I recently purchased a PA-18 80" wingspan balsa wood plane. There was no engine or servos. The person flew it with a .60 nitro but recommended I install a .90 4 stroke as he felt it needed more power. I want to go electric. What motor and prop would be best for this plane?
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Welcome to the Squawk Dean...................there's a lot of knowledge here on the Squawk but your question it is not as simple as asking what motor/prop is best.
The basis for figuring electric power is watts per pound. For this Piper, a 100 watts per pound should give it robust scale flight characteristics.
So for example, if your birds projected flight weight is 12 lbs. then you are going to need a motor capable of 1200 watts.
Now that you know the power baseline, you then need to determine the voltage the system will be using which in turn determines motor kV, prop diameter/pitch/blade count to ultimately get to the system amperage values for ESC selection.
All the calculations for this electrical wizardry is based on OHM's law. Best to get first hand assistance from a local club member if you have no electrical knowledge.;)
This is because there are many variables to be considered when doing the power calculations. What may seem a simple matter is not and can be really frustrating for the uninformed novice.
Best regards,
Warbird Charlie
HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190 -
Thanks for your help!Comment
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Welcome to the asylum- I do some of these conversions and they can be challenging but are also quite rewarding. I don’t get to visit the site too often now but do lurk. You might check out my threads for the Cessna and Ryan STA conversions - about the same size airframes.
Good luck.Comment
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