Glider Kits? to a conversion to electric?

[BrianW517]

I'm looking for Glider kits that can be coverted to electric power.
I just finished converting my Gentle Lady to electric and it fly's great.
I don't know what balsa wood glider kits, that would or wouldn't work for electric conversion.
I would like some input on what balsa glider kits out there, old or new, that would possibly work for electric glider conversions? Have any ideas'?

[stuart]

my one and only glider......skimmer 600flys great with a few mods to the wing,also working[lol]on a bird of time kit....completion date will be when snow covers the ground and sticks around long enough to start building again.







click here to watch the video

[BradT]

Brian, the electric version of the Gentle Lady is kitted as the Electra, I've had several over the years, and they all flew very well. Similarly, the Spirit kit can be found as electric, called the Spectra. A buddy of mine converted a full-house Spirit 100 to e-power, and had an amazing duration flyer to show for it. Virtually any glider can be converted, with a little thought given to equipment layout and battery access. A non powered glider often needs some widening of the nose during the build, to accomodate the appropriate size motor, but the effort is rewarded with the ease of launching an e-glider, no need to carry and set up a winch system or a bungy coil and anchor.

Brad

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by BrianW517

I'm looking for Glider kits that can be coverted to electric power.
I just finished converting my Gentle Lady to electric and it fly's great.
I don't know what balsa wood glider kits, that would or wouldn't work for electric conversion.
I would like some input on what balsa glider kits out there, old or new, that would possibly work for electric glider conversions? Have any ideas'?

Back about 20 years ago, I flew a number of gliders converted to electric power. Every one of them performed very well. And that was with brush type motors and the old Nicad batteries. Some of them were with brush type motors that I rewound from work.

Nowdays, its just a matter of finding a way to stuff in the required brushless motor, ESC and battery pack into the front of the models fuse. This usually requires hacking off the nose of the fuse, and re-building it to allow fitting in the motor/ESC/battery system.

You also need some sort of a hatch to allow viewing the brushless motor, to make danged certain that none of the wiring contacts the rotating brushless motor outer "Bell" housing.

[teamwilly]

G'ay brian
I have recently bought these three glider kits which are all capable of being
converted to brushless setups.
1. Robbe primo .1530mm..for using on my local sports oval
2. Robbe arcus talent.2600mm....because I love building wings
3. Standard airfish 2450mm..love the old way of constructing planes

The robbe primo has some you tube footage ,the arcus talent is a new release
and the airfish has been around for many years.If you google
modellsport schweighofer and enter the names into the search box


This supplier only charges 15 euros shipping to Australia and I have bought lots of planes with excellent service.Shipping from east coast to west coast in Australia is more costly.

Hope you find the perfect kit soon
teamwilly

[teamwilly]

Brian
Just a note to the above post .
The value added tax that is included in the price comes off if the goods are shipped international.

teamwilly

[mred]

If you don't mind one that is already converted as a kit for electric, there is the Chrysalis 2M. It's a fantastic flying glider and worth every penny and easy to build. Standard setup is a brushed motor with NiCads, but most people convert it to burshless and LiPo's instead. You can build it as a V tail or standard + tail and that is on the plans to tell you how each is built.

Ed

[Larry3215]

If you like the Gentle Lady, then Id recommend you go for a larger span model for your next project. In sailplanes, more span is almost always better.

I highly recommend the 3 meter Mirage kit sold by Isthmus Models

I built one last year and converted it to electric. I use it to compete in ALES contests and it is very competitive. The kit is very well done - all Lazer cut parts. Its a relatively simple build - very similar to what you're used to in the Gentle Lady.

The best part is - the model can be built very light and it doesnt need much power to be competitive in ALES contests. Im using a small Hacker outrunner and pulling barely over 200 watts and still climb to 200 meters in under 30 seconds.

The original weight of the pure glider kit was 33 ounces. My Mirage weighs 33 ounces all up ready to compete. That works out to less than 5 ounces/sq foot on the wing loading. It will thermal on a mouse fart, turns on a dime and indicates lift very well. Despite the low wing loading it will still handle moderately strong winds very well and can penetrate quite well even without ballast.

I love it and cant recommend it strongly enough.