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Quiet Sunday Morning at the club field
Finally managed to get down to the club yesterday and get some flying in. It was great to be back in the air after a couple of months without flying at all.
Shortly after arriving at the pits another clubmember made the comment that there seemed to be a lot of electrics there. Now our club has a membership of around 100 give or take a few, of which maybe 40 are the more active flyers. Yesterday morning a quick look around the pits revealed 1 high wing sports model with a .46 2 stroke on board- that flew once whilst I was there 1 own design large gas turbine sports model- that flew twice whilst I was there, but with a litre of fuel per flight that's perhaps understandable  2 Hawes 45" Tucanos- both AXI equipped 2 plan-built sp 400 sports twins - finished in an Illuyshin-like scheme 1 twin 600 powered Partenavia Victor 1 own design 16 cell aerobatic ship powered by a big AXI - these all flew several times each plus a selection of mine and my son's models 1 GWS Spitfire 1 Mega 16/25-4 powered Global Birdie 10 1 Searching 400 thermal sniffer 1 Mini Flying Machine with HS480 Pro 1 Multiplex Pico Cub 1 RCM&E Hawk Sp400 pusher Three of the flyers present are very long established glow pilots who are getting into electrics. The amazing thing was that there was just the one glow model on a Sunday morning. The mix changed in the afternoon session, with more glow-powered models arriving, plus a few more electrics, but for much of the morning hardly an engine sound was heard. In fact the rattly nosewheel on my Birdie was probably the loudest thing there for a couple of hours. Interesting to look at the split of brushed versus brushless power as well- I made it around 25% brushless, which is way, way up on what I'd have expected just a year ago. Brian |
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Brian:
I am a glow flyer and a club mate? of Tim Hooper. It is not unusual for there to be more electric planes at our club than glow. Notice I said electric planes, not electric flyers. How is it that you electric boys seem to bring at least a dozen models each time you turn up? (Nearer two dozen in the case of Grant). Is it because they are unreliable or is it because they are always crashing? Us glow chaps mange with one or at the most two! Ken |
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 ; but I'll still put in my 2 cents.... The answer is No and No  . The answer is simple; because YOU CAN  . EP is so easy to setup and fly; you can easily fly several planes at the field if you want to. All you do is pop a battery in and go flying AND there is no cleanup afterword. Because of the fast turn around, you can easily get lots of flights in on different planes and then simply pack up and go home.Personally, I am back down to one or two planes; but that is just me . Usually one if I am flying a new plane that I want to get to know or flying before work in the morning ..... Otherwise just two on Saturday....BTW Ken, instead of making new post, you can go back and edit your original post for misspellings, or add more comments if you wish. There is a little 'edit' button at the bottom right of your post to accomplish this function. |
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Last edited by rclark; Mar 01, 2004 at 06:09 PM.
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Ken - don't get taken in. There's plenty of folk on the web who never got past "English Gramma as Sumat Wot's Not My Prob" at their skool
 Many e-fliers go through this 'many models' phase - me, too! Now, I'm backing off to a far more select and smaller fleet - the big dog being an aerobatic that will leave many glow fliers wondering ... "Over Here", all the clubs around DC have a smattering of electrics, seems the bigger the club, the lesser the e-penetration though. Noise problems never come into it - despite that a previous wet-set site has been recovered for quiet flight only well after the noisy lot got the boot off it, courtesy of one well-connected neighbour. Possibly the biggest shift in model types is the above silents site. It's been run by a g!*#&r club since its recovery for flying, but if you look at the club meets, the range of models flown and the membership interests, it starts to look a lot like an electric club with a few folk who can't figure out how to fit a prop to their models Hang on a while Brian - I reckon it'll spread. Might be a while before a club meets "any more noise and you're off" with "How's about we reduce the noise to less than ambient"? Might be a while with the DC RC though, I'm not holding my breath there. Regards Dereck |
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tim |
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That would be because we can. Small models give you that option .Seriously though, not all of us bring a bunch of models- most of those I listed were brought by different folks, three different flyers bringing one or two models each. I've always taken a carload to the field, even back when I was exclusively flying glow, because I never know what I fancy flying when I get there. I recognise it as detrimental to getting to know just a few models inside out but the variety is what I really like about the hobby and I've got a very long list of aeroplanes that I want to build and fly that isn't getting any shorter, so I'll be bringing a fleet to the field for a long while yet. On the crashing front I don't think power system has a great deal to do with it- most pilots I know have their moments irrespective of what is turning the prop, or not, at the time. On yesterday's sample the only two crashes all the time I was there was on the maiden of an OS .15 powered plan built trainer, which survived the loss of ailerons and a larger Ultimate biplane that had it's front end severely rearranged when the big glow engine cut in the hover. On other days I've gone home with broken models, both electric and glow, same as anyone else. I think in terms of reliability I reckon it's also about even. I've seen too many models of both electric and glow type temporarily grounded due to some minor (or more major) fault at various fields to hold with the "nothing ever goes wrong with - insert your choice of power system here". Glow motors can get techy, ESCs can blow, throttle linkages can stick or malfunction, battery packs can fail to deliver as well as they did last time out - seen all those happen and more. Brian |
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Brian:
O.K. I will hold my hand up, I was having a "tongue in cheek" go at you flying sparks. My problem as a glow flyer is that viewed logically electric flying wins hands down over us slimeys. Secretly I think I am jealous. I see them come to the field smartly dressed, open the back of the car, select a model and go flying. At the end of the day the procedure is reversed the models are put straight back in to the car and the owners go off to the pub without even having to get changed. I have even heard that they are allowed to take their models into the house. I struggle to think of an area where glow outshines electric and so far the only thing I can think of is say a cross channel flight where endurance becomes an issue. Having said that you will probably come back and say that you have managed the knack of changing battery packs without landing the aircraft. This would not suprise me, I know for a fact that Tim can eject a spent battery pack whilst he is still flying, I have seen him do it. The trouble was I laughed so much I did not see whether he was able to throw a full charged replacement back in and continue flying. Having got that of my chest you may well ask my don't I change to electric myself. Life would be simple if I could answer that, I guess I must just be addicted to glow, perhaps they put some substance in the fuel. Ken |
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Other than that, the real 'fun' of electric for me are the challenges it presents; unlike glo we don't have unlimited power:weight loadings allied to long endurance, but we have fun messing about with details to gain little increases in performance. The technology of eflight is a whole new science (with a whole new terminology) compared to glo, as is fascinating in its own right. tim (getting off soapbox)
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I dont know if I agree with you on that Tim...think about it...you buy a e-plane and a good setup for it and the spending is done...with a glow plane there is ALWAYS the cost of more and more fuel. Here in the states its about $20 a gallon and some guys go thru a gallon every day they fly...even if you dont use a gallon each outing youre still putting around $500 in just for fuel!!! Besides nitro airframes cost more as well (in general). Not to mention all the equipment needed.
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Dark Side,
I know what you mean. However the scenario I usually experience is when some vaguely-interested, but clueless glo-flier (see pic) ambles over to me, clutching 5lb of oil-soaked Slowpoke in one grubby mitt and a burned-out 540 can motor in the other, and asks if an old ex-car pack of 6x1250SCRs will suit this particular combo. So I take the gent to one side and together we cost up; 500 watt motor and ESC 2x14cell packs A charger to suit APC prop and adapter I then suggest he also ditches those cheap and clunky servos and budgets for 4 mini-servos. At which point, the gent runs off to the model shop and buys another gallon of glo-fuel........... tim |
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Thread OP
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Ken
Not with that on your passport, you're not Brian |
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