Doc Holiday asked for some recommendations on a 15 electric over in the 1/2A thread. To answer that question, I am opening this thread. It is not a simple question to answer.
My approach has been to build fairly light weight planes with smaller motors for any of my electric projects, including carrier. I also use the Cheap Chinese Motors (CCM’s) to keep costs down. To date I’ve modified one glow 15 (a MO-1), and built two all foam models that are electric’15’ profiles and I am currently re-fitting a Brodak Clown from glow to electric. The clown makes a good carrier plane. I think for carrier you will want at least 250 watts per pound. For the Clown I plan to fly at about 270watts/lb. So here are some recommendations based on my Clown.
Motor: 350 watt SK35-36-1400. You can check the specs at this site.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7073 Note it is advertised at 550 watts, don’t believe it. CCM’s specs are not that accurate. Look at the weight, 115 grams, multiply by 3 = 345. It is a 345 watt motor. How much power an electric motor can handle depends on how much heat it can dissipate. Again a good rule of thumb is 3x weight = watts.
Battery: High speed counts so I am using a 4 cell lipo. You need a battery that can supply the peak current needed and last long enough for the entire flight. It looks to me like a 2200mah 4s 25c battery gets it done. The peak current the battery can handle is 2.2a x 25=55a. The approximate duration is 2.2a X 60/ave amps(20) =6.6 mins. http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-25c-2200-4s1p.html
ESC: The esc has to be able to handle the peak motor current. This motor won’t handle much over 35 a so a 40a esc should be OK.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/volcano-40a-brushless-electric-motor-speed-controller-esc.html Prop: APC 7X5 electric pusher
The estimated performance is shown in the attached chart.
I address so of the control and support equipment in another post.