I will be building a 24" wingspan Guillows Cessna 150 and converting it into electric rc(3 channels...) I searched all over online and only found one build thread for this plane so I am putting another one out there for people who like to watch or for those of you who would like to learn with me. This is my first rubber to electric rc power conversion attempt.

First thing first...the electronics and AUW I'm hoping for.

I am shooting for a weight of around 4.5 ounces which will give me a gentle flying plane.

Electronics:
I am not exactly sure on any of these yet except for two 3.6 gram blue arrow servos. I also will be making this plane brushless, but again I dont know which one I will be using. And I will be using a 2s lipo battery.

Mark

Any comments or help will be very helpful! Thanks guys!

What a good choice. Mine flys well with 3ch control, at over 6oz with a sheeted fuse, so I wouldn't get too worried about weight. I cheated the span by 1/2".

I ran with a DD 12mm Feigao, and it now has a small $20 outrunner, which definitely mounted better. More power than it needs. I made the nosewheel steerable too, with a single spring shock absorbing loop in the gear strut. It will ROG.

The only issue I had to rework afterwards was cutting into a wing mount and correcting the incidence of a wing panel. Be careful to assemble both wing panels at the same incidence. A bit of washout, and of course consistent symmetric panels with no warps helps.

I believe I have 4.3gm BA servos in mine. They have proven to be good servos for me, but I pull EVERY PIN from the connector and make sure the crimp has been properly done. They have issues with this, and I've had to correct 3 or 4 bad crimps so far with these servos. I got lucky to find this problem on the bench with intermittent servo operation, the first time I discovered it. It could have destroyed a really nice plane.

I just completed a TD version of the Guilows c-150.

No where near as nice as the red one posted above and I have yet to fly it - it seems I am having issues with my unrealiable power system. Not sure why but I have burned out two GWS LPS motors in a row. (long story but I'm strongly considering going with the Fieago brushless motor in my GWS gearbox.

The LPS B2C CS was a bad idea.

Wow very nice planes! I just hope that she will fly straight and true. I have the wings done as well as the tail surfaces, and I also have 75% of the body finished. Weight of the frame so far is .87 oz. I will be sheeting the front of the body for strength in hard landings and crashes. My neighbor was telling me to get the outrunner brushless motor for it, and that is the path I will be going down.

OnVacation: Where did you buy your electronics from? I'm looking for the same electronics as you(besides the servos I already have of coarse.

Here is the updated pic. There is one afternoons worth of work! I'm excited to get it up in the air.

Mark

Originally Posted by mrfrogdude

Wow very nice planes! I just hope that she will fly straight and true. I have the wings done as well as the tail surfaces, and I also have 75% of the body finished. Weight of the frame so far is .87 oz. I will be sheeting the front of the body for strength in hard landings and crashes. My neighbor was telling me to get the outrunner brushless motor for it, and that is the path I will be going down.

OnVacation: Where did you buy your electronics from? I'm looking for the same electronics as you(besides the servos I already have of coarse.

Here is the updated pic. There is one afternoons worth of work! I'm excited to get it up in the air.

Mark

Looks like its coming along well.
From what I can tell, these small outrunners are marketed under a number of different names, but it seems to be the same few small models that everyone's using, with just different lables. I got them from my LHS. I believe it was BP Hobbies that they got them from. My LHS got them twice, the first time I believe was from Dynam, but they seem identical. The same motor is also powering my Guillows DC3, except for there's 2 of them. The higher kv is nice in that case (over 1500) so you can get small props to do the job.

Here's a link to the motor. They have 2 different kvs, but this one is now in stock:
http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id...7&pid=B2552589

I think you might be on the right track there - I'm going to give the GWS lps motor one more shot - if it fails I'm trashing that set up and going brushless.

Straight and true - for me its more fingers crossed it just flies

Your bones look good, did you have any warping in the wings?

This is my first in about 20 years and one wing is not cooperating...it is the main spar causing the trouble (and probably my rusty building skills).

Last model I build was a Nitro Eaglet II.

