I’m sorting things out, but still questions…While looking this over keep in mind I go to the field about twice a month, for 1-3 flights each day.

Thinking about a set-up for classic sizes airplanes. i.e.  500 Sqs to 600+ sqs. So far I’m up to this point with the help of several articles, and the “List”.

950 kv motor, E Flight Power 15. Price appears to be fixed at $65.00

ESC of choice seems to be the CC Phoenix 45, or the ICE 50. Both appear to be in the $100.00 range with discounts available down to $74.00. NO CLUE as to the difference between these two. ANY HELP?

Hubin timer. I’ll let him decide on this. $20.00 to $30.00. DO I NEED A PROGRAMMING DEVICE?

Hyperion Batter(ies) 4S 2500 mah. Because Hunt says so! ANY DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE?

Hunt suggests an FMA 10S charger @ $139.00 with two adaptors. Dean says “overkill” should do 2 – Cellpro 4S’s. With AC adaptor, Same money as the 10S! From what I’ve seen I like the Thunder Power TP 610C  AC/DC charger WITH TP/Hyperion adaptors (balancers?) built in. IDEAS PLEASE?

All this figures out to be about $400.00 to get started unless I’ve missed some items, or discounts. Let’s remember, an Aero Tiger .36 costs $239.00. Maybe a “not fair” comparison because only about $150.00 is on the airplane, the rest is a “one time” expense on tools, chargers, etc.

Speaking of discounts, etc., is there a source list somewhere were we can look for these components?

THX,

W.

Ward,

I'm not sure the E Flite 15 is up to the task for a 500-600 Sq inch model. I suggest that you run through the "List Your Setup" sticky threat at the top of this forum and you will see a number of workable components listed for planes similar to the size you're thinking about..

Also, go to this thread and download the PDF file for a Norm's Electric Cookbook:

http://stunthanger.com/smf/index.php?topic=20359.0

Good information there and a known setup that should work for you.

If you want to save some bucks, do as Norm suggests and shop around for batteries.

Just my 2 cents.

John

Hi Ward,

Though I'm no pro at this it seems you need about what I used for my Vector and I think you could do better for your money in the motor area. I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" so I like the Scorpion motors as they seem to be of very good quality. I think the 3020 SII would power your plane nicely and it can be had for $69 here; http://www.innov8tivedesigns.com/index.php?cPath=21_25_80 I would think you could go with either the 890 or 780kv and be just fine. I have the 890 and it powers the Vector with authority and plenty to spare.

I got my Ice lite 50 and field programmer which includes the cable at BP Hobbies, http://www.bphobbies.com/,  using their "Make us an offer" thingamajig, the lowest price they'll take for the ESC is $76.46 and $22.91 for the field programmer which also includes the cable so you can program the ESC with your computer. If you click the make us an offer button on each item and then place the above coresponding prices in the box it will accept your offer and place them in your cart. This is the lowest price they'll accept, I contacted them and they told me that's as low as they'll go.  

The Hubin timer is fantastic, I love mine but the programmer is recommended-very handy.

I have a couple of the Hyperion batteries and they are great but I have been using the GensAce batteries and can get two of them for the price of one Hyperion and I can't tell the difference between the two power wise. GensAce can be purchased here; http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-25c-2500-4s1p.html  for $29.62 each.

A 10S is a good charger and they seem to be highly recommended(I have a Bantam) but I have several flying buddies here who buy the $40 chargers from Hobby King and love them, though I prefer to invest in a better charger the choice is yours.

so let's see what we've got here;

Scorpion motor- $70
Ice Lite 50- $76.46
Field programmer with cable- $22.81
GensAce battery/ies- $29.62 each
Hubin timer- $10
Hubin programmer-$75(I think)
So we're now at about $285 and you can pick a charger of your choice, many good ones out there and some crappy ones too. If I was doing it again I'd buy one from FMA I think. Hope this helps ya!!

John

Tanks a bunch for all your info. The Vector sized system is abt what I had in mind for sport flying. Initially for a
P Force, then maybe Nobler, Cavalier, etc. Problem is TOO MUCH INFO! I'm hooked up with some real pros that direct to the eflight 15...another says "overkill" go with the 10. Would anyone really use an OS 10 in a Nobler? the 15 is a 950kv, real close to your 890, so we're thinking alike. I can downscale on the charger/battery deal since I only fly 1 - 3 flights, once or twice a month. But I'm wondering why I want to put $400.00 into a system when I have 2 piped Thunder Tigers, 2 Aero Tigers, and two blueprinted Thunder Tigers and a great Randy FP! My biggest problem is I'm getting on (73) and the thought of walking out to the circle and pushing a button is looking pretty good!

