Viewer Request Speed Challenge - FT Versa Wing Setup QUESTION!

fretsman

Member
Hey guys! I am building a scratch build of the FT Versa wing and my goal with this wing is to fly fast.

I saw the "Viewer Request Speed Challenge" episode where Josh and David go head to head to see who can build the faster plane. I was wondering if anyone could share the setup used on the Versa wing to get the top speed. I know from the video that Josh swapped out power plants with David and that David's setup used the NTM 35-36A 1800Kv motor from Hobby King but I was wondering what prop, speed controller and battery was used on the Versa wing to get the top speed. Anyone??

Here is a link to the "Viewer Request Speed Challenge" episode in case you missed it. Great show...

http://www.flitetest.com/articles/viewer-request-speed-challenge

Thanks guys!
fretsman
 

Flat4

Senior Member
David mentioned in the episode using an 8x8 prop, but said that was a bit much for it, and a 7x6 would let you run the motor all day long and it would just be barely warm. I have however been eyeing that motor up myself, and saw reviews on HK stating they were running an 8x8 on it with a 4S 2200mah 40C battery. With that setup it's going to pulling a ton of amps at full throttle so you most likely will want an 80amp esc minimum. I also wouldn't recommend running it all full throttle for long periods until you can see how hot it's running.

I plane on snagging one of those motors next week, along with an 80amp esc. If I get it before you I'll run some bench tests with different sized props to give you a little more info.
 

darkmatter2222

Junior Member
David mentioned in the episode using an 8x8 prop, but said that was a bit much for it, and a 7x6 would let you run the motor all day long and it would just be barely warm. I have however been eyeing that motor up myself, and saw reviews on HK stating they were running an 8x8 on it with a 4S 2200mah 40C battery. With that setup it's going to pulling a ton of amps at full throttle so you most likely will want an 80amp esc minimum. I also wouldn't recommend running it all full throttle for long periods until you can see how hot it's running.

I plane on snagging one of those motors next week, along with an 80amp esc. If I get it before you I'll run some bench tests with different sized props to give you a little more info.

I would love to know the thrust on both props if you happen to test that.
 

Team_Monkey

New member
I have this motor on a 30" coroplast wing As posted there, I first tried a APC 7x6 but it peaked just over 1000W. Dropped to a 7x5 and now its at 888W which is closer to the motors limit of +/- 875W. Obviously with the 5" pitch prop it's not the fastest plane in my fleet but it has awesome climb and it's pretty darn speedy. ;)
Here's a flight video
I'm using the NTM 3536 motor, a Turnigy Plush 60A ESC (w/ extra heatsink) and a 2200mAH 4S nanotech. It's a great combo, go for it!
 

fretsman

Member
David mentioned in the episode using an 8x8 prop, but said that was a bit much for it, and a 7x6 would let you run the motor all day long and it would just be barely warm. I have however been eyeing that motor up myself, and saw reviews on HK stating they were running an 8x8 on it with a 4S 2200mah 40C battery. With that setup it's going to pulling a ton of amps at full throttle so you most likely will want an 80amp esc minimum. I also wouldn't recommend running it all full throttle for long periods until you can see how hot it's running.



I plane on snagging one of those motors next week, along with an 80amp esc. If I get it before you I'll run some bench tests with different sized props to give you a little more info.

Thanks for the reply!

That would be awesome if you could post your bench test results. I am also planning on picking this motor up and I will also post my test results in case I get mine before you do. Either way we can compare results. Very cool.

I already have an 85amp ESC from hobby king that is rated at 85amp continuous and 100amp burst so from your reply I think that should be plenty. Here is a link to the ESC: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=36511

I also remember David saying on the video that using the 8x8 prop was irresponsible but a 7x6 would run fine all day. The one thing they never discussed on the video was the battery. I know they must have used 4 cell batteries but I was wondering what mah and also discharge rating.

Thanks again for the reply and I am looking forward to seeing your test results...
fretsman
 

fretsman

Member
I have this motor on a 30" coroplast wing As posted there, I first tried a APC 7x6 but it peaked just over 1000W. Dropped to a 7x5 and now its at 888W which is closer to the motors limit of +/- 875W. Obviously with the 5" pitch prop it's not the fastest plane in my fleet but it has awesome climb and it's pretty darn speedy. ;)
Here's a flight video
I'm using the NTM 3536 motor, a Turnigy Plush 60A ESC (w/ extra heatsink) and a 2200mAH 4S nanotech. It's a great combo, go for it!

Thanks for your reply!

Very cool wing. Saw the video. It tracks very nice and like you said looks plenty speedy as well. I also read your video description and see you are using a 25C 2200mah 4 cell but you mentioned that "it should be a 35c to 50c discharge." That is exactly what I was debating.