The problem with the LPS is that its not ideal in this plane geared, but you have to use tiny 3" props if you go DD. I have had some success using the 12V brushed wind in gearboxes with high gearing, since you can get the rpms out of a 6" prop, which is about as large as you would want on this plane. The 5" is probably more ideal if you want to use landing gear, and also scale.

Did you see the build that "Simano" did as a TD - he seemed to have used the LPS system but the damn thread died before any flight report went out - I just assume now he must have failed. In any event I went with what the Fairchild Guillows kits were getting hoping that I could keep the wieght down (I'm an oz heavier with less wing).

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323990

I need to see it fly - would love to see it fly regularly but would be satisfied with one good flight.

OnVacation: Thanks for the link, I will probably be buying that motor...looks good. Did you just use the phoenix 10 speed controller? I am looking at ordering the electronics within the next couple of days, so they are here in time for installing without too much of a lag in building.

vp46: My wings came out very flat...now hopefully they will stay that way(except for the washout).

What is the best quality and lightest reciever? A berg, or the gws pico?

I am going to be going with solite as the covering. Probably Green and white.

Mark

Also, would either of you happen to have any close shots of your servo mounting or any inside shots at all? Possibly medium sized photos? I'm not exactly sure how I can mount them...

Thanks!
Mark

Hi Mark,

Nice looking build so far! At 4.5 oz it should be a great plane. WRT the recievers, the berg 4ch is probably better quality, though the GWS is probably cheaper and would most likely work fine to. (I haven't used either though)

Good luck with the build,
Ryan

Originally Posted by mrfrogdude

What is the best quality and lightest reciever? A berg, or the gws pico?
Mark

I've used the GWS pico's in many planes and they are very prone to interference. I've heard the bergs are much better, but haven't tried the Bergs myself.

As long as you're not doing fast speeds, you'll probably have plenty of time to correct the interference issues. In faster, slightly higher powered airplanes than this, I have nearly met the earth with disatrous results many times with the GWS's. Not ONCE with the Spectrum nanolites though. Amazing performance and amazingly small and light. You can tuck them in anywhere, even in a tight space with a speed control without worry.

Mike

Originally Posted by mrfrogdude

OnVacation: Thanks for the link, I will probably be buying that motor...looks good. Did you just use the phoenix 10 speed controller? I am looking at ordering the electronics within the next couple of days, so they are here in time for installing without too much of a lag in building.

vp46: My wings came out very flat...now hopefully they will stay that way(except for the washout).

What is the best quality and lightest reciever? A berg, or the gws pico?

I am going to be going with solite as the covering. Probably Green and white.

Mark

Mine has a T-bird9, but the 6A they have now should be fine too.
I think the issue with the GWS pico recievers is all relative to the rf in the area. For me they work well. I've pushed them out pretty far and they perform like dual conversion receivers. I live in a small town, far from major cities.
I hear of problems others have and don't doubt them, but I believe they must have interference problems that I'm fortunate not to have.

Originally Posted by mrfrogdude

Also, would either of you happen to have any close shots of your servo mounting or any inside shots at all? Possibly medium sized photos? I'm not exactly sure how I can mount them...

Thanks!
Mark

I have another larger photo attached below. I used 4 cut pins and glued just the pins in the fuse - in case I need to move it later. It's solid.

Well I just got done ordering everything from the motor down to the servo plugs and propellers. By the way, if you are looking for a one stop website to gather everything you need go to bphobbies. I found them very easy to use, and they had everything I needed.

Here is what is going into my cessna:
-Welgard C20/24/25 Brushless Outrunner Motor
-Berg by Castle Creations Microstamp
-Feigao 6-Amp Brushless Speed Controller
-PolyQuest XP Lithium Polymer 7.4V 300mAh 20C (bought two for alternating)
-Two Blue Arrow 3.6 gram servos

I added up the wieght of all the electronics and the bones of my plane as they are in the above picture and so far it is at 2.76OZ. Which means I have 1.63Oz to play around with. All that needs to be done is add the 1/32 balsa sheeting to the front portion of the body, add a hatch and trays for the servos, add some 1/32 plywood to two formers for support of the wing(in crashes or hard landings), and cover it.

So I'm thinking that I will be under my desired wieght.

Mark