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Mick Reeves Gangster 63 electric conversion


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Hi Christopher. Mine is electric 700 watt motor and 4s 3300. It is normal length with motor about 40cms in front of main bulkhead. It balances 75mm behind the leading edge and with 150 grams of lead bolted to the motor mount. Flies a dream the only issue I have had was my motor stand off was not robust enough and cost me 2 motors.

That horrible light weight cowl has gone and I have put 3 layers of glass cloth and epoxy( as you would cover a balsa model) and now have what is effectively a glass cowl

The model I am struggling with is a kit built seagull challenger that is taking 300 grams which in my book is crazy

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Thanks for the info gangster,I shall check your measurements against mine later this week,my gangster was given to me by a friend of mine,I did the electric conversion but I needed so much lead to balance it I gave up on it.gone back to ic.All models are a struggle,built a Cessna 172 from a plan ,now I am having problems with the flaps staying in the up position.

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Posted by christopher small on 24/05/2016 21:47:33:

I extended the nose 3 inches,so now I am converting back to ic,big question is should I cut the nose back 3 inches to its original length or can I leave it alone.

Christopher, imo (for what it's worth) it's very hard to imagine how mounting your i.c engine 3 inches further forward than the design ballpark is going to give you anything other than a seriously nose heavy aeroplane

I usually try to do a "dry fit" on my models to get as close as possible to the desired balance point. Using blutack, sellotape, elastic bands, or whatever else is necessary, I place all the components - r/c gear, tank, engine (with prop, spinner) and mount, etc - in the airframe in my "best guess" position. I then check the balance, and move the various components around as required to fine tune that.

If you are able to do that it should give you a good idea ....

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How much lead are we talking about Christopher? Mine took 150 grams which I consider ok for an ic model electrified In the past Most of the models I have built and we are talking scores have needed no lead but recently I seem to need loads I accept the g63 lite is designed for an Ic 40 but in reality the heavy lipo is all in front of the c o g. My Challenger needs nearly 300 grams once again I can accept that it is primarily an ic model but even so that is a lot of lead. The real enigma to me is the Acrowot ARTF in the RCME review Mr A said it needed 8oz of lead even with a 70 FS up front now it cannot be said it was built heavily at the tail it's an ARTF. My Acrowot ARTF has the same motor and is going to need a similar amount probably

Is that poor design? Before I am castigated for "goosing the dutchess" by criticising a well respected model p I will add the following. My old kit built Acrowot with a 60 two stroke needed no lead at all. What's going on?

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I don`t believe in adding lead,thats why I extend the nose when converting a plane to electric,but when a motor and lipo weigh 180 grams less than my MDS 48 but produce the same amount of power,I suppose the extra 200 or even 300 grams of lead is perhaps not so bad after all.Or should I have 2 lipos to save lead and run them in parallel to give double the battery capacity and longer flight time.

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That's what I did with my Paper Aviation Eezee Pezee 84" ws trainer. It was designed for a 60 glow engine and I'm running it on 4S LiPo with 5055 brushless motor (700 rpm/v IIRC). In order to get it to balance on cg I have to carry 2 x 4S 3600 MaH in parallel. It gives me almost 20 minutes duration pootling about and a bit less if put it through its somewhat ungainly aerobatic schedule .

I was surprised how much extra nose weight I needed but batteries are a lot more useful than lead. Good job there's a lot of room in what was the fuel tank bay.

Geoff

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  • 4 years later...

Christopher. You say you are after a bigger motor, not sure what you are using already . Assuming you are talking about the 63 lite . I have used the Overlander 3548 That gives about 650watts with 4s and 13x8 prop. You say you don’t want as much as 100 watts per pound which is what that set up gives. Easy calibrate your esc in the usual way then limit the throttle throw to say 80%. You then have scope to increase your power if you need to Or you simply just don’t push the stick so far. It took me about 30 years to learn that it was not necessary for the throttle stick to remain in the uppermost position all the time

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Posted by gangster on 08/12/2020 08:05:09:
Posted by SIMON CRAGG on 08/12/2020 07:56:22:

My Gangster 63 runs a treat on a 5s 4000 50c lipo, 80a YEP ESC, Turnigy SK3 5055-430 17X8 Gemfan prop.

That’s a lot of power. I am assuming that is a proper Gangster 63 rather than a lite

Yes, one of the originals!.

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