Simple conversion of a nitro plane to electric
And to make it a good fit for your current sponsors...use a Horizon Hobby airframe with Hobby King electronics.
An electric conversion of a plane that is already outfitted with a nitro motore, or was only designed to be fit with a nitro motor, seems to be a common goal for a lot of people in the hobby. It might be an idea to show people out there how they can go about doing this. Getting the equivalent components to properly replace the nitro engine. How to install the electric parts. etc.
I've just finished an electric conversion of the Hangar-9 Piper Cub 40 (80inch wingspan). The ARF wasn't prep'd for electric conversion. But the job wasn't that hard to do.
Here are a few common situations I find myself in:
- I don't want to deal with the mess of nitro.
- I don't like the look of a motor and big-assed muffler sticking out of the cowl of a scale looking plane.
- I like a lot of the airframes offered by Horizon Hobby's companies. And I like the nitro based ones I already have.
- I don't want to pay the price for electric components at my local hobby store when Hobby King has such good prices. Check the reviews section to make sure that it seems to perform well and you can save a lot.
When I bought the Cub I knew I was going electric from the start. So I ordered the following components from Hobby King to power the plane:
Turnigy easy match G46 motor
Turnigy plush 60amp ESC
Zippy 4500mah 45C lipo
To complete the conversion I had to do the following:
I'm very happy with the end results. The plane balanced perfectly without any tweaking at all. And the motor provides plenty of power for this plane. I'm getting about 6 minute flight times. Nice and quiet. And no mess.
I don't hate nitro. But I do hate the mess and lugging the field equipment around that goes with nitro.
I have a Hangar-9 p-51D Mustang 40 sport with an os-46ax in it. It flies great. But I plan to convert it to electric next (With the same components above) to avoid the constant mess. This one should be a lot easier since the plane is electric friendly out-of-the-box
I've posted some pictures of the Piper Cub conversion. Check out the album in my profile for more pics and captions. Give me a shout if you think this would make a good show topic and would like any other info.
BTW: If you make an episode out of this idea, can I slap David Windestall? Please. It just looks so damned gratifying.
Cheers,
Allen Granum
And to make it a good fit for your current sponsors...use a Horizon Hobby airframe with Hobby King electronics.
An electric conversion of a plane that is already outfitted with a nitro motore, or was only designed to be fit with a nitro motor, seems to be a common goal for a lot of people in the hobby. It might be an idea to show people out there how they can go about doing this. Getting the equivalent components to properly replace the nitro engine. How to install the electric parts. etc.
I've just finished an electric conversion of the Hangar-9 Piper Cub 40 (80inch wingspan). The ARF wasn't prep'd for electric conversion. But the job wasn't that hard to do.
Here are a few common situations I find myself in:
- I don't want to deal with the mess of nitro.
- I don't like the look of a motor and big-assed muffler sticking out of the cowl of a scale looking plane.
- I like a lot of the airframes offered by Horizon Hobby's companies. And I like the nitro based ones I already have.
- I don't want to pay the price for electric components at my local hobby store when Hobby King has such good prices. Check the reviews section to make sure that it seems to perform well and you can save a lot.
When I bought the Cub I knew I was going electric from the start. So I ordered the following components from Hobby King to power the plane:
Turnigy easy match G46 motor
Turnigy plush 60amp ESC
Zippy 4500mah 45C lipo
To complete the conversion I had to do the following:
- Get motor mount stand-offs to place the motor out the proper distance from the firewall (local hardware store).
- Install blind nuts into the firewall to mount the electric motor onto.
- Build a battery tray to securely hold the battery in place. Not nearly as hard as it may sound to noobs.
- I also modified an access hatch that was meant to be screwed down, to be held in place my magnets so it can easily be removed to access the battery area.
- Mount the motor. Plug everything in.
I'm very happy with the end results. The plane balanced perfectly without any tweaking at all. And the motor provides plenty of power for this plane. I'm getting about 6 minute flight times. Nice and quiet. And no mess.
I don't hate nitro. But I do hate the mess and lugging the field equipment around that goes with nitro.
I have a Hangar-9 p-51D Mustang 40 sport with an os-46ax in it. It flies great. But I plan to convert it to electric next (With the same components above) to avoid the constant mess. This one should be a lot easier since the plane is electric friendly out-of-the-box
I've posted some pictures of the Piper Cub conversion. Check out the album in my profile for more pics and captions. Give me a shout if you think this would make a good show topic and would like any other info.
BTW: If you make an episode out of this idea, can I slap David Windestall? Please. It just looks so damned gratifying.
Cheers,
Allen Granum
