New\old plane

[dheaton]

So here is a very old plane that was gas. What do you think, would it be a good converted to electrics plane or should I not? Seems kinda heavy. Made of balsa.
Any comments or ideas?

[hayofstacks]

Depends on what you want to do with it.

A lot of .40 sized planes can be converted, what is stopping me personally is the cost of batteries. Check out heads up rc, and price out a motor/esc and battery system, then see if its worth it to you.

Me and my dad still ocassionally fly nitro, but they sure are dirty and need a bunch of equipment compared to our little electrics, but if your going for the full day, its nice to not have to worry about batteries or charging.

[slipstick]

Originally Posted by dheaton

So here is a very old plane that was gas.

Where ?

Some convert easily, some don't. Just "seems kinda heavy" and "made of balsa" is not enough information to tell us which you have. Size, weight and original motor would be a useful start.

Steve

[dheaton]

Sorry guys I forgot to add the photos. Duh.

[CNY_Dave]

How much does it weigh? If it was 5lbs or less flying weight I'd say its not heavy at all.

Sometimes 'heavier than it really needs to be' makes it a nice plane for when there's a bit of turbulence or it's gusty.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by dheaton

So here is a very old plane that was gas. What do you think, would it be a good converted to electrics plane or should I not? Seems kinda heavy. Made of balsa.
Any comments or ideas?

What is the total wing area, and what is the weight of the model without the radio/servos/power system?

That will determine if an electric conversion is reasonable. That said, it's not hard to put together an electric model with quality electric components that will out perform the same model with glow power. You can fly just about any model with electric power. The only issue is weight, you don't want a model with a stalling speed of 40 MPH!

One thing to help is one of those computer programs such as www.motocalc.com, free for 30 days, then $39.

Also take a look:
Thread on 70 size glow engine conversion to electric
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45222

Hacker 6S2P A123 powered Models
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44686

AEAJR's Site on Electric Power
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18521

[CNY_Dave]

Almost looks like a Sig Skybolt with a custom canopy/spine.

Hstab leading edge is a little less rounded, though.

[dahawk]

Did I hear 5lbs? Whoa baby. Sounds like a 5S or 6S will be needed for lipo power with a decent sized 500kv motor / 80amp esc and a 12"-14" prop ? No ? Very nice looking !

[hayofstacks]

In my opinion, size out how much prop clearance you can get, then plan your power system around it.

[CNY_Dave]

You won't get a long-flying 5lbs plane to be a sport demon on 4S, but with my 4S 4000mah 40C batteries and a 770kv motor, with a 13x8 I could shortly hover my 5lbs trainer, with the batt just slightly warm after 8 minutes or so.

4S is good enough to be horribly un-scale in my just-shy 5lbs Fokker D-VII, spinning a 14 inch prop with a 550kv motor.

When I need to buy replacement (or just more!) batteries, I'll probably go 5S. Some of my planes, 4S might be an easy fit, 5S tough, 6S really hard, but I haven't sized 5S or 6S yet.

The turnigy 90/100 ESC I use in 2 planes so far is useless for cutoff voltage (it is absurdly low when set to the proper battery voltage), so I could switch back and forth from 4S to 5S or 6S with no mods (just gotta get 'em to strap in, and manage the CG)