electric vs gas.

[rifleman_btx]

Well I only have about 27 aircraft. 5 boats, and 5 trucks. They take up alittle room

[farmflyer]

Iv got y'all on the storage. I have a whole spare house to use for storage. I just don't have the financial means to fill it up.

[Grossman56]

AAAA, so that's what I have to do, crash more often, hmmmm

Grossman56

[Dewey H Lee]

Shoot I'm already there.

[Alpha]

Welcome, guys! Besides having fun, make sure you crash frequently enough to make space for new airplanes. Unless you and other inhabitants of your home don't mind every nook and cranny filling up with planes. Believe me, it will happen if left unchecked! Many of us have been, or are, there! :D

[Grossman56]

Hey guys, welcome to the forum. The beauty of this hobby is that there is such diversity, main thing is that you're having fun.

Grossman56

[garrett12]

clean easy lol not a 100 years old I love my glow planes smell sound power way they fly and yes I have both but grab me glow planes when heading out almost every time

[Stringbag]

edited:
Time will tell - it will be interesting to see what I have in another year - maybe all gas giants (man I'd love a big Moki or even a Saito 3 cyl), Phil

Why stop at three cylinders? The more the merrier, and this is only their BABY of the range....

http://www.vogelsang-aeroscale.com/valach800.html

[rifleman_btx]

I've got I think 12 or so electric planes and 3 gas and 2 glow planes. I don't think I've touched the gas and glow planes in over a year or so. Mostly because it's a pain in the butt to transport them. I love my gas mustang though, but it's just so much easier to throw my electric planes in the car and drive to the field, plug a battery in... What else is left? Well heck you fly! It's so simple and clean, when the sun starts to sink you can put it all away and be gone before it's dark. Better yet if you have an illuminated plane, you can fly at night without bother to the neighborhood! And my favorite reason. FPV!

[Grossman56]

Hey Fastphil_v!
Welcome to the forum! The beauty of this hobby is that there are so many ways to go, so follow your passion. For me, it was warbirds and none looked better than the foamies to me.
I didn't want gas laying around and electric fit my needs/desires the best. I wasn't into tinkering with gas motors although a lot of my buddies here at the squawk fly both and at my club, I'm a minority, but that doesn't stop the camaraderie between guys who share the love of the hobby.
Hope you enjoy Hobby Squawk and especially the time you get flying your planes!!

Grossman56

[Fastphil_v]

Hi all, first post on HS, though many of you look familiar from RCG...

I'm still fairly new to the hobby but a long time gearhead and tinkerer. Started with micro electric helis, quads and cars in my front yard a few years ago and "graduated" to park-sized and larger fixed wing aircraft early this year. I'm fortunate to have a nice AMA club field close by with 350' paved and grass runways, so I am gravitating to larger planes as my skills and budget allow. My first few planes were electric foamies which was the perfect way to start, but after awhile I felt I was flying toys while everyone else at the field was flying "real" balsa birds with glow or gas (and a growing number of big electric). Very little foam except for the students on Apprentices. So for me, it seems a natural progression to move into bigger balsa planes, EP and gas-powered, though I will probably skip glow altogether. I have been flying a 55" 3DHS Extra with ~1000W EP for a few months now and I think that size (~5lbs) is perfect for electric and I'm sure I'll get more like it. My latest is a 64" Yak54 with a DLE20, weighing in around 10lbs. It has been fun and challenging to get the hang of the DLE, but I've got it running pretty good now and its easy enough to hand-start. As far as the cost of new equipment for gas, all I bought is a dedicated 1 gal gas can from Lowes and a hand pump, fittings, filters, etc so I can refuel it - probably $30 all-in. Gas is very cheap these days and it uses the same Stihl oil as my yard equipment. An electric setup for this plane would have been more expensive I think - big motors and big batteries are pricey.

I like the sound of the gas motor, though it is pretty loud with stock exhaust - cannisters would be nice. Cleanup is not really an issue so far - it seems glow is much worse. I don't like the smell of gas on my hands, and the gas also makes this the first plane I can't really bring into the house to tinker with. Time will tell - it will be interesting to see what I have in another year - maybe all gas giants (man I'd love a big Moki or even a Saito 3 cyl), or maybe back to the simplicity of electric. But I really have to explore the gas route and get it out of my system. Phil

[Pauly]

Yeah, it sold out almost as soon as it came out. I hope to get one day or like you said. Maybe there will be a foamy one day.

[OV10]

Kind of like this, you mean ??

http://www.generalhobby.com/ov10e-br...ane-p-188.html

There are none available including that one you linked. All we can hope for is a foamy to hit the scene.

