This is an awesome plane and a real crowd pleaser anywhere you fly. People
will be blown away when they find out that it is an electric plane because
it’s BIG and flies great. Vertical performance is outstanding. On a hot charge
(batteries charged at the field), this plane will easily climb vertically 400 to
500 ft. It will hover!
AUW (all up weight): 16.75 lbs
Static Thrust: 21 lbs
Current: 45 amps
Flight Time: Full Aerobatic
6 mins
One of the
next phase improvements will be the use of new Lithium Polymer
cells. Test with the same power system delivered the same output with 1.25lbs
reduction in weight and more than 15 mins of flight time. Basically, you will have
a plane that is lighter than glow power, with same or better performance and as
much duration.
JR - DS3421: small, lightweight, high torque digital servos –
www.horizonhobby.com
Hinges
:
Dubro Giant Scale plastic hinges
Conversion Process:
The ARF is beautifully built and very easy to assemble. Follow instructions for
basic assembly. I used small, high torque JR digital servos to save a little weight
but it is not critical. I also replaced the landing gear and wing tube with carbon
parts. I also replaced the metal hinges with Dubro Giant Scale plastic hinges.
The combined modifications saved over 1.25 lbs.
The motor mount is the only place where I deviated from the plan. Since the
electric motor does not cause strong vibration to the plane, I lighted this section.
The side section of the motor mount box and the firewall were lighten with holes.
The box was assembled with epoxy and clamped in place. The bottom panel of
the box was left off to offer access to wiring the speed control.
The final firewall box assembly with lightening holes.
Next the pinion gears were pressed on to the Hacker motors. You must do this
carefully with a large vise or drill press. You need to support the rear
of the motor where the bearing and shaft are to prevent it from being pushed
out of the motor case. The pinion must be glued on with Green Locktite. Make sure
to clean both the motor shaft and pinion with acetone to remove any grease. Next the motors
were attached to the InnerDemon gear drive with 3 mm screws.
The screws should be medium tight to allow movement while you adjust the gear
lash with the main gear. The gear should spin smoothly without feeling too tight.
Once you have the correct spacing, blue locktite the mounting screws in place.
Next, the rear clamps need to be prepared. You will need to cut away part of the
clamp to fit the motor and InnerDemon mounting posts,
