Plane,motor,esc,servos,batt £150 ?

[Craig Spence]

Hi all,

I currently own a Minimag and I thinks its great, however with the trauma of me learning by myself it has taken such a beating you can feel the difference when flying, its not quite right. What I mean is that its not as crisp as it once was hence the reason im looking to buy a new plane.

So I have £150 and I intend to get a high wing foam plane with ailerons, rudder and elevator plus, brushless motor, Bls esc, li-po battery, four servos all this for £150 I hope. Ive been speaking to numerous dealers and looking on the web and im still not 100% happy with the offers for one reason or another. Im interested in the Multiplex Mentor but its a bit over budget even with cheap dealers.

Im lost and was wondering if anyone can give me a steer in the right direction to get a good deal.

I may even buy another Minimag but would prefere something a tiny bit larger.

Cheers.

[Pete Rieden]

From the likes of Giancod, BRC etc you could easily buy 4 servos for (say) £20, and a suitable motor & controller for (say) £25. £20 for a single lipo would give you a fair range to choose from (although I'd normally suggest buying 2 or 3 to allow for continuous flying). So we're up to £65, and have £85 left.

Well one thing you could do would be buy Alastair Sutherland's plan and build your own trainer. That would cost you around £25 in wood and hardware...

PDR

[Robert Bromwich]

HI Craig

Try BRC Hobbies

Plane Multiplex Easycub 55.1" wingspan (brc108) price £57.50

Combo motor 2814-8t/esc 33a  (brc565) price £35.99

4 micro 9g brc HT servos (brc690) price £14.99

Himodel lipo 2.2a 3s 25c (brc616) price £34.99

Total Excluding p+p is £143.47 so under your £150 total

So with p+p going to be just over i would think

Rob

[Craig Spence]

Hi Robert,

cheers for the research, thats what they (BRC) suggested but it does not have ailerons and I only want models with ailerons as im training for my IC plane.

Or does it have ailerons?.

Cheers Robert.

[simon barr]

Hello Craig,

I can't remember how much the Mentor costs, but the recommended Multiplex motor set up is expensive. It would be worth having a chat to BRC or RCM Direct to see if they could do an appropriate set up at (probably) half the Multiplex cost.

[Nick Rigg]

Galaxy Models usually have some good deals

eg http://www.galaxymodels.co.uk/results.asp?subt=ARTF+Electric%2FGlider&offset=20

Can't go wrong for £135

[Robert Bromwich]

HI Craig

Your right only 3 channel Sorry  

Question does it have to be foam ?? if not could use same esc/motor combo, same battery and get the Seagull 'Innovator' 55" span

Not sure about same servos but im sure you could get cheapish ones for it

Rob

[Craig Spence]

Hi Simon,

I had a chat with BRC today and they said that the plane with servos, bls motor and bls esc but without battery would be about £155 so I assume with the battery it would be a bit more over budget but ill have to phone them tomorrow to confirm full price.

But that is the ideal plane for me, its a step up from the minimag and I assume it will fly quite well too. Ive looked at a few videos and it looks really good.

Cheers.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Nick,

Ill have a look into Galaxy models, but I dont really want a glider as im trying to practise for an IC and im doing well on the Minimag.

Cheers.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Robert,

that looks like a good model and ill probably have a better look at it, however it doesent have to be foam but I would prefere it because of its quick repaires meaning more airtime.

Cheers Robert.

[BB]

Craig, 

If you do want a foamy, hows about a Parkzone Typhoon, 4ch. You just supply the Tx & rx. Fly it off 10.8v 1400mah. On low rates its quite docile,but agile on high's ,very aerobatic. Just another suggestion.  I used it as a step up to an i.c. Wot Trainer, very recently.