[Stringbag]

My 2 cents on the gas/electric debate is this :

Having been in this game for almost 40 years now, I have seen a lot of "prototype" models attempted.
From POORLY built Mustangs and Spitfires to highly complex obscure designs. MOST failed.
Whilst I PERSONALLY baulk at spending $500+ on a bit of foam, it HAS allowed many unseen and rare models.
Few modellers attempted multi engine with IC, complexity and expense, and the risk of flameouts. The VAST majority of models had been singles, and types were invariably WW2, WW1 or between war biplanes.
Now the hobby is open to electric and turbines allowing types not often modeled before to be flown successfully. The LX and Dynam range are good examples of good foam arf's, with some very good models. An LX F4F with completely scale u/c is now available for under $200 USD in Australia. I couldn't source enough balsa to build one of equal size for less. Wood is almost too expensive now, and the foamies are getting more exotic and some are getting cheaper, not MORE expensive. And the BEST bit on the last line is, the GOOD ONES are the ones coming down in price. MUCH less money, MUCH HIGHER QUALITY foam and finishes.

I still run IC, and I guess I always will, but an electric that is clean and fits in the car untouched from home, to field to home again is cool...no field assembly or clean up is nice now and then. Take it out, add e-fuel tank, fly, put in car at end of day, come home. And not one rag needed, it does have it's merits......I will admit

I do wish there was an electric version of a OV10. I think that is a awesome plane.

Kind of like this, you mean ??

http://www.generalhobby.com/ov10e-br...ane-p-188.html

[Capt. Crunch]

That 80" Hangar 9 Piper Pawnee will be really nice on gas! Anything larger than 75" or so, aside from the Carbon Z Trojan, is liquid fuel for me at the moment. It's all my .40-.60 size stuff that I've almost universally converted to electric.

Post pictures when your Wagon is ready to go, Capt. Crunch!

Here's a sneak peak of my pilot...

[Grossman56]

Well, Charlie's (OV10) is electric.

Grossman56

[Pauly]

Gassers.............Nawwwww. While another club member is spending a half hour cleaning the slime off of 2 birds to pack it in, I've managed to rack up another 3 flights in the log book. A point that I don't think anyone has ever really considered is the health exposure of huffing those nitro/caster fumes. When I got back into the sport after surviving my stage 4 throat cancer with the radical neck surgery and chemo/radiation, I immediately realized that I could not tolerate those smells any more. Hell, it took me almost 5 years just to be able to tolerate eating ketchup again!! I am ever so thankful that the technological advances on electrics are where they are today and improving as I speak, like Graphene batteries where I expect them to obsolete Lipos for safety, performance and longevity. So as Konrad indicated, look to the future and wrap your acceptance around the ever evolving technology. Alpha's last statement just hits the electric validation topic squarely on the nose!!
Best regards,

I do wish there was an electric version of a OV10. I think that is a awesome plane.

[Alpha]

That 80" Hangar 9 Piper Pawnee will be really nice on gas! Anything larger than 75" or so, aside from the Carbon Z Trojan, is liquid fuel for me at the moment. It's all my .40-.60 size stuff that I've almost universally converted to electric.

Post pictures when your Wagon is ready to go, Capt. Crunch!

[Capt. Crunch]

I've been flying electric for two years and earlier this fall I got my first glow plane. I gotta say I love it! Yes its a little messy, but as mentioned earlier, its a good time to inspect the plane when your cleaning it. During the week I can only fly after work and I am finding it easier to grab the plane and field box and go fly, instead of having to wait to charge a bunch of batteries and try to get some flying in before dark. As far as tinkering with the engine to get it running right, I havent had any problems with that. Maybe as the weather changes I'll have to adjust it, but so far it has been starting and running great. The 15 minute flight time is awesome!
I just pulled the trigger on a Hanger 9 Piper Pawnee Ag Wagon with an 80" wingspan. I plan on putting a gas engine in it to try to get away from some of the mess of glow.

I will always have and fly my electrics but fossil fuel power adds a whole new dimension to this hobby. My advice, if your thinking of trying it, go for it! Don't let the haters discourage you

[benjack71]

I have glo and electric, equal amounts but I prefer glow having started with it some 35 years ago. However I plan on moving to gas with the smaller displacements becoming more common along with the 20 to 30 cc motors. It's the tinkering part that I like which is why I prefer to build what I fly as well. Electric is a natural offshoot of the ARF movement, easy to get going and into the air. What's great is there are so many ways one can enter now which is great for the overall growth of the hobby...

Very well said!