Ian Whittaker Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Hi, Does anyone have any experience of electrifying a large(ish) vintage design please? I'm thinking Ben Buckle's Long Cabin, Radio Queen, that kind of size? I've built and flown both in the past and loved them, but glow powered. Am I right in thinking that such designs are usually short nosed - which wouldn't help when trying to balance as the power train seems to be lighter, especially the motor when compared to a similar engine. I know this may upset folk, contaminating such a design with pesky electrical power, but site restrictions being what they are.... thanks, Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Kremen Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Radio Queen - Flies a dream now on 3S LiPo. The light wing loading, they float around on a whisper of power. (Oh and the original Col. Taplin 'Radio Queen' actually flew using electric power in 1957 using a war surplus Emerson electric motor and banks of zinc cells - Aeromodeller reports with pictures confirm) Edited By Capt Kremen on 27/12/2020 19:01:39 Edited By Capt Kremen on 27/12/2020 19:03:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Col Taplin (of Taplin twin fame) electrified his own Radio Queen in the first recorded electric RC flight in June 1957 but then he did not have a problem of a lack of weight! Although electric may be lighter than IC much of the weight is the battery and it can be positioned to suit. It can always be bigger too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Super Scorpion is ideal. Very easy conversion. The battery in under the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Considering Col. Taplin used an electric powered Radio Queen to cross the English Channel in 1957 I'm sure nobody will think you new fangled if you use electric power around 65 years later. Vintage models are quite undemanding on power needs as the Capt above points out. You could do worse than take a look at the 4-max models web page devoted to electric setup descriptions for the vintage models kitted by Belair models. Even if your exact choice of model is not there, you will be able to see ballpark motor, prop and ESC sizes. **LINK** Edited By Alan Gorham_ on 27/12/2020 19:04:25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murat Kece 1 Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Posted by Ian Whittaker on 27/12/2020 18:34:06: Hi, Does anyone have any experience of electrifying a large(ish) vintage design please? I'm thinking Ben Buckle's Long Cabin, Radio Queen, that kind of size? I've built and flown both in the past and loved them, but glow powered. Am I right in thinking that such designs are usually short nosed - which wouldn't help when trying to balance as the power train seems to be lighter, especially the motor when compared to a similar engine. I know this may upset folk, contaminating such a design with pesky electrical power, but site restrictions being what they are.... thanks, Ian Ina, Electric is good..Clean and better looking.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Chinnery Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Oh - gorgeous! It must be 30 years ago I built mine - lovely flier on an OS40 f/s - long take-offs and even longer landings - whiffling about on 1/4 throttle at shoulder height. Loved it! I still dream of building another one - electrocuted like the one above. (Get well soon Colin Buckle!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Vintage models fly beautifully on electric power. Note that elsewhere on the forum it says that Ben Buckle kits are hard to get at the moment due to Colin Buckle being unwell. Also balsa is in very short supply. Many vintage plans are available free on Outerzone though and strip balsa seems available while sheet is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokenenglish Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Posted by Alan Gorham_ on 27/12/2020 19:03:19: Considering Col. Taplin used an electric powered Radio Queen to cross the English Channel in 1957 I'm sure nobody will think you new fangled if you use electric power around 65 years later. Edited By Alan Gorham_ on 27/12/2020 19:04:25 Alan, I didn't know that Col. Taplin crossed the channel with electric power in '57. Have you got any references or other info (e.g. A/M report). That would be most interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Haha, erm, yes it's spot the deliberate mistake time! Of course it would have been a tremendous ask to expect the silver zinc cells and primitive brushed motor to carry a model across the channel back then... I am conflating Taplins electric powered flight of his Radio Queen with the IC powered flight across the channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Kremen Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 There are various reports regarding Col. Taplin and the 'Radio Queen' model including other references to a Mr Peter Cock involvement in the design. I have details of the Aeromodeller report and will shortly upload these under a separate post so as not to further detour from the original enquirers question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Whittaker Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 Posted by Capt Kremen on 27/12/2020 18:46:59: Radio Queen - Flies a dream now on 3S LiPo. The light wing loading, they float around on a whisper of power. Hi Capt Kremen, that looks great. Whereabouts / what capacity is the battery please? Is there a huge amount of lead required? