Hi all,
   Just received my Brodak Flying Clown kit and electric conversion kit today. After looking at the plans and then at the conversion kit, it locates the motor mounting point right on the thrust line of the propeller on I.C. motor. Is this where it should be,or should I move it further aft ? I'm concerned about the whole weight and balance of the plane ( also aesthetics ).

Hi all,
   Just received my Brodak Flying Clown kit and electric conversion kit today. After looking at the plans and then at the conversion kit, it locates the motor mounting point right on the thrust line of the propeller on I.C. motor. Is this where it should be,or should I move it further aft ? I'm concerned about the whole weight and balance of the plane ( also aesthetics ).

I have designed all of the conversion kits for Brodak, NONE are designed to mount the electric motor where the thrust washer of the IC engine is.  ALL are designed such that the thrust washer of the electric motor should be located where the thrust washer would have been on the glow motor.

As MM noted, on the Flying Clown you will want to push the battery back as far as you can, even potentially notching it into the leading edge of the wing.  Best thing you can do for balance is to use the right size of motor & battery. 

You did not indicate WHICH conversion you have, but for the Flying Clown I would expect you have the BH-1935 which is one of the Universal conversions.  Here's some pix of it installed in the Jr Ringmaster.

I have done several electric conversions.  I have found that Brodak universal conversion kits work.  However they are universal.  You have to do a little engineering to make it fit the airplane you are converting. As stated by Dennis "even potentially notching it into the leading edge of the wing".  Cutting into the leading edge can cause it to be weak.  It takes a little thought to make sure things are still strong enough.  A lot of the fun is modifying things so the fit and work.  It takes time but you might want to look through the electric BB an look for all the crazy ways people have made things work.  I converted a very old  Flight Steak to electric.  I cut into the leading edge to make room for the battery.  I did do some internal bracing to beef things up.   Have fun, be creative! 

I don't know what size battery you have but anything S1 Ringmaster size or smaller you're going to have problems finding a place for the battery without making it nose heavy. One major concern is you have to keep the weight centered on the thrust line or it will fly really weird.

 I guess this is a Brodak Clown that has the spars top and bottom?

What I would do is cut the motor mount off the front of the conversion kit and save it for later. Then cut the leading edge completely out and glue in the box back to the spars. The 4th side of the box would be the fuselage. Put a big gusset behind the leading edge to the box and put a shear web on the spars outboard of the box. Load the battery from the front.

Now don't forget you need the push rod on the inboard side so slide the fuselage on before you glue the box in place or you'll have to split the fuselage to get it on the wing.

Make a cut out in the nose for the motor and glue the mount you cut off to the back and put some gussets behind it. Then figure out your wiring and controller placement.

More than one way to do things. This is just something I came up with for a Sig Banshee I converted to electric. Good luck.

Motorman