I'll let someone else answer for the question of a Brodak unit.  Everything that I say below is the same answer for CL and RC, which is a good thing -- I have yet to start flying electric CL.

Your best bet is to go for a similar setup for similar planes.  The easiest is to find a plane setup that works and duplicate everything; the "list your setup" thread is light on 1/2-A sized stuff, but it's there.  "Similar" means similar power rating and Kv rating for the motor, similar capacity and discharge rating for the battery, and similar current rating for the ESC.  All of this should be conditioned by the fact that the cheaper the equipment, the more the ratings will stray from cold, hard truth and into outright fantasy.

Beefing up the battery or the ESC is fine from an electrical standpoint, but it'll add weight.  It may not seem like much, but keep in mind that if you're building a 5oz model, 1/2 oz more weight is a 10% increase, and you'll feel it.

If you do use higher capacity batteries you don't need a bigger ESC -- the ESC needs to be big enough to handle the current, and a higher capacity battery isn't going to force more current through the system.  A bigger ESC won't hurt anything, but it'll add weight.

For charging little 2S packs almost any charger will do.  I suppose that there might be some oddball, cheap, "big boy" chargers that wouldn't go down that far -- but I'd be surprised.  I'd be more concerned with what I might want to do if I were going to move up to bigger planes later; if you contemplate flying 'full size' planes at some point, make sure that you get a charger that can handle a 4S or 5S pack (or just go cheap and resign yourself to needing another charger when the time comes). 

Also pay attention to the charger's power source.  Many of them only work off of 12V, which means that you either need to always charge them from your car or you need to get a 12V supply that works from the wall.  A charger that works from either 12V or the wall is going to cost more $$.  If you could find it in the first place, a charger that only works from the wall isn't going to help you much at the flying field.

Hope this helps...

I built an electric Ringmaster 150 sp inches from one of Pat King's (patdk@aol.com) laser cut kits.

Pat's kit comes with plans for either IC engine or an electric motor power.

Motor = Turnigy  C2826 1350 KV (from  hobbyking.com)
ESC = Castle Creations Phoenix 25 Amp
Timer = Will Hubin FM9 (whubin@kent.edu) (Will has other timers that will work fine for $10 to $25 or so)
Prop = APC light Electric 7 x 5 pusher
Battery = 3 cell 750 mah (Rhino brand from hobbyking.com)
Covering = Ultracote
Flight ready weight = 8.9 oz

I'm new to this site, but the information in this thread seems very useful to me.  I've been building and flying electric RC parkflyer foamies, most of which seem to be about 1/2A size.  So I'm currently exploring the possibility of putting my foam building skills to work to build a simple profile plank wing electric to fly on control lines, and at this point I'm just replying to this thread because it seems to be a good way to keep track of it with my new account here.  Thanks for posting your setups, it's been helpful to me.

This setup will fly the full pattern on 47' spectra lines with a 2" line spacing on one of Larry Renger's 1/2a handles.

Hope this helps.
Andy

What bellcrank do you use?

Carl

Does anyone have a link to their "spectra lines" they're using for their 1/2A planes? I have seen a few posts that mention Spider wire fishing line is better than the Dacron that comes with the Sig 1/2A handle that I just ordered for my project, but I can't seem to find a lot of details about which type and strength of Spider wire is best for this?  Thanks for any help anyone can provide here.

Scott

I'm new to this site, but the information in this thread seems very useful to me.  I've been building and flying electric RC parkflyer foamies, most of which seem to be about 1/2A size.  So I'm currently exploring the possibility of putting my foam building skills to work to build a simple profile plank wing electric to fly on control lines, and at this point I'm just replying to this thread because it seems to be a good way to keep track of it with my new account here.  Thanks for posting your setups, it's been helpful to me.

Search for Igor Burger's foamy GB.  It's already optimized for control line.

Scott
You can go online and order spectra (generic for spider wire) the only thing to be careful of is to get the multistrand not the monofiliment.  I use to be able to go to any sporting goods store and get it, now they all seem to be stocking the monofiliment.  But I had no trouble getting the multistrand online. I have been using "Calcutta Ultra Braid" brand 10lb test 300 yard role green in color.  It seems to work great so far.
Andy

Andy,

Thanks for the help, I searched for "Calcutta Ultra Braid", and didn't notice anywhere in the descriptions of it where it specifically stated that it is in fact Spectra/Dyneema, but if it's working for you I'll consider it too. I'll probably check some local stores and see what I can find and compare costs to the online sources before buying anything anyway.  My Sig order is supposed to arrive today so I have some time to get what I need before I finish with building my electric Skyray kit.  Thanks again for the help, I know what to look for now.

Scott