Looking for advice

[WaveyDavey]

I'm seeking a recommendation from the plans in here - can anyone recommend a "floater" - A fairly quick build, simple and *slow* floater to get the hang of. An oldie is fine, I am happy to attempt to convert to electric r/c, and I think I'm probably looking at 1 to 1.5m, either a trainer or a powered glider.

Thanks in advance
David

[elkiton]

Hi there WD and welcome. I am returning to the hobby after many years away and have just got a couple of planes in the air, both electric and glo. Can chat if you are interested, I am on Fbook as Tony Elkin and live in Prague. To make a suggestion in response to your post.... I have currently the KK Super 60, electric powered, nylon and dope covered and maidened her a day or so ago for the first time. Interesting the S60 is a very nice "hybrid" flier. she has ailerons, true, but they dont have to be used immediately, and as there is a slight dihederal can be flown extremely docile on rudder and elevator only. Very straightforward traditional construction in balsa / ply, simple wing with no undercamber and plenty of space in the fuze for batteries et al. if you go electric then I have some advice on battery boxes.. With a glo up front she will perform aerobatics, or with an electric float around the field. Performance is very predictable, and I still have the 20 year old wings from my first one. Ask away of you need to. By the way, on my fbook page is a series of short clips from last evening showing the S60 in flight and landing, you can get an idea of how she looks and performs from that.

[WaveyDavey]

Hi elkiton, than you very much for your response. I took a look at the Super 60, and it's quite a nice looker. What are your thoughts on electric motor / SC / battery combo's (Note I usually get my stuff online from HobbyKing). I'll try to look at you r FB stuff out of office.

[elkiton]

Hi again. I am a bit of a luddite in that I believe in using a big motor, throttled down, and quality iems, ie no cheap stuff so this might seem like overkill, but it means I can use the power train in sizeable planes without running the motors and batteries hot. .

The combo in the S60 is a brushless Hacker A400-10s (750R/volt) with a 60Amp ESC feeding the Rx.as well.
This will swing a 12 x 6 Master Airscrew prop, none of these silly fragile electric lightweight props, they last for one landing lol
With 4 cells it drawn 41 Amps on full wack delivering 625 watts thereabouts and is like having a .40 2 stroke up front.

On 3 cells, my normal flight power is more than adequate, and the throttle is usually about 1/2 way for cruising. - this is like having a .4 4 stroke up front.
FYI The manufacturer says it will go to 14 - 16 inch props and still be within the max ratings.

You could probably power her with a GT 2810-05 on 4 cells comfortably at around 500W

Re batteries, I now use Gens Lipos. 3 cell 3,300 and 4,000mah...and a 4 cell 4,000 which make it over powered by a long way.

FYI I have just destroyed two expensive LIPOS by leaving them fully charged for a month, balooned up before I learned about voltages and 30% storage charges.
I have also just put telemetry on the Rx (Spektrum DSMX Tx) to measure the on-load LIPO voltage so I can bring her down spot on the time with no damage to the cells.

One thing I found was to stop trying to work out the theoretical loadings on the brushless motors and do it empirically, so I bought a wattmeter and pocket size cell voltage checker.
Now I treat the Hacker like a .40 motor and slap on whatever prop I think will do, and just check on the wattmeter how much current she draws on full chat...
This concept works well well for all my motors, I can prop up or down based on power drawn and keep a box of new assorted Master Airscews in all sizes from 7 x 3 up to 14 x 10..

Hope this sort of thing helps.
PS re battery boxes...through trial and error, I find the best way for a fast change of battery is to build in during construction a vertical battery box with a hatch under the plane, reinforced with 1/32 ply surround onthe balsa, velcro screwed to the box and a neodyminum magnet for a catch. just open up and poke the new one in !...no taking off the wings.