Now that the Old Time sparky Humongous is in the air I had time to start a project for Eric Rule over at RSM Distributions.  He is taking one of his mid size profile P-51 Mustang that was designed back in 2000 by Ron Burn and reworking it for electric.  I took the plans and started removing wood where ever possible.  The fuselage is hollowed out the hardwood beams are gone the tail feathers and flaps have been lightened and the plywood doublers are 1/32".  I then added in a firewall for the electric motor.  I am trying something new for me, the motor is rear mounted with the motor shaft protruding out the rear of the firewall into a ball bearing that is mounted on the rear of the firewall.  I am hoping this will stiffen up the motor during sharp changes in direction.  Actually I will also be building a second model very shortly that will incorporate all the changes I made during the first build and I will be testing a different motor on the second plane.  My plane will have a Hobby People 2814/06 the second plane will have a Hacker A-30.   In both cases a Castle Creations Thunderbird 38 amp ESC will be used along with the KR governor mode timer.  

I am also very happy to spread the word that RSM Distributions is now the US distributor for the KR timer.  I have been testing the product for both Keith and Eric and I am very happy with this product.  I recommend you go over to Eric's web site and see the write up for this timer.  I now have many flights on the timer in my Pathfinder and the performance has been flawless.  It's easy to program with a low cost programmer and the governor works very well.  I find the programmer makes setting up an electric motor very similar to setting the needle on a gas engine.  You use a tachometer and the programmer and set the motor to the RPM you want and the motor just stays there.  In fact it is as easy as a NVA and the motor does not change.

Anyway that's what I have been up to for the past couple of weeks.
Andy

Hi Andrew,

Is this the model Ron designed for the Norvel .15?  (gives me a point of reference)

Thanks!
Bill

OK guys here is what I have.  Bill the plane is a .15 size plane so I would think you are correct as to the design.  I took the plans for the original plane and marked them up for making it lighter.  The all up ready to fly weight is 23 ounces.  Six ounces are in the battery, so the completed structure came in at 17 ounces.  Jim I am including a picture of the battery location.  As on the 1/2a Pathfinder I try to straddle the CG and then use the battery to make fine adjustments to the CG.  The battery has a line drawn on so I locate it in the same place every time.  Finally Doc my friend thanks for the nice words, see you at VSC.

This past Saturday I took it out and flew it.  I only had a set of .012" by 45' lines to fly with, I have new 52' line on order.  But all in all it flew quite well, did some loops, wingovers and inverted, my lap times were 4.5 seconds which seemed OK for the line length.  I set the timer to 9500 RPM with an APC 9x6E and everything seems good.  Like I said when I posted this thread the intent was to come up with a good entry level plane for first time electric flyer's I think this plane really fills the bill.  I have some additional batteries coming and will do more testing very soon.

By the way in the backround you can see the second model that is framed and ready for covering.  It contains all the changes I made during the first build.  The changes were incorporated into the cut file and new parts were cut and fit and function tested.  
Andy

Andy,
How is the battery placement impacting the vertical CG?  I have a Skywriter that I electrified with the battery under the wing that is a little light on insides and tighter on outsides, not enough to impact flight much, but enough to notice.  I would expect a little bit of the opposite looking at your configuration.  Nice looking unit by the way.
John

Andy and I went out this morning and he put up a couple of flights on my 50' lines.  The plane looks to be flying very well indeed.  We only had 2 batteries, so I didn't get a whack at it.  There is a flap alignment problem to be fixed, but the overall trim looks close.  This one is going to be a winner!   

Andy will make up a set of 52' lines as he is only running partial throttle on the motor.  Much more power is available without stressing the battery (2200 mAh)

According to Eric Rule at our club meeting Tuesday, he thinks the kit, motor, esc, timer and battery will sell as a complete package in the neighborhood of $150.  Of course that does NOT include charger, lines, handle and finishing supplies.

Paul
I was wondering the same thing so I call Eric and asked him where it was. Well he sent the copy to the web master and has been waiting for it to be posted.  I am going to attempt to include a copy of the announcement with this reply.
Andy

P.S. I just opened the attachment and it worked fine. It's the PDF file Eric sent me regarding the announcement.

Andy
       Where is the write up on the timer? I cannot see it at RSM.
Thanks
Paul
OZ

Hi Andy, Nice job on the P-51. Neat installation too.

Paul, the write up on how it works and everything is on my website in case you missed the previous posts.
http://www.keithrenecle.co.za/Electric%20CL.htm

I've also had some questions on how it will work on full-bodied large stunters. It will work with any size of model as long as you don't drop the rpm below around 7500. I fly my .50/.60 size competition model with this timer, and it works well. I am trying to make it work at a lower rpm for the models like Igor's indoor GB that turns the prop at 4200 rpm or so, but I have not yet had the chance to play with that. I'm also working on a .15 size stunter and I'm getting some good info from Andy, so thanks for doing this neat poject.

I bust my ankle pretty badly in a hot-air ballon crash landing so I'll be out of circulation (excuse the pun!) for a few months. I can still build stuff and test on the bench, but flying in circles will be a bit of a challenge on crutches!

Keith R

Andy and I went out this morning and he put up a couple of flights on my 50' lines.  The plane looks to be flying very well indeed.  We only had 2 batteries, so I didn't get a whack at it.  There is a flap alignment problem to be fixed, but the overall trim looks close.  This one is going to be a winner!   

Andy will make up a set of 52' lines as he is only running partial throttle on the motor.  Much more power is available without stressing the battery (2200 mAh)

According to Eric Rule at our club meeting Tuesday, he thinks the kit, motor, esc, timer and battery will sell as a complete package in the neighborhood of $150.  Of course that does NOT include charger, lines, handle and finishing supplies.

Where can this be purchased for $150.00??? all I have seen is $179.00 does anyone know of somewhere that discounts RSM products??? thanks..

Sorry, I quoted a very early guess at the cost.  Still, not THAT far off.

Hey Doc, if you do get one and you have any questions get back to me ASAP.  This plane really does fly well and it is a true control line park flyer.  It will give you a very decent pattern for a profile.
Andy