If you have a motor controller the timer will work fine -- those timers just appear to the motor controller to be a receiver, and should be compatible with anything.

But before you proceed, consider the weight difference between the setup you are proposing and a modern brushless with LiPo.  You may get something that'll be able to stagger into the air and fly, but I don't think you'll be able to approach "wet" performance with anything less than modern equipment.

I have been thinking of trying to build a simple 1/2a size model w/ an electric system.  I want to use a brush type motor and NMh battery.  The fly in the ointment is the timer.  E-flight has a small unit but is is not out yet.  Can the 1/2a timer from Brodak be used on a simple set up like this?  Does anyone know the adjustment range on the Brodak unit?  The price is attractive.

Depends on what exactly you want to fly.  If you are going to use some sort of RC speed controller, then any of the available timer/flight manager units will work.  If you want to use the brushed motor so that you can use a simple switch then none of them will.  They all function by emulating an RC receiver and they need to talk to a speed control or a servo - they can't turn a motor on or off by themselves.

that sounds like what I am looking for.  I want to try to put together a not expensive electric system for a smaller plane.  Do you know the item or part numbers for the hobby king system?  I want to sport fly locally and not have the noise problem.  I hope you can come up with the part numbers.  This will be my first electric and I am not sure of all that is needed.

I am currently experimenting with a low cost E setup for 1/2A aerobatic use for mt 12 year old son to fly at the partk when we can't get to a big circle.  The plane I'm experimenting with is a Li'l Hacker II, a 1/2A combat wing from CoreHouse.  The plane is built pretty much stock, I added a 1" spacer behind the motor to get it further forward to get the CG more right.  I also cut the tips off the wings to get it down to ~180 sq. inches after the first flight.  I did a bit of research and bought the following to items to start with.  Overall cost flying is about $35.  With additional cost if you buy more batteries, charger, etc...

1400 Kv Outrunner Motor, $9:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=4204
10A Esc, $9:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=51432
2-Cell, 360 Mah Battery, $5:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7301
3 Cell, 360 Mah Battery, $7:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7302

Timer is the E-Flite one for $10

Flew for the first time yesterday with a GWS 8x4.3 slow-flyer prop ($0.50).

With the 2 cell battery, perfromance was lacking, just barely enough speed to stay out on the lines and zero aerobatic potential.  The AUW with this battery is 7 oz.  The Li'l Hacker wingtips were cutoff to give the wing area about 180 sq. in and it perfromed a little better than stock with 220+ sq. in., but still not viable for aerobatics.

With the 3 cell battery it weighs 7.2 oz and it could loop on the downwind side, but was still pretty anemic.

The amps for the 2-cell were about 5 amps and the 3-cell was around 6 amps.  I used about 60Mah per minute on the 2-cell, meaning I could fly as much as 3 minute on the 360 packs.  On the 3-cell, I used about 110Mah, meaning a two minute flight is about as much as I could get.

This tells me I have a little more power available in both the motor/ESC/Battery combos if I can find the righgt prop.  I am going to try a APC 6x5.5e prop next and see if it gets the pitch speed up a bit, since the 8x4.3 prop had plenty of thrust, but did not cary enough speed/energy to stay out on the lines like it should.

The general goal of my setup was to be a light as a 1/2 glow setup (6-7 oz) and have moderatley aerobatic performance.  If I concede a bit of weight and go to 9 or 10 oz, then it opens up a much wider range of motor/battery combinations that will give much better performance.  Using a bigger battery 450 to 800 mah, allows pulling 10+ amps from the batteries, and allows the use of a more powerful motor.  You end up in the $50 to $60 range...

An Alternate Motor with similar characteristics that seems better (lighter/more power) than the one I bought is:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6547

I'll try to post back with some more results when I have them...I plan to build the second plane from the double kit with few mods to lighten it up abit.

Regards,
Richard Lewis

Hey Richard, I've also started working on electrifying the Lil Hacker. I am going to try the Turnigy 28-22-A engine, at 1650kv.
I am waiting for parts to arrive from HK.

-Chris
 

Chris....I'm gonna start a li'l hacker thread and paste my post in it....please keep me updated and I will do the same!!

RIchard

Stevens Aeromodel has really neat "1/2a" size electrics that wont break the bank.

I just picked up the new model from Stevens Aeromodel, the RingRat 250. http://www.stevensaero.com/StevensAero-RingRat-CL-250-Nostalgic-Electric-Control-Line-Sport-SAK-RRAT250-p-20387.html .

The 250 is so named for its 250sqin area as people like me were wanting something slightly bigger, or "400" size electric, Than their smaller Ringrat100 and Scram 100sqin planes.

Mike

If 'someone' did comercial R.T.F. 1/2 As , it MIGHT get c/l 'Happening' like the Cox etc rtfs did once ??

Spelunk through the forum, and you'll find discussions about that.

Bottom line: it'd either be a piece of c**p or way expensive.  You could maybe do a decent one for less than $100 _if_ you had the volume to sell it at Walmart.  But in "cottage industry" quantities, it'd probably be impossible to make money at it.