I have a bunch of 3 cell batteries (mostly 1800mah nano tech 25 to 50c) and a few smaller 850mah to 1000mah 4 cell 45c to 90c that I use in my Hobby King Rare Bear but I don't have any larger 4 cell batteries yet. I imagine that the 1800mah 3 cells will turn the motor but they will not make it scream. I also imagine the smaller 850mah 4 cells will only have enough juice for 2 minute flight times, if that. Before I invest in more batteries I wanted to double check and see what other people are using successfully with this motor.

So far it looks like 2200mAH 4S nanotech with 35-50c rating is where I want to be.

Thanks again for your reply!
fretsman
 

Team_Monkey

New member
I bought 2 of the 2200 4S 45-90C. I can use them with this motor, in my Stinger II EDF and eventually in my high power quad. Really, the 25C pack did fine as I was on and off the throttle. I think a sustained high throttle would shorten pack life though with that motor/prop.

I'm so used to packs being less than $10 that a $26 pack seems really high. Only a few years ago that would have been a $100 pack. :D

Oh, and you could run the motor on a 3S. Given the same size prop, the motor will draw less amp on a 3S battery so you're smaller packs might be OK, depending on how you run the throttle. I'd still bump to at least a classic 2200 3S 30C pack if running 3S though. Those packs are use able on so many airframes it's a good value. And it would let you "prop-up" to maximum power on the motor.:cool:
 
Last edited:

fretsman

Member
David mentioned in the episode using an 8x8 prop, but said that was a bit much for it, and a 7x6 would let you run the motor all day long and it would just be barely warm. I have however been eyeing that motor up myself, and saw reviews on HK stating they were running an 8x8 on it with a 4S 2200mah 40C battery. With that setup it's going to pulling a ton of amps at full throttle so you most likely will want an 80amp esc minimum. I also wouldn't recommend running it all full throttle for long periods until you can see how hot it's running.

I plane on snagging one of those motors next week, along with an 80amp esc. If I get it before you I'll run some bench tests with different sized props to give you a little more info.

I just bought the NTM 35-36A 1800Kv motor from Hobby King. I also bought an 85amp ESC and a few of the 2200 4S 45-90C Nanotech batteries. The Hobbyking site says they shipped the package today USPS 3 day priority but with the holiday next week I think I may not see it until at least Thursday or Friday. I think the 85amp ESC is a bit overkill but I plan on pushing this motor into the red zone and I wanted an ESC that can push the amps I need and not burst into flames.

I have seen a few kick ass videos on YouTube of people using this motor and running it on 6 cell setups with no problems and very fast results. I will post the links of a few videos below where a couple of guys push 1200watts into the motor with 6 cell setups and get their HobbyKing RadJets to fly at almost 150mph.

I plan on testing a bunch of props with my watt meter and I will post my results here. I will start testing with a 6 x 4 and work my way up from there to around an 8 x 8 or so since those are the sizes posted in the HobbyKing comments and on various videos I have seen.

I am also building the Versa Wing but I printed the PDF's reduced to 80%. That will give me a wing span of approximately 30 inches. I am hoping the the reduced weight will give me more speed. Since I am on vacation from work for the next two weeks I will post pictures, results and hopefully a video of the maiden very soon!

I am also planning to put this motor on a "RadJet" clone scratch build that I found searching online. I will also try to post results and maiden video for that as well. So little time and so many planes to build! Here is a link to the RadJet / FunJet clone. Very cool and easy to build.

https://sites.google.com/site/projectflightd/funjet

Here are the links to the videos of this motor running a 1200 watt setup!

http://youtu.be/_tXda2pT-xY

http://youtu.be/oXyNNqI2Hxk

http://youtu.be/B85pvUKu5GE

fretsman
 
Last edited:

fretsman

Member
I bought 2 of the 2200 4S 45-90C. I can use them with this motor, in my Stinger II EDF and eventually in my high power quad. Really, the 25C pack did fine as I was on and off the throttle. I think a sustained high throttle would shorten pack life though with that motor/prop.

I'm so used to packs being less than $10 that a $26 pack seems really high. Only a few years ago that would have been a $100 pack. :D

Oh, and you could run the motor on a 3S. Given the same size prop, the motor will draw less amp on a 3S battery so you're smaller packs might be OK, depending on how you run the throttle. I'd still bump to at least a classic 2200 3S 30C pack if running 3S though. Those packs are use able on so many airframes it's a good value. And it would let you "prop-up" to maximum power on the motor.:cool:

Hey Team Monkey. Thanks for your reply and advise. I went ahead and bought a few of the 2200 4S 45-90C Nanotech batteries. Like you I also got a bit anxious paying $27 per pack. These are the first packs I buy that cost more than around $15 but I have a feeling that when I see my Versa Wing screaming by me at over 100mph I will forget how much I paid for the batteries :) I also bought the NTM Prop Drive Series 35-36A 1800Kv motor. Read my last post above for details. Thanks again!

fretsman
 

fretsman

Member
Hey guys!

