I currently have an electric Sky 1.7 from Art Hobby and it has a rimfire 370 with 9x5 folding prop. I am wondering does anyone have the art 1000 motor on theirs and what size props? I would like a little more climb power as its seems to get to around 400' and then it's a struggle beyond that. I'm running a 950mah 3 cell also. Any comments suggestions are appreciated.

Racer,

I was just out with my faithful 1.7m Sky today. It's on its eighth season. I fly one of the old PJS motors that were offered by Art Hobby. If I recall, they had difficulties with availability and switched over to their "Art series" motors. I fly with a 12 inch CF prop from AH and while no meteor, I have a nice strong climb.

I've had such great support from Andre since moving to e-gliders. Give him a call and see what advice he can offer. You may get some feedback from some Sky owners but I cannot recall if any I've read about fly with the AH motors.

I was out earlier this week with the 1.7 and had to really work on altitude management. Almost got too carried away watching my little bird climb.

Dave

Do I know what motor u have 700,900,1200? I talked with Andre once and told him what motor I was using and he just said that the Art 1000 was specifically made for this plane. Not much more than that. I'm not looking for a rocket ship as I have one of those. I would just like a faster climb with some more pull. I need a fair amount of down on launch and it takes a while to get to altitude. What size battery r u using?

It is the PJS 900.

It gives a good climb but I do have to watch my climb angle as I get higher. I tend to climb a little to steeply especially after flying some of my other planes.

Oh, by the way, the 900 is 32mm in diameter so the fit is pretty tight. I fly with one of the ART 1000's in my little 1.2m Gamma. Good performer with about an 8 inch prop.

Dave

I will tell that mine does not have vertical performance It climbs but I feel like I have to step it up in stages to get some height. My radian was like that but the radian climbed much better and faster. Maybe I am doing something wrong idk. I would just like to be able to start out and more than 400'. I was used to flying my radian between 1000'-2000'. Not that I would go that high with this bird and I would loose it for sure at that height. I ran it up on my watt meter this morning and I was pulling 10.5 amps at 124 watts wide open. I have thunderbird 18 in and the motor specs 135 watt continuous with 165 burst rate. i am not anywhere near the burst rate. I have considered going up in prop size but unsure of what to go to. Idk

I'm no technician on motor/prop combos, but I'd try a 12 inch prop and run it up with your watt meter before you fly. If it pulls too many amps, I'd step up to the TB 36 and give it a try. I kind of follow an 80% rule. If I'm pulling more than 80% of my max amp rating, I move up to a higher rated ESC.

I normally climb to around 600 before I shut down. I get about 5 good, strong climbs from my 900mAh battery. That only eats up about 300 mAh or less.

Again, I'm no technician. I just experiment until my plane gives me what I want.

Dave

I think I'm going to try an 11x8 less expensive prop before in order th 12.5x6 from AH. Since my spinner only accepts a 6mm shoulder and the blades from AH are like $35. thanks for the help I appreciate it.

Sounds like a good approach. I had my 1.7 out today but way too gusty. Winds at 14 gusting to 23. I think someone told me, "Flying in wind makes good pilots, but it's tough on airplanes." I finally called it a day and watched some of the nitro and gas guys fly.

Post your impressions of performance with the larger prop. Might help a few people.

Dave

Ok installed a 11x8 folding prop and pulled 14.4 amps and 154 watts. A little high on the watts but it was static so I think it will be ok. Flew it twice and could notice a big difference climbed up to 600' no problem. Not much lift today. Second flight was just as good until landing kinda of was n emergency landing as ran the pack a little to low. So put it down on the runway at the end of it but it was full of water. Got it dried out so hopefully it will be ok I will find out tomorrow.

Congrats on some successful experimenting. Sounds like you are really happy with the performance imrovement.

A couple of thoughts for you:

I fly in farm country here in the UP. Lift can be spotty, but I have lots of success with early morning and late afternoon lift. Mornings are my favorite when there's plenty of temperature differential. I often start flying around 9 when the sun angle is warming the fields and forest. Find some great lift. Late afternoon and early evening can also be rewarding.

Regarding your battery...even if you hit your LiPo cutoff, you still have lots of time left so take your time coming back. I'm pretty conservative on lots of flying techniques so I try to limit consumption to around 20% of my available milliamps. It's easier on the batteries.

Dave