Airpower AP900 EDF with HET 600-33 motor

[Chris Card]

Today I've taken delivery of an Airpower AP900L 90mm EDF fan and a HET 600-33 motor which I'm hoping to use to breath life into my Haoye Hawk kit.

I suppose I should have asked before I splashed the cash, but is a 600-33 and AP 90mm fan a good combo for this plane?  The Alshobbies website suggests the following spec:

Batteries Required:      3300-4500mAh Li-Po 11.1v
Ducted Fan:      Ducted Fan Unit Included
Kit, ARTF or RTF:      ARTF
Length:      1030mm
Radio Required:      4ch
Servos Required:      2-3 x HS 65 or 81 (3 required if using rudder)
Speed Controller Required:      80+ amp
Wing Area:      16dm²
Wingspan:      960mm

Lastly, does anyone know where I can get some real world data on the current drawn by my motor and fan combo on 5S and 6S setups, so I can decide what batteries to use?

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Chris Card]

Thanks Eric, I have a Hyperion Emeter and an Eagletree micro eLogger so I think I'm well taken care of in the test and measurement dept.  My request was for any existing data that I can use to help me plan the build at this stage, while the motor and fan are still safe in their boxes. 

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Chris Card]

Right now I only need enough info to decide how many cells of battery to go for.  I'll shoot for about 45 to 50A which should provide brisk performance.  I'm guessing this means 6S lipo or 7S A123 but since many people will have tried the combo before I'm hoping there are some figures out there already.

[Tim Mackey]

yep, i reckon 6s decent capacity Lipo - forget A123s in EDF - they are too heavy, and to equal 6 lipos you would need 8 not 7.

[Chris Card]

okey doke I shall proceed on the assumption of 6S lipos as I plan the internal layout. 

[Chris Card]

I decided actually Eric's idea was the right way to go - no good reason not to simply assemble the motor to the EDF unit and fire it up to see what the numbers were.   Since I only had A123 packs to hand I first tried 4S which proved the motor kV was fairly low - just 14.7A on WOT.  So I doubled up to 8S A123s which gave me around 31A at full throttle. 

I think I'll try 8S lipo next, but this will probably be a bit over the top.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Tim Mackey]

8s M1s is about the same as 6 -7 GOOD lipos..... I found that the Life's held around 3V under load, whereas a  quality LiPo holds around 3.6

[Chris Card]

Yep, I think 8S lipos might be a sweet spot for this motor and fan but may be on the heavy side for the plane. 

[nasa_steve]

let me know how you get on Peevie i have the same fan and motor combo so i'm interested as well.

nasa

[Chris Card]

Will do.  I'm not sure it's the perfect setup for this airframe.  To fit a 90mm fan in I need the fan quite far forwards and this means that the plane won't balance with 8S batteries up front. 

I might have to use this as an excuse to buy another airframe (any excuse!) and put a different setup in the hawk.   Anyone got a suggestion of an airframe that would suit an AP900 fan, HET 600-33 motor and 8S lipos?

[nasa_steve]

have a chat with scott cuppello at BRC hobbies he's a whizz with edf and he know's of some new stuff for 2009 that might well be more suited to the AP900/ 600-33 just a thought

steve

[Chris Card]

Thanks Steve.  I've seen Scott posting but didn't realise he was with BRC.  I bought the motor and fan together from BRC, it's one of their recommended setups.  I'm sure he'll have a few ideas, I will send him a PM and see what he recommends.

[scott cuppello]

Hmmmm, well, it will need to be a 6s set up, which on this little jet would normally be a problem, however, if done right, I reckon it's workable, you need to run it up, if it produces what I think it will, then we should be getting around 35A,  2200-2500 3S should be workable, any more and I reckon weight is going to get out of hand, BUT, you will have around 700w to play with, so with some throttle management [let's be honest, you are going to need to anyway!] then flight times should be reasonable, the sensible thing to do will be to use 25c packs.