eflightray

Many here seem to be only considering battery power for electric vehicles. Personally I see a greater use for fuel cell power. If petrol can be distributed to just about every city, town, village, and road sites, why not hydrogen stations, or perhaps an alternative material that a fuel cell could used, (metanol has been used in fuel cells). Lots of negatives here, can you really see 10 -20 years ahead that nothing gets done. ? The future is electric, it just doesn't have to be with todays technology.

Remember when many model flier said, "electric powered models will never catch on", (some probably still do ) . Yet given the past 20 odd years, things have improved to the point that they can match just about any IC powered model, even better some. All it needs is time to for the electric powered car, and power distribution, to improve to the point where it could be good enough to make the ICE redundant. Especially when car manufacturers and suppliers realise it's the next big market. Hopefully it wont take another asteroid to take care of the current 'dinosaurs'. . Edited By eflightray on 21/10/2018 18:41:43

The alternative power supply ? Scalextric or dodgem cars .

Will the government still allow cows to produce masses of methane, (another 'greenhouse gas). Two cows are supposedly equal to one car when it come to dangerous 'exhaust pollutants'. Electric cows next ?

Just wondering. How big a battery pack, and how long would it take to charge one of those up to 44 tonnes road trucks to do the usual trip from the South to Scotland ?. I assume, no petrol or diesel include all forms of IC powered 'vehicles' . Does it also mean banning all continental transport trucks from entering the UK, unless they to are electric powered. Or is it just the mugs with cars, and motorbikes in the UK ?, who have been chosen to 'Save the World' .

Posted by David Mellor on 18/10/2018 10:41:01: Hi Ray - your threads on the Majestic Major are one of the reasons I started this build! Dave   Just checked, it was 16 years ago when I built mine, time flies faster than models now. Ray. Edited By eflightray on 18/10/2018 11:12:30

A great plane, I eventually sold mine to make some room for another project, (never could get used to small modells). Ray.

Get a 'real model plane' and get out flying

I know it doesn't help in this situation, but a consideration for anyone building from a plan of kit would be, don't build a battery box. As Lipos can and do get hot, a box is not an ideal place to retain them. A tray is better as it allows some cooling air to circulate, that is assuming that cooling hole inlets and exits have been considered. I wonder how many model conversions from IC to electric have forgotten about the exit hole, (which should really be bigger than the inlet). Ray.

If I remember right the hybrid Hyundai Ioniq and Kia Niro use the same drive train. Though the Ioniq is lighter, has better aerodynamics, so slightly better mpg and 0-60, and I believe cheaper. I could depend more on shape for choice as the cross-over/mini SUV seem to still be the 'in thing'. I know which I prefer. Ray. (Ioniq).   Edited By eflightray on 16/10/2018 15:30:49

My oldest, and still gets flown, is my scratch-built B-25 Mitchell. First flown on 26-6-1993. (25 years old). She's nearly all in balsa, (could afford balsa back then), and always been electric powered. Started with Speed 600 12v motors, belt drives, and 14 Nicad cells, eventually got converted to brushless and Lipo, shaving 2Lbs from her original weight. Current colour scheme, (was silver originally). Still an impressive sight in the sky, but starting to look a little tatty on the ground. Ray.

Now if we all had our own hydrogen gas generators at home we could all use fuel cell powered cars. Anyone for a Hyundai ix35, or a Toyota Mirai fuel cell car ? Still happy with my Ioniq .

Interesting, just wondering if local birds, (the feathered sort), need to carry half a house brick just so they can fly on a windy day ?, they don't seem to here in Wales, and it can be windy more often than calm. Or is 'light weight' being confused with 'under-powered' ? Just about any model can be affected by turbulence, but a fairly steady wind should be capable of being handled with enough speed, (power), even by lightweight models. But then there will always be the, "it must be built like a brick outhouse, and IC powered" to be classed as a model plane. But then the 'discussion', about what materials, weight, electric or IC power, will go on for ever. .

If you need to mount the motor ahead of the firewall, how about using long screws or threaded rod. It also allows you to adjust the thrust angles slightly. Ray. (72" span Spitfire).

That's a good point. Do you think it's possible to make a 1/64" ply substitute by gluing used postage stamps in an alternate direction ? ..... I have all these used postage stamps I keep. Ray. Edited By eflightray on 02/10/2018 19:52:09

I used to have the 63" span version, electric powered, was nicely built, looked a flew good. Ray.

Perhaps you're overthinking a problem that doesn't really exist, unless you perhaps want very very long nacelles. Similar, what difference would you expect between a tractor location, (on the nose), and a pusher location, (in the tail), probably none. The main consideration is getting the balance right(ish), possibly compensating for the motor position with the battery position. I have a few twins and fours, mainly scale(ish), but if you meant for a twin fully aerobatic aircraft capable of flying an aerobatic schedule, then you may need to consider it a little more. Just build it, fly it, and enjoy it. Ray.

My 'pilot stance' is anywhere I like, I fly on my own. My landing criterion is to not have to walk far to pick the model up, (ok lazy, but then that's why I do RC and not free flight). As for depth perception, this year I have clipped two trees and a hedge, previous was a long time ago. I had been putting it down to the usual excuse, "did you see the tree jump into its path ?". And yes, I have had my eyes tested earlier this year and I wear my glasses. But I still think trees and hedges can move. Ray.

The idea is spreading. Friday Oct 5th Channel 5 8pm, a new series ----- 'The Great Model Railway Challenge' The excitement builds. .

For plug in wings --- Emotec Magnetic Locking System --- **LINK** But very expensive. (spotted in a thread on a well known USA forum). Just guessing, but I imagine they operate similar to security tags on clothing, where a magnet is required to release them. .

Large lipo batteries ?, I don't buy them. Buy the standard size 3s packs (1500 -2200mAh) and series and/or parallel connect them to get the required capacity and voltage. It can involve a few 'additional' connections and they may take up a little more room, but in the event of a cell failing you only have to replace a single 3s. not a whole 6s or larger. Similar could be done for 2s packs, (2s-4s-6s-8s-10s etc). Ray. Always a cheapskate

Likewise, does anyone know details of the smoke devices ?

If it helps, there is this thread on RCGroups --- Top Flite Stinson Reliant Giant Scale on Electric **LINK** .