Any obvious first Giant Scale Electric Plane?

[Jim_Marconnet]

I just joined a Giant Scale R/C club. Now I can socialize with the guys and dream of my first really big plane.

My current fleet is small electrics, mostly foamys, several of them are biplanes. I'll stick with electrics if at all possible. The club field is grass, usually with wind in aboundance. My kit building, even ARFs, is glacial. I've gotten really spoiled lately with Vapors and MCX helicopters, which are truely RTF. I use Spektrum radio gear exclusively. I do have an ancient 100" sailplane which I've considered converting to electric power to get something flying quick and cheap.

Another perhaps silly thought I had was to scale up the Blue Baby made of Bluecor and perhaps make it a twin. Nah!

Any obvious first Giant Scale electric plane suggestion for an intermediate pilot?

Jim Marconnet

[RyanPSU21]

A big Cub is always a good go. The normal giant definition is an 80 inch monoplane or 60inch biplane or quarter scale and larger if quarter scale span is less the either of the other 2 definitions. An 80 inch span cub can fly on the equivalent of a .40 size glow engine or 500 watts so the power requirements aren't huge.

[Forest Flyer]

An important question is what sort of budget do you have for this plane. Giant electric planes can be pretty expensive, but can be done sort-of cheaply as well (for a basic plane).

FF

[Jim_Marconnet]

An important question is what sort of budget do you have for this plane. Giant electric planes can be pretty expensive, but can be done sort-of cheaply as well (for a basic plane).

FF
Budget?

When I told my dear wife that I had joined the Tennessee Valley Aviators and now I need an 80 inch wingspan plane to comply with the Giant Scale rules, her response was, "Oh No!" I guess that tells me the magnitude of my budget! :-)

Jim

[Conehead]

Hobby Lobby is coming out with a 12 foot ARF of the Telemaster. Is that giant enough. They flew it at SEFF. Nothing flies like a Telemaster. I got the 8 foot one, it is gas though.

Conehead
Orrin Eldred
Honor, MI.

[Conehead]

Opps, there goes the Telemaster. Don't know what it will cost, I went to their web site, they don't have it up yet. So I am going to guess it will more than the 8 foot one for sure, plus you need bigger servos and such.
Conehead
Orrin Eldred
Honor, MI.

[Forest Flyer]

Hobby Lobby is coming out with a 12 foot ARF of the Telemaster. Is that giant enough. They flew it at SEFF. Nothing flies like a Telemaster. I got the 8 foot one, it is gas though.

Conehead
Orrin Eldred
Honor, MI.
That will probably be a relatively cheap 12-foot option, ignoring the fact that you may need a trailer to get it to the field.

The 8-foot telemaster is great on electric, and it carries a lot of weight. But it is a very basic plane that can manage only minimal aerobatics.

FF

[Tonystott]

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/telemaster12_3886_prd1.htm

[Airboatflyingshp]

If you have a sense of humour :D :D and want to be in the air quick and save your pocket and ears, as well as ingratiate yourself with your kids if you have any, build a Mud Duck Sport 82" or AgriDuck sport the low wing version, If you want to go really big for not a lot more Go for the full size Mud DuckII or Agriduck 108" span ;) :cool: . http://www.mudduckaviation.com/
As far as payload concerned you've got space and capacity to lug a VHS camera round inside :eek: Power requirements are modest, experimental fun factor huge....I'm going to try a multi motor build eventually.
As a first giant model it makes sense its simple, tough, stable and the wings are QD in seconds, you will find several threads on this forum... but the grin factor is even bigger :) than the planes.

[Airboatflyingshp]

For an easy scale subject how about a large scale vintage ultralight.... or a big pusher powered version of a Vulcan or twin boom pusher.

[Jim_Marconnet]

I was kidding my wife the other day about how I might scale up a Parkzone Vapor to 80 inch wingspan!

That Mud Duck Sport has a certain "appeal". Now where to get unused butcher meat trays large enough for the raw material needed to make it!

Thanks for the suggestions. These are exactly the sort I was hoping for. The operative word is "obvious", but not so obvious till someone in the know suggests them.

Jim

[MikeAnderson]

I bet one of your new clubmates have an airframe or two lying around, collecting dust, just waiting for an electric conversion....

