What would be the recommended purchases to go electric on the PT-19 ARF? I think this might be a good model to try electric on. I have many years experience off and on with glo engines and building planes, but no experience with electric powered planes. I would want the power equivalent of a good OS .35 FP.  Due to the lack of noise it would not be an attention grabber like a glo engine; I might be able to get in a few schoolyard or soccer field flights.
From what I have read, this ARF has a weak nose like most ARF profiles.  Hopefully, electric power would be easier on the motor mounts than glo.

Tail heavy even with a battery pack?
That motor is only 330 watts.  I believe a good .35 IC motor would be close to 650 to 700 watts equivalent.

John,
 I double checked and yes his motor is the 3020-860kv version. He is swinging an 11x5.5 thin electric pusher on his. I am also using the exact same setup on a Banshee for my son and plan on using it again on a Twister my son and I are building. Neil Beekman will be using it on an ARF Nobler for next year. And Bob Champione has it on an ARC P 40 which we flew twice without problems. If you want to consider the next size up in this brand, DON'T, find a different brand. Those are 10 pole motors and do not work too well with the Castle controllers unless you run them in Set RPM mode. Besides the power 15 and the exceed motor, The Scorpion 3020-890 would would work well but the cost is allot more. I haven't tried one but I bet the Turnigy G15 would work well http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__14402__Turnigy_G15_Brushless_Outrunner_950kv.html (looks like they attempted to copy a power 15) Ron H as also had great success with the Turnigy 42-40 900 in his planes of a similar size http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__4912__TR_42_40B_900kv_Brushless_Outrunner_Eq_3520_AXi.html.
William

Dennis,
Thank you for the pictures.  Did you make the motor mount yourself?  This may be a dumb question, but where is the speed concontroller and timer on your model?  I'm so ignorant of electric power I don't even know what they look like on the model or how much they weigh.  I have a lot of IC propellers.  Could I use one of my Taipan 10x6 wides?

While you're waiting for Dennis to reply:

The ESC and timer are around on the other side of the model.  If you look closely above the battery pack you'll see two cable ties going through holes in the fuse -- I'll bet that you'll find those holding the electronics on over on the other side.

You could use your IC props for just dinking around, but they'll be heavy and inefficient.  Electric props are better.

Why wouldn't the IC propellers be the same on electric as they are on a IC engine?  Performance at 10,000 RPM should be the same on either, or am I missing something?

IC props should be the same on electric as they are on IC, yes.  But electric props take advantage of the fact that they can be more lightly built to have thinner, and therefore more efficient, blades.  So an electric prop on an electric should be better.

But if it's a real pain to get electric props, and if you need nose weight anyway, I suspect that you'll be fine with IC props.

(Some people are running electric props on their IC engines.  This makes me wonder about insurance coverage, and I'm sure to stay out of the plane of rotation of the prop when it's running).

Hi John
First off, I see from the number of posts that you are sorta new around here so WELCOME ABOARD!

The "hi tack" motor mounts were made from extruded .062" x .5" x .75" aluminum angle that I got from the local ACE hardware.  I hacksawed a couple pieces about 2" long then filed off the ends till they were the same size and shape.  Drilled 4 holes for the crossing bolts through the fuselage.  The H9 fuselage is not solid so you have to be a little careful about how you located the crossing bolts.

As Tim W said the ESC & Timer are simply tie-wrapped to the opposite side of the fuse. The model was built with the E-Flite Timer & ESC but I really prefer the Hubin timer and a Castle ESC would improve RPM hold.

As for props, using an IC prop will not prevent you from flying your electric.  The electric props are generally thinner and more efficient - meaning they use less power to get the job done, but as you say 10,000 RPM is 10,000 RPM!  As Dean pointed out, Left-hand or Pusher props are a nice addition too.  If you use IC Props avoid the really heavy IC props and use those Y&O woods (or similar).

John:
Brodak has a series of electric power systems, see the attached list.  As a generality, consider what size prop you want to use, and the components shown will get the job for you.

I was not flying control line in 2000, so unless you were at the RC sailplane event we probably did not meet at the 2000 NATs..!   

You can price out either system at Brodak site to get comparison.  The motors are the same saize as the Power 15 in the pix of my PT-19, the pack is slightly larger with 2800 (not 2600) mah capacity.

You can also use this chart as a guide if you are picking "Brand X" component$.

There's more budget alternatives, and if you're actually buying fuel then I do think that electric pays for itself.

But given that I have a small stash of used engines that's effectively keeping me from going electric, and that I'm pretty darned pro-electric, I can see your point.

With electrics, smaller is definitely cheaper -- so if you want to get started with smaller models, that'll save money.

Well, given that I'm already not going electric because I have engines -- no, having fuel on hand would just firm up my resolution.  I waver most on the "no electric yet" decision whenever I buy a gallon of fuel (and buying a case is going to create serious issues!) -- if I had a ton of fuel stored up it would be a no brainer for me.

So -- I see your situation quite clearly, and I can't agree with you more.  Eventually prices will go down, and we may even start seeing electric stuff for sale used.  For now I think that electric has reached parity for someone starting from scratch, but hasn't gotten cost effective enough for folks who have a pile of IC stuff sitting around.