My First Estate Sale Find

[Joker 53150]

The big birds do seem to be the niche of the older club members - I think that has a lot to do with cash flow and storage space. Right now I've barely got room for one giant scale bird, but I'm pretty sure once my daughter is off to college (she's in high school now) there will be more room for the big planes

I keep telling my daughter to move out so I can re-purpose her room for plane storage, but my wife evidently has veto power. Now I've REALLY got to find a way to store them to take up less room, as I have no idea where I'm going to put the Rascal!

 

[johnnycarlos]

If someone hasn't already mentioned this, the Espirit is a power sailplane, and it's essentially a mass produced copy of the old Electra power sailplanes. I had one given to me many years ago, I tried to fly it once, didn't give it near enough power on launch and lawn darted it. Cracked the balsa wing and fuselage. I salvaged the guts (mine came with Hitec branded servos) and threw away the airframe.

If you plan on flying that one, you need to update the electronics. I believe these all came with old FM band radios. Also note that unless you update the motor, it runs on a brushed motor and ESC. VERY heavy stuff.

My kit is just the wood and plans. I'll be putting my own electronics in there. So far, I'm thinking about using what powers Radians, 30A ESC and 480 brushless equivalent.

 

[Mad_Mechanic]

My kit is just the wood and plans. I'll be putting my own electronics in there. So far, I'm thinking about using what powers Radians, 30A ESC and 480 brushless equivalent.

Ah, ok, mine came pre-assembled and your box looked big enough in the picture to be the same as the box mine came in so I figured it was a pre-assembled plane.

I definitely agree with modern power systems. Mine had that old heavy bulky brushed DC motor and a NiMH battery pack. Going brushless and LiPo should save a lot of weight and give plenty of ample performance.

 

[johnnycarlos]

Motor arrived, Cobra 2208/20. Flew great. Original 6x4 prop. Shakey and grainy video.

Did two take-offs from grass but it was dicey so I hand launched.

 

[Jackson T]

Motor arrived, Cobra 2208/20. Flew great. Original 6x4 prop. Shakey and grainy video.

Did two take-offs from grass but it was dicey so I hand launched.

Looks like a nice flyer!

 

[TooJung2Die]

That's a very nice old timer. Electric was definitely an upgrade though some purists would disagree. I love how smooth and stable these old designs fly.

 

[johnnycarlos]

That's a very nice old timer. Electric was definitely an upgrade though some purists would disagree. I love how smooth and stable these old designs fly.

Agreed. The plane had no throttle. The tank could not have held more than a couple minutes of fuel. I would not have been able to fly at that park. And I'd have a mess to clean. Some major drawbacks for this size plane.

I flew 12 minutes and still had 57% battery left. At that speed, the motor was near silent. Peaceful and relaxing.

 

[Joker 53150]

Congrats on the maiden, and for rescuing an old bird and giving it another lease on life!

 

[johnnycarlos]

There's one more thing I want to do before calling it done, modify or replace the cowl. And I dont really know how. Here's what it looks like now. The new motor is shorter. I'm thinking I can either hack off the front of the existing cowl or try to build my own? I'm uncertain of making my own, I have no clue how it's done. The advantage though would be that I could cover the top. If I just hack off the front or try to extend the prop shaft, it would still be exposed at the top. The existing cowl is nice though, with magnets and alignment pins.

 

[Joker 53150]

How about spacing the motor out a bit on hardwood blocks so it’ll fit the stock cowl? Assuming the motor would fit inside, that is.

If you go that route note that your CoG will shift and the plane will have more nose weight.

 

[TooJung2Die]

How about spacing the motor out a bit on hardwood blocks so it’ll fit the stock cowl?

Then make a dummy glow engine cylinder on top of the cowl. I've seen it done on other old timer electric conversions and it always gets people doing a double take.