Help! What is this, and can I electrify it?!

[MarkVP]

Hi there, I'm returning to RC after about 15 years... I'm bewildered by how things have moved on!

I've rescued the glider below from the loft, and I wonder if anyone can help with the following questions-

 

1- What is it?  (Its 2 channel rudder/elevator with solid balsa wing and GRP fuselage).

2- Can someone recommend me a suitable transmitter and receiver + battery setup for this (and ideally one which would also be suitable for my ancient Zagi which has yet to be rescued from aforementioned loft).

3- Could I electrify this?  I'm thinking some kind of tiny brushless motor in the nose, folding prop and just enough power/endurance to get up to a couple of hundred feet a few times in order to start thermalling.  I suspect it is too small but I have no idea what is possible with modern tech.  If it is possible can anyone recommend me a battery/motor combo which would likely work?

It is 147cm span, 10cm chord.  fuselage is 3cm wide and 4cm deep under the wing, about 5 cm deep in the cockpit area. 

 

Thanks in advance, I'm grateful for any help!

 

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Hi Mark and welcome. Jpegs are the best pic type to attach, so you're best posting them below. 

[MarkVP]

oops try again-

 

[Matt Carlton]

If you were to cut a hole in the fuselage under the wing, you could potentially move the servos back. That would leave space for a small Lipo. It looks like you could conceivably fit the power unit for an F5k model in there. Something like this:

 

https://www.armsoar.com/products/f5k-armsoar-powertrain-1806-kv2450-20a-esc

 

Which is very compact and on 3S would be ample. 

 

So the quick answer is yes, depending on how much effort you are willing to make to acheive it. 

[Piers Bowlan]

Hi Mark, I can’t identify the model but I am sure someone will be along soon who can.

 

Your glider conversion looks possible. As an alternative you could leave the servos where they are and cut a hole in the fuselage beneath the wing for the receiver, provided the control pushrods don’t get in the way. You could try Robotbirds for a suitable 

motor/ESC. Send some photos and a few details including weight and span. This motor as a suggestion? 4Max can probably suggest a suitable powertrain too.

Good luck with your project.

 

ps, does it really have a solid wing when the fuselage is so light?

Edited February 16 by Piers Bowlan

[MarkVP]

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated.  

 

I've removed all the old gear and opened up as big a hole as I dare under the wing.  Having looked at the access and googled the sizes of batteries my plan is to relocate the servos under the wing, and have the batt/Rx speed controller up front.

Its hard to convey how clueless I am with the electric side of things!  I have no idea what size motor is compatible with what battery, what mAh I should go with, what the compatible connectors are etc etc. I like the look of the F5F powertrain suggested above but it has an XT30 connector and I can't seem to find any batteries with XT30 connectors?  Most seem to have XT60U-F? 🤷‍♂️. Its a lot of googling!

 

I'm toying with the idea of making a removable/interchangeable nose cone/motor so that I can fly it as a pure glider if required! See how I get on.

 

Yes it has a solid wing!  I remember it used to fly beautifully for a rudder/elevator model.  As soon as you touch the rudder it would quickly roll into a nicely balanced turn with hardly any perceptible yaw.  I always assumed it was down to the very sharp dihedral on the wing tips (the original kit showed the tip panels heavily radiused on the leading edge but I left them square to preserve the wing area).   Can't wait to fly it again... although I'm probably about to ruin it with all the extra weight!

Edited February 21 by MarkVP

[Robin Colbourne]

That is such a nice fuselage that it seems a shame to butcher it.  Why not put a motor on a pylon up above the wing, where the shaft and prop will be protected?  You can then fly it as a pure glider still if the opportunity arises.

[MarkVP]

Went with the Armsoar powertrain suggested above and some 3s batteries.  I'm very impressed with how small and light the motor and batts are! I think the batt and motor combined might actually be lighter than the old receiver battery I was using in it 15 years ago!

 

I chopped the nose off, the fuselage is oval in section not round, so I experimented shoving different size penny washers into the nose until I found one that was the right size to "persuade" the front of the fuselage into a perfectly round section to match the spinner.  I then used that washer as a basis to set about making a bulkhead from some surplus carbon which I must have laid up about 10 years ago (knew that would come in handy).  Lots of in and out to get it to the required shape, but its dry fit now and looking pretty good.  The spinner isn't a bad match for the shape of the fuselage.  The motor power cables can be persuaded to fit under the canopy and the canopy itself is almost there, just needs slight modification...

The tolerances are, shall we say, "toight".  There must be all of 0.5mm around the front of the motor.  Drilling the motor mount holes in the right place in the bulkhead to achieve clearance was an absolute torment!

Been a while since I've worked with something this small and delicate- good for the soul.  

Next step is to tack in the bulkhead with some epoxy, remove the motor and then glass in the bulkhead properly...

 

Ps- Can anyone recommend a transmitter which would work for this and a selection of other stuff- flying wings, helicopters etc? Ideally less than 200?