Hello,
A few years ago the R/C club decided to add a C/L field to our location. Surprisingly, we have a few club members who have become regular C/L flyers once again. I flew C/L as a kid and even after graduating from college I continued to fly for a few years and even participated in a few contests. I currently fly R/C with mostly a focus on pattern which now happens to be just about 100% electric. I went sober back in 2007 (i.e. gave up glow engines and glow fuel) and I have been flying exclusively electric since then.
I am currently putting together a modified SIG fazer (moved the stab 2.5 inches back, greater span stab and elevators but of narrower cord, different rudder, right wing panel shortened by 1.5 inches and narrower flaps and adding tips to the wing) as my first C/L build in a long time.
I am planning on going electric and I was surprised to see relatively high Kv motors (ie. the Cobra 2820/12 970Kv) as being fairly common along with relatively small diameter props (i.e. 11" or less) and low pitch (say 4 or 5). I was thinking about going with a 13" prop pitched at 6.5 on a Hacker A30XL-12 running on 4S or something similar. In my experience, a larger diameter prop spinning at lower RPM's is more efficient than a smaller prop at higher RPM's for the same input power. I have not run the numbers yet but I will be shooting for a pitch speed of about 55-60 mph which will probably translate to around 50 mph when you add the drag of the lines and model. I am guessing that the current draw will be in the 25 amp range or so.
The question is, am I way off the mark since I am taking a somewhat different tack?
Thanks,
Teo