[Phil Claridge]

parkzone t28 trogan every thing you need is in the box ready to fly by the time you have charged the battery very docile on low rates 119 to 150pounds if you look around

[Phil Winks]

one that you could look at is the twin star II multiplex I think,it has full house controls and flys in a quite forgivng mannor also is quite robust ok its a hand launch but with a bit of thought can have U/C fitted if you feel you need to practice ROG take offs

[Piper Cub]

If you want a great plane for electric, try Perkin's 65" Piper Cub. Rudder, elevators, ailerons and its all pre built, covered for £49! It does have an ic motor mount which has to be removed but its great for leccie. Wheels and tyres are lightweight foam.

 http://www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk/detail.php?JPNO=5500340&activepage=2&Navmain=Aircraft%20-%20ARTF%20&%20Kits&subcatname=ARTF%20-%20JP

[Craig Spence]

Hi Basildon and Hi Phil,

ive had a look at those models and I think there a bit adavanced for me, thanks for the help though, I may look into getting one of these as a low wing trainer.

Cheers.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Phil,

I had a look at the Twinstar and it seems a very good beginners model, I think the design is great as to avoid broken props and practiseing landing without undercarriage is good training I think.

Do you know what they fly like on a brushless set up?.

Cheers Phil.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Piper Cub,

thats a good model, im gonna have a better look later on.

Cheers.

[Moggie]

Park Zone - any of their trainers are great

[Phil Winks]

the twin star is easily converted to brush-less but to be honest its not necessary prob a good idea to convert to lipo though to replace the 3300 8 cell sub C nimh you'll need an equivalent 3s lipo prob cheapest to get 2 3s1p 1800 mah and a parallel connector to make them into a 3s 3p 3600 mah the weight will be close if you use THESE the connectoris available at the same site you will also need a lipo friendly esc for brushed motors LIKE THIS also you may need to regulate the voltage to the brushed motors with a voltage reg so upgrading to b/less might be better ask Tim about the regulator other wise b/less option would prob be this MOTOR (x 2) and this ESC (x 2) you'll need a Y leadto connect the esc's to the RX (you need 2 esc's because with 1 only one of the motors may refuse to start) the mount for the brush-less motors is some thing I've not decided on the best way to do it but would prob be 4 bolts through a ply plate epoxied into the nacelles the motor cruciform mount would then be held on to the studs by 8 nuts 4 behind 4 in front I've a pic somewhere I'll stick in here later use a pair of 5 x 4 apc props and bobs ya uncle so to speak. please note while the maths have been done on this settup including available space in the airframe it has not yet been tried we're waiting for some one to burn/wear out the brushed motors at our club and it isn't the only way to do it there will be many others hope it helps

[Piper Cub]

Craig Spence wrote (see)

Hi Piper Cub,

thats a good model, im gonna have a better look later on.

Cheers.

Yep, I forgot to add its also strong being made from ply and lightweight for its size. Its a really good model.

[Bruce Richards]

Phil Winks wrote (see)

 2 3s1p 1800 mah and a parallel connector to make them into a 3s 3p 3600 mah

Phil surely you mean 3s 2p 3600mah!

[Ernie]

Hi Craig,

If you do fancy a Piper Cub, and  a really good build, Then why not try the Flair version..Its much easier to fly than  a true scale job, and is available either with built up, or foam wings. It's a perfectly practical trainer with a 40 ic engine. I finished mine in american wartime colours, complete with black and white invasion stripes. It's miles away from true scale, but looks great in the air

ernie

[Phil Winks]

hiya bruce your right slip of the finger lol. posted this once already but it's not here wonder why ????

[Frank Skilbeck]

Re twinstar brushed on a 3s lipo, I converted mine using a 3200 mah 3s and just needed a bit ot weight in the nose to make it balance.

Much better performance but it kept throwing the Gunther props, so I bought some prop adaptors and fitted those with some 5 x 3 props. Again great performance but one motor only lasted about 10 flights before it gave up.

Great flyers though so if you are going down this route, either look at a brushless up grade or speak with Puffin Models about the new Mig Brushed motors specifically for 3s lipo's.