I'm not sure what your experts are thinking.  If they're RC guys they may not appreciate how much power you need to fly control line.  If you look in the "list your setup" thread there's a lot of planes about the same size as yours, and they all use way bigger motors.

The cost aspect can't be ignored.  If you start from absolute scratch, then it's probably a break-even as far as cost goes, but when you're starting out with electric there's sure a whole pile of stuff you have to buy -- and getting that battery is akin to buying several gallons of fuel in advance, instead of right before you fly.

Whether it's for you?  Only you can say.  But I think you said it -- walking out to the circle and pushing a button is nice.  Don't forget that you'll also save yourself twenty minutes of wiping slime off your plane when you're done flying, too. 

All my CL planes are nitro right now, because I have nitro engines and not very many electric setups.  But I don't think I'm going to be buying any new engines, and certainly not any multi-hundred-dollar special ones: I'll be buying electric, for the convenience and the performance.

I'm not sure what your experts are thinking.  If they're RC guys they may not appreciate how much power you need to fly control line.  If you look in the "list your setup" thread there's a lot of planes about the same size as yours, and they all use way bigger motors.
(snip)

I'm pretty sure Ward-O's "experts" he's referring to are Bobby Hunt and Dean Pappas........... being he's probably known Bob since Bob was in diapers, or close to it! LOL!!

He referred to both of those guys in his opening post.

Big Bear

Again, please keep in mind that I'm no Pro, but, I can tell you my experiences so far as someone new to C/L and electrics. You're correct about the Mfg's, it seems they are causing much of the confusion in trying to figure out what correct motor etc to use. I've started going by wattage and what size prop I want/am able to swing. This seems to help quite a bit.  That's why I recommended that little Power up 25, it would "appear" to be over powered but I don't think it will be.

The Ice Lite 50 is great(and it does have a C/L setting too-sorry about not mentioning that), have one in my Vector and I love it-BUT; I also have the cheap little eFlight timer and the ESC mentioned above on my Ring Rats and it works great too. Of course it's much more basic than the Ice lite/Hubin combo but it works. If I want it to go faster I just turn the little dial to faster. If I want it to fly longer I hold the button down longer(each beep is an additional minute). Simple but effective.

You'll get there and I think you're really going to enjoy it and like I mentioned before; I bet you fly more too!

OK, I'll shut up now but let me know if you have any simple questions I might be able to help ya with!

John

After week(s) of reading posts, articles, and advertising I think I've got it (somewhat) sorted out.

I'm not confused. The manufacturers are! For example...

E-Flight Power 15 at 950 kV claimed to be the equal of an IC .15. Right? well...

Power Up 25 at 950kV claimed to be equal of an IC .25. Right? Well...

AXi 2825/10 at 920kV claimed to be the equal of a .40 to .46 Right?

Who's confused?

Many folks are using the ICE 50 for this size setup. How come? (I'm a "WHY" person). Finally got to a German web site that told me that the ICE 50 had a dedicated Control Line program! Never saw that stated anywhere else...

Don't worry. I might get there 

w

Hi Ward,
 Like John I'm still learning all of this but as mentioned by him above take no notice of the KV as far as determining the power of a motor... Use the KV only to work out if it's suitable for your battery (Cell Count). What you need to know is it's "WATTS" capabilities. WATTS can be directly compared to BHP (used by the wet fraternity). Around 746W = 1BHP. You can find the "Ball park" WATTS figure by simply multiplying the Voltage by the motors most efficient current rating if it's not shown on the spec sheet.

Personally I think in a lot of cases you can run with a much less powerful electric motor than you would think because despite the fact that a .40 may develop well over 1BHP in stunt it's probably only delivering 500 - 600 watts. Over here in the UK I fly a 530 SQin model on a Scorpion 3014/16 and also an AXI 2820/8 (Not at the same time).  Neither are rated at the power of a .40 IC engine and both have plenty of power to pull a 45oz model through the pattern with some authority. 

TTFN
John.

Shoot!

I lost my calculator...


Ward_O

thx dean-o

Promises, promises...

W.