One f the reasons that electric appeals to me is that I can go to the Hobby shop and buy a power train that is the equivalent to the top dogs. Hence the E-flight, now after dabbling with this stuff for a bit and trying to get up to speed I am doing some experimenting myself. Recently someone posted a link to Zippy batteries so I thought I would give them a try. So far so good. They are only 10 grams heaver than the Hyperion and slightly longer. So this was a good match. They Hyperion batteries are 25C and the Zippy's are 35C. The best thing about them is they are only 35.00 instead of 75.00.
I have heard someone say they would not fly them in a official. I ask why? If they do the job at home why would they not do the job at a contest. Of coarse common sense comes to play. If you had 500 flights on a battery I would at least use a fresh one in a official.
Many things can be found on line way cheaper than in the Hobby shop. Motor 69.00 battery 35.00 controller 45.00 and timer 15.00. Now you will need the timer box 50.00 and a charger. But if you think about it you only need those once.

By no means am I trying to convert anyone because I have IC too. But I am looking at this on a piratical mode. Start up cost is pricey but I do see the maintenance cost less. The only draw back I have found the is the charging of the battries. You kind of have to plan your flight date. With IC its grab and go. With electric its plan and wait for a charge then go. I am currently working on this issue with a fast charger but with that comes some risk. http://www.progressiverc.com/icharger-updates

I am not sure what timer @ $15 you are talking about but I would recommend the KR timer from RSM:  http://www.rsmdistribution.com/index-2.htm
With the program card it is around $50 however it gives you constant RPM with a cheep speed controller.  It has the added advantage of protecting the ESC, motor, etc in case of a prop strike. I also found it  easy to program in the field (no computer required).  I think it fits in the cheep but as good as the big boys use category.
 

the castle speed controls also provide prop strike protection, however in MOST cases its a mute point since basically this only happens when you crash,, at which point, your toast anyway

Robert:

I think people are less than entirely trusting in the quality of the Zippy and other cheap Chinese packs.  You pays your money and you takes your chances.  Jason's story makes it sound like a good risk.

Jason:

I'm not sure about what they were, but I've been looking at prices of 3300mAh, 4S packs -- which are currently running at around $30.00 a pop at Hobby King's US warehouse.  It may be less if you get it from Hong Kong -- but then you've got to pay an arm and a leg in shipping.  I don't know about the 5S, 3000 mAh - but I'll bet they've gone up.

Turnigy has a motor that looks like a drop in replacement for the Eflite 25. On Hobby Kings website it is called Turnigy G25. It has the same kv rating looks the same but has a different sticker. I ordered one to try, my total came to $30.85(had some points accumulated). Sure beats $70 if it works. I have some Turnigy Nanotech batteries and they only cost $26 instead of $75 for ThunderPower. Same bang for less bucks ! ArrowWind motors can be swapped out with Emax motors for less than half the cost also.

Guys,
Has anyone tried the FLIGHTPOWER NANO ~ EVO-ULTRA LITE (http://www.flightpower.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=274)? They seem to be light weight and a good price.

I have been using the ThunderPower Lites but the EVO's seem to match the weight at half the price.

Best,         DennisT

What's the address in Tacoma?

As far as batteries go I have only used 2 brands beside Thunder Power, and they are Blue Lipo and Sky Lipo, both from Hobby Partz. The Sky Lipo is my preference since the Blue Lipo's have some very cheap wire which is used on the balance tap and is very stiff and tends to break on a fairly regular basis. At first I thought it was a poor soldering job by the factory. But after It happened on 3 or 4 different batteries I confirmed that it is actually the wire itself that breaks. I own 6 of these and have had to fix all of them in the last two flying seasons. So no more Blue Lipo's for me.  The Sky Lipo's have a nice flexible silicone wire balance tap and I prefer them these days. Just sayin. 

This is a really good thread.  I am asked often what is the difference between an expensive motor and a cheap motor.  Here is what I have learned over the past couple of years.  Quality of the shaft bearings, I have had to replace bearings in cheap motors but never in an expensive motor.  Then there are the less obvious differences like the resistance of the wire used the less resistance the more efficient the motor is.  Next the quality of the magnets used in the rotor, the stronger the magnets the more efficient the motor.  The gap between the rotor and the stator the smaller the gap the more efficient the motor is.  Finally the quality of the metals used in making the motor.  I had a motor prop shaft bend after just three flights on a small 1/2a motor I was testing.  So this begs the question, what price efficiency?  This is an important question; if you are flying in club contest in the lower levels you can well afford the lower efficiency.  You will need a slightly larger capacity battery to make up for the lower efficiency of the motor.  This leads to slightly less performance in the pattern, and a lower score.  But if the level of competition is such it really does not matter.  The opposite can be said for flying at the highest levels of competition where every gram counts, because every gram equates to points.

I use zippy batteries and am quite happy with them but I am an intermediate flyer.   I use good motors but not the most expensive and get excellent results for my level of flying.  I watched an expert flyer yesterday using the same quality equipment I use turn in one of the best patterns I have ever seen on an electric plane.  So I know what I use is competitive.  The answer to the question of what is right really depends on what you want and what you are willing to pay.  As somebody else pointed out always take a good look at the shipping and handling charges especially for Hobby King, they use it to jack up what looks like a good price to a price that is really not so good.

Anyway that's my opinion for what it's worth.
Andy   

the castle speed controls also provide prop strike protection, however in MOST cases its a mute point since basically this only happens when you crash,, at which point, your toast anyway

The big problem is not crashes but nose overs on a grass field.  If you read through the threads the castle ESC works some of time - but not all of the time.  I have tested my KR by grabbing the motor with a rag.  The shoudown is instant!  This is with a $30 speed controller.  Are you willing to test the castle this way and risk a $80 ESC.

OK, here's a dumb question. So, if you have a prop strike and the thing stops. You back it up and maybe replace the prop. Do you have to somehow reset the system or does it automatically reset when you press the start button again?

I know, neophyte questions, but I've been wondering about it.

I bought a couple Turnigy G25s a while back. I replaced a Aerowind 2820/07 with one, and it flies a 40 size plane (540 sq. @ 50oz) very well. I needed the extra weight for balance. It works fine in this application; however, it is a 10 pole motor (

Wow! I had no idea that they were 10 pole motors!! If that's the case they wont work as well for us as I thought that they would. Does anyone have any idea how many pole the g15 has? Thanks for the info Robert. I knew a couple of other budget motors were 10 pole but I didn't think this one was.

Dumber yet would be changing the prop with the system still armed!  It would be prudent to unplug the battery which resets everything in any case.

ahhh Mike, you spoiled it,, I was looking forward to seeing Randy jumping around in the pits trying to change his prop on a live setup LOL,,

ok not really, I thought the same thing but did not type that, ( I am trying to change my habit of using 4500 words to explain a 10 word situation)

What a bummer on the Turnigy G25. The description of the motor made no mention of the magnet pole count or bearing size. Only one mention in the reviews of there being 12 poles, I took this to mean the winding poles. The quest continues for an inexpensive powerplant!