[Jim_Marconnet]

I bet one of your new clubmates have an airframe or two lying around, collecting dust, just waiting for an electric conversion....
Good point! Guess I could ask at the next club social meeting.

There used to be places you could take your old furniture, big vats of chemicals that would quickly strip off all the 500 year old varnish so you could easily refinish the furniture.

I wonder if there is something similar that you could soak an airplane in to soak out all the old fuel and castor oil residue. And while you are at it, perhaps to dissolve away say 25% of the balsa wood, since you would not need it to be that thick (and heavy!) for a smooth-operating electric. Dream on!

Jim

[Yellowspider]

Tonystott, That is the kit version of the 12 foot T-Master. Conehead said they are coming out with a 12 ARF. Not that the kit wouldnt work for him.
Yellowspider

[Airboatflyingshp]

Foam board is coverd in paper both sides one side is more glossy- its used for mounting pictures/photos or advertising in stores .....if you recycle some from a local store, just make sure they are not vynle covered. Large sheets get expensive unless you can find a friendly local supplier/staioner art /hobby store schools use it a lot for modelling.

Search for electric mud duck, as for cleaning up old airframes the real problem is fuel rot of the wood, if its solid Ok if it wasnt totally sealed when built it can get nasty.

[MudDuckAviation]

I wonder if there is something similar that you could soak an airplane in to soak out all the old fuel and castor oil residue. And while you are at it, perhaps to dissolve away say 25% of the balsa wood, since you would not need it to be that thick (and heavy!) for a smooth-operating electric. Dream on!

Jim


Jim,

if you do find an old balsa airframe that is oil soaked, one of the tricks I used to use on old auction airplanes was pick up a product called KR-22. It is an aerosol carpet stain remover available in supermarkets usually (although I haven't shopped for it in years, I assume it is still available). You spray that on the balsa and it wicks out the oil, you just brush off the dried powder, and it may take several applications. Another method I used was denatured alcohol, carefully in a WELL VENTILATED AREA ond no open flames! it dries out wood also, but you have to be careful of warping if you saturate too much or too big an area. Check some threads for more suggestions. I have heard of wicking it out by using an iron through towels, apparently some materials will wick toward the heat.

Greg

(I stumbled on this due to the Mud Duck link, I'm not stalking you Airship :) )

[Airboatflyingshp]

Course not Greg..........LOL

The one thing you have to consider with solvents to clear the fuel out of the wood is the possible effect on the adhesives used in the original build - you might want to re glue any treated ares once dry with thin cyano..but that may render wood locally a bit more brittlle.

[twest]

The great planes 1/4 scale rv4 is only 70", but is giant scale due to 1/4 scale. It flies well electrically with a relatively inexpensive 6s system.

The sig senior kadet arf is 80" and flies great, land or with floats. Unlike the kit, the arf has ailerons and is a bit more aerobatic but basically flies like a big trainer.

The telemaster 60 has already been mentioned and you can see a lot of them (some electrified) at IMAA meets.

A lot of 80-88" span sport/scale/3d aerobatic planes like the extreme flight extra, 3dhobby shop 88" extre shp, or similar actually make really good sport planes. You can use much smaller power systems than suggested if you don't want unlimited 3-d, and set your control throws for the "low rate" suggestions. I bet 2000 watts would be suffiecient for very sporty flight. A lot of guys in my club fly planes like this (you-can-do 3d, for example) as a simple sport plane. They fly great. Set the C of G a little forward, set up a power system for 100-120 watts/lb, and fly away!

[Jim_Marconnet]

Thanks, twest, for those suggestions. I'm still looking around and have not made any GS decisions yet except to keep going to the monthly TVA meetings and enjoying the guys and gals company there!

Jim

[Heather]

A SIG Rascal 110 would be a good choice as well. Looks pretty and flys well.
Doesn't need crazy power either.


Heather

[Michael in Toronto]

The great planes 1/4 scale rv4 is only 70", but is giant scale due to 1/4 scale. It flies well electrically with a relatively inexpensive 6s system.


I agree. Nice plane and fun to fly.


Also, Hangar 9 1/4 scale Cub is a terrific model.

Easy to fly, and no tools are needed to assemble it at the field.

[dirtybird]

I have been flying a Cunningham 62" Lazy Ace for some time with a Scorpion 4025 and a 9s1p A123 pack. It flies about 6 min and can be recharged quickly.