FT Monster Radial

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
I forgot about this thread but felt I should update here.

I did crash the Sukhoi before FF, resulting in a LiPo fire and losing the airplane. The motor was absolutely fine, save for a few minor scrapes on the wire insulation. So, I was not able to bring anything with the motor running for the event. I want to emphasize that this was a hard nose-in crash at 75% throttle, with spinner, and the shaft of the motor did not bend at all. VERY stout construction but still, I appreciate the ease of shaft replacement.

I had a brief conversation with Josh Bixler at FF about these motors. The general consensus is that there NEEDS to be prop grips on the bell of the motor. That is a design change that will be happening. Also, I want to note that Josh was confident that I've been pushing this motor far harder than what they have, or even John Overstreet. I know there are few other prototypes out in the wild so I cannot speak to their experiences. What I need to mention also is that before my crash, I did encounter some wear on the bearings. They started to sound a bit rough and the prop did not settle nearly as evenly as it once had. I've since replaced the bearings with Boca Green seal bearings and the motor runs great again.

I do have plans to replace the Sukhoi with another aircraft that I will continue to fly this motor on. The objective is to try and max this motor out for as long as possible. I've also learned a lot from the IMAC sequence and it is teaching me things I'd not otherwise learn.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
I should also note that I confirmed with John Overstreet that his application on his large P-47 was using a 22" prop. I believe it was a 10" pitch, which makes sense. He was running that on a 4S pack. This would create gobs of thrust to pull the airplane around, given its light weight and wing loading, it would not need a tremendous amount of speed from a prop with a higher pitch.
 

VerinWville

New member
Sorry about the sukhoi, that looked like a fun plane. What kind of plane are you looking at replacing it with? Another IMAC sport plane? I'm so excited to hear that the monster radial held up in the crash! I can't wait to start building with one but was somewhat worried that it wouldn't handle my '"rough and speedy landings"
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
It is another aerobatic plane. I've been enjoying the IMAC learning curve so I'd like to be able to pursue it more.
 

Jonny Gum

Elite member
Hello, hopefully this thread still has some life. I am planning to build a Stearman using the Monster Radial, and am looking for opinions on running a 17" lower pitch prop on 6s. I've used the motor for 3d on a 16x8 prop on 6s, and would like to use something slightly larger for the scale size without overstressing the motor (as large as possible prop on 6s). I'd also like to run the shaft through a dummy radial, what is the best way to extend the shaft/mount the prop farther away from the motor bell?