OK, so I finally received the NTM Prop Drive Series 35-36A 1800Kv motor and a few of the Turnigy nano-tech 2200mah 4S 45~90C Lipo Packs. Right off the bat let me just say.... WOW... This motor has some power! For me it is the most powerful electric motor I have ever messed around with. Since I am just recently back into the hobby I am learning all about "electric rc" and building my inventory of batteries, motors, props and all the other fun stuff associated with the "electric" side of the hobby. Back 16 years ago when I used to fly it was all about "nitro" so all this electric stuff is kinda new to me.

Again, I must say, WOW. This motor is scary... LOL.... Up to now the fastest motors I have are the motors that come with the Hobbyking Rarebear Pylon Racing Start-up Kit 620mm fun fighter. I have one of the stock Rarebear motors and also one of the replacement motors, Hobbyking 2825-1950kv Funfighter Replacement Brushless Outrunner. These Rarebear motors are 28mm x 25mm, weigh 60grams and spin a 5.5x4.5 with a 4 cell and a 6x4 with a 3 cell. With the 4 cell and the 5.5x4.5 setup they pull about 330watts at 20amps. The Rarebear screams at around 100mph with this setup using Turnigy nano-tech 850mAh 4S 45~90C Lipo Packs.

When I tested the Rarebear motor with my watt meter I mounted the motor on the plane, connected the watt meter inline with the battery and spun up the motor while holding the plane, no problem. For this new NTM motor I attempted the same thing and to be honest I got scared that the motor was going to rip the motor mount right off of the swappable power pod I built for the new Versa Wing. I mean scary power. My wife was on the other side of the room and when I spun up the motor to 100% she got scared and ran into the other room yelling "WTF was that?".. LOL... Anyway, I have decided that the safest way to run the prop tests will be to mount the motor on a block of wood and then clamp the wood block down on my work bench. That way I can hide under the table while I spin up the motor to 100%. LOL....

I did get a preliminary test result from this scary adventure using a 7x5 APC prop, an 85amp ESC and the new Turnigy nano-tech 2200mah 4S 45~90C Lipo Pack. I must also mention that at this point I don't think I will be able to run a much bigger prop with these batteries because I was already exceeding the rated specs for the motor. I will post a full list of test results soon. For now the preliminary numbers for the 7x5 prop are below.

NTM Prop Drive Series 35-36A 1800Kv - APC 7x5 Prop - Fully charged 2200mah 4S 45~90C Lipo Pack = 1090watts at 73amps

fretsman
 
Last edited:

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
With a 9X4.5 APC Thin Electric the 35-36A 1800KV powers a fully loaded for long range FPV, Crash Test, Deep Reaper XL (61") quite well and quite fast.

It may full well rip the "Versa Wing" apart unless you laminate the wing and provide very substantial motor mounting plate's of Formica top and bottom..

Thurmond
 
Last edited:

fretsman

Member
Hey guys!

So I finally got the chance to test a bunch of props on the NTM Prop Drive 35-36A 1800Kv with both 4 cell and 3 cell batteries. I started a new thread in the forums and I also submitted an article on the FliteTest website with a bunch of pictures and links. The article is still pending approval so I will post a link to it once they approve it. For now here is a link to the new thread I started with all the testing data I collected. One final note, I will be posting prop test data with a 6 cell battery soon!

Rock ON!
fretsman

Link to new thread I posted with prop test data:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?7351-Prop-Testing-NTM-Prop-Drive-35-36A-1800Kv-875w-from-HobbyKing
 

fretsman

Member
David mentioned in the episode using an 8x8 prop, but said that was a bit much for it, and a 7x6 would let you run the motor all day long and it would just be barely warm. I have however been eyeing that motor up myself, and saw reviews on HK stating they were running an 8x8 on it with a 4S 2200mah 40C battery. With that setup it's going to pulling a ton of amps at full throttle so you most likely will want an 80amp esc minimum. I also wouldn't recommend running it all full throttle for long periods until you can see how hot it's running.

I plane on snagging one of those motors next week, along with an 80amp esc. If I get it before you I'll run some bench tests with different sized props to give you a little more info.

Hey. I posted some test results... Check this link for the new thread I started...
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?7351-Prop-Testing-NTM-Prop-Drive-35-36A-1800Kv-875w-from-HobbyKing