doesn't need a lot of speed to stay aloft. My cub came with a 380/8.4V and it was significantly underpowered at 500g, so you'll probably have to go for sub-400g for decent flight characteristics. Unfortunately I don't have any specific models in mind. Hopefully others will be more helpful. Let me know if you find a good plane for the 380, since I have a spare one lying around after I upgraded my cub to brushless/lipo.

Leo L

Brushless outrunner motors and their speed controllers are so cheap these days, that I don't know of any reason to try to build a plane around a brushed motor. Trash the 380 and get an outrunner like the ones here: http://stores.ebay.com/Heads-Up-RC

Although these outrunners work well with NiMh batteries, they really shine with a LiPo set-up. I've used the TowerPro 2408-12 motor with a 1000mah LiPo in the following planes with great success: 1) ParkZone SuperDecathlon; 2) MegaTech Airstrike; 3) HobbyLobby Folker Eindecker; 4) DMZ Models Cessna 182; 5) Thunder Tiger Rare Bear. Each of these planes originally came with a 380 motor. I originally flew the SuperDecathlon and the AirStrike with the 380 before making the change. On the other planes, I scrapped the 380 before ever using it. Actually, I have several brand new 380's sitting around because I have been reluctant to just throw them away. If you want them for the price of shipping, give me a PM. Once you fly the planes with the outrunner, you won't ever want to go back to the brushed.

hawk3ye

I've got a brushed 380 on my Parkzone Slo-V...with a 1180 prop and a lil nimh or ncad (whatever) it works just fine.

I'm actually going to attempt to use another one of these motors, 380 or 370 I dunno which, on a little Cox Warbird plane coupled with a 2s 800mah Lipo

vega2614

I totally agree; brushless is the way to go. But for those with a tight budget or just a desire to recycle old parts, it would nice to reincorporate the 380 into a new plane. If you do give up on the 380, like I eventually did, check out United Hobbies. They have brushless/ESC/prop combos for under $15 and they work great.

FMB42

How about an air boat?

Swift427

Ditto--Ditto!!

The FlyZone Cessna 182 with the 380 is underpowered as are a ton of model airplanes on the market. If you aren't interested in converting your 182 to b/less for extra speed and maneuvers first consider spending another $38 to upgrade to a brushed 480 EFLM102. It's actually a high torque long can 400 that has the same diameter and motor mount hole spacing as your 380. However it may already be on the brink of being discontinued with everything now going brushless. Do you even want to spend $38 so your FlyZone Cessna 182 will fly with more authority and reward you or others with hours of flying enjoyment?

Which is better--Spending another $40 for a smaller plane that is better adapted to a brushed 380 motor,
or spending $40 for a more powerful brushed motor that will improve the performance of your Cessna 182?[link]http://secure.hobbyzone.com/catalog/HZ/catalog/catalog_motorsbrushed/[/link]

ozrcboy

The performance of your 380 could be significantly improved by running it on either 2s or 3s LiPos. The 2s, although having lower voltage, will be much lighter than the NiMH and can provide much higher sustained amps. Your plane will fly well on 2s. On the 3s you will think you have a new plane it will be that much better.

Won't I burn out the motor I hear you say. Sure - eventually. But I've flown my GWS 400 Tigermoth on 3s power for 40 long flights now and haven't had to replace the motor yet - they last a pretty long time. When you do burn it out your can either upgrade to a cheap brushless system, or buy anohter 380 motor for $5.

Just make sure you either have LiPo save cutout, or are very aware of your planes performance and land straight away if you start to notice her losing punch on the LiPos.

Cheers,
Oz.