Could also be because maybe i use a bigger prop than i should on the motor, however the aeronaut folding props i find is pretty light.

Found out last week that JobyMotors.com is starting to produce a 30kW version of their motor for sale. It's not yet on their website, so contact them directly if you're interested. Right now he's deciding whether or not to produce in quantities based on demand. A 30kW motor is powerful enough to propel a single-seat ultralight or light 2-seater. Ask for JoeBen and tell him Mark Beierle sent you (Mark of the Thundergull ultralight fame who's built a few electric versions of his ultralight).

Jonathan

WOW ! I too have been reading this thread from cover to cover .
Dale, Cappy and Brian , thank you for this thread and your dedication to the sport .
As many have said they wish they could find a Lazair . I dont know if they are still being made , or if plans are avab. So if this might be infringing on someone , please let me know if this is the case and i will edit this post , But here is a possible alternative.
http://m-sandlin.info/ The drawing presented there are free and top notch. A very easy to build aircraft

Edit

Hi Brian,


Thanks for the flattering comments on my re-drives. I designed them 30 years ago the old fashioned way - a pile of manufacturer's catalogs/specifications, a calculator and a pencil - and being naive enough to think I could with no mechanical engineering background. When I showed the tiny Pioneer engine and my design to a fellow that was then building re-drives for a few Ultralight aircraft producers, he told me I was crazy. I did finally get him to machine the large belt sheaves I needed. By then I had found a 9" South Bend lathe locally for sale, took a night school class and made the rest of the re-drive parts myself. So, way back then, I guess I was doing what Dale's trying to get people doing today. Dream it, then Do it. BTW, I've been dreaming for several years about converting one of my recumbent bikes to electric assist using RC stuff driven through the gears but haven't done it (yet). I have a pretty good collection of 18650 cells so I guess that's a start. I, however, have no intention of going wild like you have. Something approaching one HP will do me just fine!


Electrical interference is likely the cause of the Eagle Tree Logger's misbehaving in my mind too. One thing that most people don't realize is how powerful it can be under just the right circumstances. When you have lots of different frequencies, and they find lots of different length circuit board copper traces and component lead lengths, very efficient antennas can exist. When tuned so perfectly, amazingly large interference can be generated. Since I'm not intimately involved in the RC movement like most people here I had to go look over Eagle Tree's website. One thing I noticed was that in the listing of accessories for the eLogger the very last item offered is a ferrite choke. That makes me think they have in fact had somewhat wide-spread EMI problems...


I personally feel that Mike Sandlin is one of the heroes of the hang gliding/Ultralighting community. Who else is giving away complete plans for a variety of home buildable aircraft? Even if a person isn't interested in building one of them the plans can very educational. I've had a copy of his GOAT plans for a couple years. I hope I get to meet him someday!


As anyone that has read the early part of this blog would know, Dale has tried several times to power a Lazair using then-current RC equipment. Several years ago he planned to do it with 4 of the largest brushless motors then available. The batteries were similar to what he used this time. He built up one motor module to test. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a controller at the time that could survive. He eventually put it all aside to wait for the next generation of gear. At that time, IIRC, he computed that using $6000 in batteries would give him one climb to 1500 feet and maybe 10-12 minutes of cruise to try and chase down a thermal. Compare that to the flight duration he's getting now using approximately half the cost in batteries!


Chappy

Grate ! Glad I'm not "crossing the line" here.
As Mike says , His highly detailed drawings are not "plans". Its detailed drawings of how he does stuff . So it is a good road map, thats open for changes to facilitate other ideas .
I would agree Non sheilded cables are useualy the problem. I have ran into this on many occasions in my line of work.

Originally Posted by Chappy123

.....Electrical interference is likely the cause of the Eagle Tree Logger's misbehaving in my mind too. One thing that most people don't realize is how powerful it can be under just the right circumstances. When you have lots of different frequencies, and they find lots of different length circuit board copper traces and component lead lengths, very efficient antennas can exist. When tuned so perfectly, amazingly large interference can be generated. Since I'm not intimately involved in the RC movement like most people here I had to go look over Eagle Tree's website. One thing I noticed was that in the listing of accessories for the eLogger the very last item offered is a ferrite choke. That makes me think they have in fact had somewhat wide-spread EMI problems......

Originally Posted by inventing_man

......I would agree Non sheilded cables are useualy the problem. I have ran into this on many occasions in my line of work.

I too have had Eagle Tree erratic readouts with two sets of different Dashboard/Flight Data Recorder units purchased at different times. Shielding does NOT help. I have been very careful with grounding and the prevention of ground loops, etc.. Eagle Tree's support offered canned (and some electronically ridiculous) responses that did little to improve the problem. Even at my workbench the units read erratically! I have given up on Eagle Tree.

Just had to get that off my chest! I rarely criticize anything without offering a solution, but this time, I can't offer one.

Thanks again for this informative, excellent thread.

Nick

Edit

Hi everyone,

Wow, a lot of posts since I last posted.

I am back from my cross country trip. I gave a talk at Scaled Composites in Mojave on Oct 27 about the Electric Lazair and I got to fly the full size Spaceship 2 simulator. That was the highlight for me. I managed to get to space and back without crashing the ship, although I was a little out of control a couple times.

We put 42 hrs on the RV8 and about 6000 xcountry miles.

Not much to report about the Lazair flying yet but I see I need to address a lot of posts to this thread. Unfortunately I am leaving for Uvalde again tomorrow. This time I am flying a Taifun motorglider to get down there. I'll try to catch up with my thread responses while I am down there if I have time.

Dale

Originally Posted by KiloOne

Hi everyone,

Wow, a lot of posts since I last posted.

I am back from my cross country trip. I gave a talk at Scaled Composites in Mojave on Oct 27 about the Electric Lazair and I got to fly the full size Spaceship 2 simulator. That was the highlight for me. I managed to get to space and back without crashing the ship, although I was a little out of control a couple times.

Neat! I guess the advice to fly at least 2 mistakes high certainly applied here!

I don't suppose anybody thought to record the talk and post it somewhere?

Sad note here, Mark Stull , of Texas a Avid UL home builder and expermenter Crashed and parished in his latest experment. I believe Mark did post here at RC groups a few times, and some here may know him .
A very sharp and pointed wake up call for us all . Sence this thread is dedicated to 1 to 1 UL Home built scale , please keep in mind what is at stake guys and gals and be careful up there.
Phil .

Originally Posted by Chappy123

... BTW, I've been dreaming for several years about converting one of my recumbent bikes to electric assist using RC stuff driven through the gears ....

See/search this subforum
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=21

Vriendelijke groeten Ron
• diy motor tips • Drive Calculator •
• diy motor group • Cumulus MFC •

Discussion/sources for larger batteries in the elelectric PPG group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/electr...o=1&m=p&tidx=1

This period the thread is now going through is a bit like the period between season one ending and season two starting on a great tv show.
Hanging out for the next report.

I am very interested in a plane like this. Are Dale or anyone else going to produce and sell an amphibian electric Lazair soon?