im thinking about making the big leap into larger sized electrics using brushless motors and lips but im wondering what kind of setups you guys use for larger airplanes, 40-sized airplanes and up, like what kind of chargers, how many of them you take to the field, how many packs you guys take to the fields, and the runtimes you guys get, also do you guys charge packs at the field? or use the same packs more than once a day?

right now ive got a basic razor 2500a and nimh packs, i want to buy some lipos soon, im seeing these thunder power 3cell 2100mah packs, what kind of runtime can i expect with these packs using a razor 2500a on a 3d aerobatic airplane?

We could probably help more if you told us what type of large plane you want to fly. The recomended gear for an LT-25 or Kadet Senior would be rather different from the recomended gear for a 60 size Ugly Stick.

At the moment I prefer slow relaxing planes so I am flying a JKA Big-T (6 foot wingspan trainer) on an endoplasma geared 3.8:1 with a 12x8 prop and 7 cell GP3300 NIMH battery pack. I can keep the plane in the air for 20 minutes on a pack, so I just take three packs to the field and do all my charging at home.

lagcisco
Last couple of years, have been largely indistinguisable at field from oily modellers - a Four Star 40, an ex-GP CAP 232 and recently a Sig 1/5th scale J3 Cub. Been flying the first two on 16 cells - CP2400s or 3000 Sanyo NiMh, the Cub has 20 x 2000 NiMh. Reckon that one day they'll be replaced by LiPo, but not until the market settles, and I'm happier that my car won't explode or my house won't get burnt down.

With the aerobatic models, I take three or four fully charged packs to the field, peak each before flight and then slap them in my Kool Charge tube cooler until cool enough to recharge - I use my two chargers (Astro 112D and FMA Supernova) to top off or recharge as needed. Both those chargers do basically one thing well - they charge batteries - and have been doing it reliably for years.

Also take along one, maybe two, ten cell birds - these are my own design low wing taildragger sports aerobatics. Not that much less performance, much easier to mess with and haul around

With this lot, I could - if I had the urge - fly non-stop about as long as my two tranny batteries would hold out safely for. Between socialising and lunching, flying opportunities are never missed though!

Understand folk are racking 20 min plus aerobatics flights with all sorts of aerobatic models, never mind just baby lipo powered 3D type models. However, I tend to get bored after around 7 - 8 mins and land - usually after I fly the third double Immelman, FWIW.

Hovering leaves me about as excited as watching baseball or calling roll in the Senate

Overall, am drifting back to taking two or three models to the field and flying them really hard, after the madatory e-flight spell of trying to take a dozen or models out to fly every time.

D

Take a look at some of my stuff in my gallery:
http://rcgroups.com/gallery/showgall...stype=2&si=jrb

Beyond my Mustang I take most of the fleet tot the field as I did to the MARCEE E Fly-In: usually about 4 planes (.40 ARFs – 3 w/16cells & 1 w/12cell) – 3 w/o changeable packs and 3 pack for the other.

Basically, one each: flying, cooling, charging, peaking. Have two chargers and a 105AH trolling motor battery.

But, the future is brighter; I’ve got LiPos in the Mustang and can get 3 flights (6-8 minutes of high speed strafing runs) on a single charge.

So I had 3 LiPo equipped planes I could get 2 to 3 flights on each with out the need to bring the charges or deep cycle battery!

Of course sometimes my fleet mix for the day includes any of the others (GWS A-10, T-33, abut 12 total) as well.

ok now i've got a better idea of what people are running, as far as the setup i'd like to get is looking along the lines of a 40-size aerobatic planes like the Seduction Freestyle or Flip 3D with enough power to hover and still have juice to pull out.