General control line discussion > Open Forum

Electric vs. Internal combustion: your experience/preference

(1/12) > >>

Miotch:
I've never had an electric C/L plane.  At first, they didn't exist.  Then, as they developed, I just figured they were too expensive and I'd spent my entire life (attempting) to master the internal combustions, from Cox .049, through a Stalker .61/Enya .56.

I love engines.  And I understand them.  Not saying I'm good at them, because I sometimes struggle with starting one, fuel delivery, having a working battery, etc. etc.  But I like most things about them.

What I don't like is the fuel (although I like the smell of a running engine with castor because it reminds me of happiness when I was a kid), sometimes fighting fuel delivery, having to buy fuel and, of course, the mess and using fuel-proof paints (which wasn't a problem when I was a kid, or single).

I have no idea what it would cost from scratch to build a battery-powered system for a .40-.60 sized ship, but I just assume (maybe wrongly) that it is more than I've ever paid for an engine.

Have any of you done both, or converted from one system to another ??  Any particular advantages from your experience ??  And why do you prefer your choice ??

Battery seems cleaner and easier to get consistent runs, but I'm not even sure about that, because other than seeing a few at a local contest, I've zero experience with them.

Perry Rose:
Go to Brodak.com and search the electric components and price them and compare the same plane with an engine. For me the deal breaker is the short battery life. But electric in cold weather or noise problem areas is ideal.

fred cesquim:
I have completely converted to E-power about 5 years ago ( ok, i still have some IC engines for vintage projects)
here´s my thoughts on that. E power is more expensive to start, but in the short period start to be cheaper than glow. How so? to start you have to purchase> engine, ESC, Timer, Programer, charger and battery x IC engine and glow. A well cared battery lasts about 20 gallons of glow. ( do the math). Glow engines requires some maintenance on bearings and piston/liner/rings/glow plugs. E-engines just require change of inexpensive bearings after a long time ( never had a change yet). When you already have a e-set up you cut the cost of the charger and programmer for the next plane an the cost of a new engine/esc/timer is about the same of a good IC engine. so now you have equal cost ant the battery cost x glow is very interesting.
other points to consider: steady working, no suprises, no noise, no pollution and no plane deterioration by fuel/vibration, plus a lot of adjust you can do to the timer.
you can go from the field to a date without that smell and concentrate only into the flight not worrying about the IC engine shenanigans and field naigbours complaint about noise.
what is the main point to decide to go e-power or stay IC is what you expect from your day at the field: are you flying aiming to compete or just realxing? if you´re aiming to competition, then e-power will improve your flight very fast due to the dependability, no slack lines, no burp, no dead engine and a lot of power supply on the critical points of the pattern ( just check how many fliers are e-power on competitions), i developed my flying skills in the last 5 years more than on the previous 20.
if you just want to enjoy the day and fly occasionally stick with glow, still gives a thrill and works good
i still have some models built for IC on the bench for sentimental reasons, still enjoy IC flights but for daily practice, e-power beats by far.

Tim Wescott:

--- Quote from: fred cesquim on March 28, 2023, 08:41:01 AM ---... E power is more expensive to start, but in the short period start to be cheaper than glow. ...

--- End quote ---

I was going to disagree with this, because I looked into pricing in 2020 or so and the long-term costs of slime power and electric were about equal.  You spent less up front for slime power, but then you had to buy fuel.  You still have to buy batteries, but a battery costs less than 100 tanks of fuel, so you come out ahead there.

Now -- I think you're right.  As of 2015, the short-term cost of slime was actually quite low, because eBay was awash in good engines.  As long as eBay has a supply of slightly used 46LA and 25LA engines -- with or without "crashed once" trainer noses attached -- we're good for those.

But fuel prices have risen faster than battery prices, and fuel is getting harder to find.  so -- yes.

Tim Wescott:
As to my personal tradeoff -- I love the noise and smell of slime-powered airplanes.  But I also love the quiet swoosh of electric, and with the consistency of electric I can concentrate on flying better, rather than overcoming this engine run.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page