Chipmunk 900 series free flight electric?

[skyjet]

i am building a 900 Chipmunk and was wondering if this model can be fitted with an electric motor for free flight?, i was thinking of using a small nicd with some sort of on switch and using a short charge to govern the lenght of the flight.
Any advice on the type of motor and any other alterations that might be needed, i cant afford a lipo set up or flight profiler.

Thank you in advance for any advice Skyjet.

[ADW 123]

i have tried to do a couple of electronic free flights. your suscess depends on how much money you are willing to spend on the lightest equiptment. keep in mind that it is better to have more power in your motor than you need. i had some trouble with finding a motor and battery set up that would give me enough power. the nicads are pretty heavy compared to the amount of power they give. i would suggest using small capacity batteries (measured in MAH) but get some voltage and add some more cells to it.
WEIGHT WEIGHT WEIGHT! keep it light!
also, you want a high voltage motor. you want small and light though, and finding one is hard to do.

you will also want a large capasity charging batery. what you do is charge the charging battery. then take it with you for flying. you plug ur charging battery into the charging port in the plane, and be sure to experiment with how long the motor runs if the battery charges for x amount of seconds.

you might also want light wires too. they will add weight if they are too big and heavy.

you will have to experiment with motor combos and battery combos to figure out the best results. you can also find some great magazines and books on the subject.

[skyjet]

Hi ADW123 thank you for the swift reply, it looks as if i am in for a lot of bench testing,i will go and buy some mags for a start, i have had a look at some rc Guillows forums using electric but its like another language at the moment.

Thanks again Skyjet

[ADW 123]

ive had trouble finding motors and equiptment for a cheap price these days. i wouldnt try building that chiptmunk for electronic free flight. you would have to spend a good deal of money on the lightest equiptment with the most power. i would suggest one of the park fliers. these kits have some info about electric free flight inside of the kit. they are designed for gas free flight, rubber, display, and electric. i would start on one of them. the problem is, is that all of the motors that the little info page in the kit suggests, are hard to find and the companies are out of buisness and stuff. youll have to find somthing more modern motors that will work

[Phugoid]

The KP01 is one of the motors suggested by Guillows but the text below taken from and e-mail conversation with Derek at KP Aero might be of interest to you, the motor/battery and contoller combo seems relatively inexpensive but the charger is not!:

"Hi,

I've decided to give electric free flight a go after using rubber power.

I thought a Guillows kit might be the ideal test bed for this as they are to put it politely "robust" and likely to handle the extra weight and inevitable crashes whilst I understand the "ins and outs" of getting the thing flying and how the motor delivers the power etc....

the Guillows literature recommends the KP01 motor and I've seen the motor pack complete with all of the bits and bobs, but then I've seen the controllers and I'm confused as to what I need for a starting package. Do I need the controller?

If you could let me know your recommendations that would be good, and if you have any further installation info/pictures etc that would be good too.

Many Thanks

Andrew"

........continues with reply.....

"Hello Andrew,

Sorry I didn't answer yesterday but I was away for the day. If you can keep the weight down to about 100 gms. for the Cherokee then probably the KP01 will fly it OK. I have not tried a Guillows kit with the KP01 so I am not in the position to give you first hand information. As a matter of interest Guillows did not contact me when they suggested the KP01 for their designs.The KP01 is now supplied with a controller that has adjustments for power, motor run time and 'run down' time. It is complete with a 200mAh LiPo. cell. You will need a suitable charger for this and I recommend the Pro 6 from CenturyUK. This is about £40.00 plus £4.00 post, this charger requires a 12v power supply. The KP01 is £34.65 plus £2.00 post.

Derek Knight."

[peterc4]

Wow this is an interesting thread.

I have an air-hogs capacitor powered ff plane and a nearly finished 900 series Chipmunk. The air-hogs plane seems pretty porky, but without dissecting it, I dont know how much of that weight is motor and how much is plane.

The air hogs plane doesnt fly very well as is. I think this is mostly the planes design faults - the motor seems plenty strong. I wonder if the drive train from that plane would haul the Chipmunk around?

Anyone out there have any ideas about that?

[CFIT]

hi guys - 1st post

I fly the the mustang of the same series with the guts of an airhog havoc heli helicopter (about $25 retail). The motor is geared and very light weight, I use the little lipo batteries from them (new river) and a cut down prop from a parkzone vapor. This will give a several minute flight, fly away is a real possibility so just charge the battery for about 30 seconds

I am in the midst of making another 2 channel rc version using a micro and pixie speed control/rx and those super cheapo tiny 2.5g servos for elev/ail with no dihedral!!. I am about half way, still working out some issues with stiffness and not adding weight.

I also use the tyco rc 2 motor prop planes they sell at toy stores - i have a jr cub on this setup and flying is fun times. 2 channel 27mhz with the motors spaced about 2 inches each side of the cabin.

I will post up a pic or two.

[skyjet]

Hi, wow thanks for all the replies and info, i shall get some of my old rc boat gear out of the loft and get it on ebay and have a go at this.
I think the 900 series kits are great value and intend to make them all.
Look forward to seeing your pics.

Thanks again Skyjet