Ed Anderson

That is a good approach.   Wattmeters are an essential piece of kit for electric flyers who are moving away from Ready to fly or bind and fly packages.   As you change props or battery voltage you change the power curve of the motor.   As a result you can overload something leading to component failure.  So you check with the wattmeter to insure that you are not overloading the motor, the ESC or the battery. They are not expensive.   I have two. Here is an example of a wattmeter from HobbyKing. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__14624__HobbyKing_PO_Wattmeter_100A.html     Edited By Ed Anderson on 21/08/2016 14:51:19

  Whether the friend has a Wattmeter or not, if he is going to play around with props he should be checking the power with a wattmeter. Don't have one? If he doesn't want to get one he should stay with the MFG recommended, which, in this case is a 9X4.5 as reported in the post.         Edited By Ed Anderson on 21/08/2016 02:46:04

If he is going to start changing propellers he should check it with a wattmeter.  The advice you just received is to go from a 9X4.5 to an 11X6.   That is a big prop jump.     That might be OK or it might overload the motor, the battery or the ESC.    Once you stray from the MFG recommendations you must check with a wattmeter.     I have seen too many crashes and too many buned up components due to people bumping up the voltage or changing the prop and burning something out as a result.   They cry foul and blame the components until I put my wattmeter on and find they are pulling 40 amps against a 25 am ESC and a motor rated for 30 amp.    Poof and all the magic smoke comes out, assuming it doesn't start a fire.         Edited By Ed Anderson on 20/08/2016 21:24:38

That is the joy of the hobby. We can all approach it a little differently yet share in the same experience as we find lift and take it high into the sky. Clear skies and good lift to you!

Good luck with the new glider. I have never flown a glider that was launched with a glow engine. I have only flown pure gliders and e-launched gliders.   Why would you use a glow engine rather than electric? Electric can be restarted and controlled. A glow can't. Do you put a folding prop on a glow engine?   I would assume not as it would make it tricky to start.     Edited By Ed Anderson on 20/08/2016 19:00:58

I know the Spectra quite well. Here are some thoughts. * If you just swap the NiCd pack with a 2S lithium that is sized for 20 amps it will fly better because it will be lighter. Still not a fantastic climb but it takes nothing to do this. A 2200 mah 20 C pack would be great. That speed 600 on 7 cell nicad was taking in about out about 160 watts but only delivering about 100 watts to the prop which as I recall was an 8X4. Now, which spitfire? If I search on HH for Spitfire this is the only 950 kV motor that comes up.   There are no specs given on the motor and I can't find a spitfire using this motor on their site so I am guessing this is a model they no longer sell. The current Spitfires use different motors. http://www.horizonhobby.com/15-bl-outrunner-motor--950kv-pkz5116 I am assuming the prop  is a 9X4.5 as props are not marked in degrees they are marked in pitch according to how many inches the prop would move forward through the air on each turn if there were no slippage.   This motor seems to be close to the motor your friend has so we will use the specs from this motor: http://www.horizonhobby.com/power-15-brushless-outrunner-motor--950kv-eflm4015a   You did not say what voltage, how many cells,  the battery pack would be and that would be critical to know in order to estimate the wattage the motor will draw. And you did not say what amperage rating the ESC had so I have to guess. Here is a WAG. 3S pack, 9X4.5 prop prop, probably draw 20 amps for about 220 watts input and about 180 to the prop. That would nearly double what the Speed 600 was doing. So that would be fine. Glider would probably climb at a 45 degree angle or steeper as compared to about a 25 degree climb on the speed 600 and a 7 cell NiCd pack.   Should work fine.             Edited By Ed Anderson on 20/08/2016 16:59:58 Edited By Ed Anderson on 20/08/2016 17:00:37

Posted by Dickw on 23/03/2015 14:36:52: snip... Definitely not bricks, and the modern F5B machines do have a very good glide ratio when set up right. I have attached a data log from one of my flights at a competions last year showing the motor runs (purple spikes) and height (green line). You can see the regular motor runs during the "speed" part of the comp followed by the soaring part. Good lift to start with, then hit the sink - just like any other glider . snip ... Edited By Dickw on 23/03/2015 14:37:55 Curious, what glider were you flying for that competition?   What was the all up weight?  Edited By Ed Anderson on 23/03/2015 18:26:41

Great insights. Thanks!

I am curious about the thermal soaring part of the task. I would think these would be bricks in normal trim. Do they really thermal or is it just a matter of crazy fast climb and then glide? I can't imagine these things having much of a glide ratio at that weight and that wing loading.  Would you run some thermal camber during the glide portion? Also, why no rudder? Edited By Ed Anderson on 23/03/2015 13:23:40 Edited By Ed Anderson on 23/03/2015 13:25:05

Just picked up an HKM Solitaire Plus at an estate sale. Brand new, never been assembled. Anyone have this glider or care to share anything about it? I understand this was a competition F5B glider from the late 90s, early 2000s. **LINK** **LINK** I have a sheet that looks like the one at the second link. It appears to be in German. I have no intention of entering F3B competition. But It looked like it might be fun to set it up at as a warmliner, maybe 150 watts/pound. Appreciate any advice or insights from current or former owners. Ed

Yes, Dieter says it is the Stork 2 Pro. It is still available from Soaring USA but this one has a Shredair label on it so it has probably been sitting around for years. But now that I have it together it looks like it has never been flown. Soaring USA also has an electric fuse for it. If I like the glider I may get the e-fuse too. I have my supra pro set up for winch or electric launch. Maybe I will do the same with this one. Now to check out the servos and such to see if anything needs to be replaced. And 6-10" of snow on the way so not flying this weekend. Glad I got a snow blower for Christmas rather than another glider. :D

Here are the photos