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad_flyer Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 This thread on a electrified vintage (Modified Ben Buckle Double Diamond). Needed a lot of lead to balance a heavy tail. I have that model now and it carries the weight (about 9 1/2 lbs all up) very well. Particularly lovely to land. The battery is behind the motor. Peter Miller's option of battery below the motor brings that weight forward, and many of these models have very deep chins to allow that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Kremen Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Ian Whittaker See Personal Message (PM) sent. My 'Radio Queen' has flown with numerous engines (i/c) and motors (electric) in its long life to date. These include OS 40 four-stroke, Oliver Tiger Diesel, Astro 40 Cobalt Geared electric, Graupner SPEED 700 with belt reduction drive and now a Overlander 'Tornado' C3548 900Kv brushless driving a 13 x 4 APC E prop. A 3S 3300mAh LiPo provides the electrons into a 40A ESC with SBEC. (I see Overlander now offer a 'Thumper V3' motor of similar spec). The LiPo battery, as in many of my vintage/old-timer models, is inserted vertically in the front of the model. It is secured against one of the front ply formers (F2 or F3?), usually under the leading edge of the wing. As a comparison, it first flew with 14 H-e-a-v-y Sanyo NiCad Cells with the Astro 40 motor, weighed close to 7 Lbs and still flew! You can image the plane almost 'jumps' into the air on 3S LiPo using the far more efficient brushless motor. After the initial burst of power to get airborne and avoid any risk of ground swing, the throttle is quickly brought back and the motor barely ticks over but still keeps the plane aloft. (I will shortly post details of Col.Taplin's efforts and other early electric models in a new thread). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I aquired a battered electric version of Ben Buckles 'Great news' that needed some love and care. It badly needed some updating with isolators etc. A bit of church roof at the front and it flew well. More details available if of interest. Bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murat Kece 1 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Could you show us before and after Bas? Edited By Murat Kece 1 on 28/12/2020 12:50:05 Edited By Murat Kece 1 on 28/12/2020 12:50:22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Back to 2012 and here is my Mercury Matador from a Ben Buckle kit. A quick look at the photos on this page and you'll see I did electric and diesel swappable front ends. I didn't have any trouble balancing at all. The thing I'd suggest to watch, is not to overpower it. These models were designed to bumble around very gently and don't take kindly to any attempt to fly them faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Murat, Nothing really to show as there's little difference outside. The only really major update was the fiiting of a removable bridged plug on the outside of the cabin to enable a quick power down on landing(To isolate the Lipo, as there are to many amps for most simple switches).Battery platform under motor, plenty of room on these vintage types of this size. This helped with the CG. The previous owner fitted the motor & ESC I must own up to the fact that I have no idea how to post a picture on this Forum, thats the main reason, apart from the fact there is very little difference between before and after!!! Bas Edited By Basil on 28/12/2020 13:42:35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis 2 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I built a double sized Tomboy off plans drawn up by my late uncle. It is powered by a French brushless motor a Twister 40 and a 3S 4000 mAh Lipo but it was originally fitted with a PAW 19 then a Merco 35. Build blog, history of the model and lots of irrelevant stuff here: **LINK** The model is on its fourth fuselage! Can you tell which is the first and which is the most recent manifestation from the two pictures below? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokenenglish Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 For Alan G., Ha ha, that's what I suspected! Note that the commonly seen video of the Colonel's electric RQ only shows a hand launch that looks like it didn't get away, otherwise the video would have been continued. I won't bother with the various A/M RQ reports over the years, they've been posted loads of times, both on here and on other forums. However, some of you may not have seen this video. From 26 seconds there is superb footage of Peter Cock flying his prototype modified RQ, with an ED 2.49cc side-port diesel. The look on his face when the thing is successfully flying around is priceless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 merry Christmas David.....I would guess that the 2nd picture is the new fuz… made me LOL. ken anderson...ne..1.... send the prize to me for guessing correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis 2 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I know what you mean Ken. When I put the same two pictures on RC Universe, some wag asked why I had dyed my hair white! Edited By David Davis 2 on 28/12/2020 17:23:23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis 2 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 PS. I have also just completed a Super 60 for electric power I did not require any additional lead in this model either. Both the Big Tomboy and the Super 60 are covered in Solartex. Perhaps I've just been lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Ian - there is an alternate source of vintage kits -Belair who do laser cut parts for designs such as Black Magic, Black Beauty etc etc. I am not sure if you get the stripwood too or if it's just a semi kit. Another worthwhile website is 4Max one of many pages showing electric setups includes Radio Queen, Majestic Major etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.