R/C Nitro Car

[F22RaptorDude]

What was you electric r/c car?

It was a 1/16 scale truck I got at Hobby town when I was 10, lasted until I turned 14 and finally the connector wires to the battery shorted and melted the battery box and destroyed the whole battery box.
I have no idea of the name but it did roughly 30 mph depending on what battery I was using, flipped easily though had to use really small movements at full speed to avoid rolling.

[Sol75]

this same applies to RC Air.  I have not, and do not plan, to do RC ground, but, with my airplanes and helis, I have a couple of turbine jets, which is another story entirely, but aside form those, EVERYTHING i have has been converted to electric.  Nitro is a royal pain, and not worth the effort.  With the advent of cheap batteries from hobbyking.com, electric has become very competitive price wise with nitro, even when considering multiple battery packs.  For instance, a 6 cell 5000mah LiPo, which is 22.2 volts.. will fly an airplane which is approx a .60 size nitro engine.  Those batteries run about 60 bucks a piece, a motor for 40, and an ESC for another 30.. 9these are estimates, not hard #s)

A decent nitro engine int hat size would run about 200... so... if you bought 3 batteries, plus the motor and esc, that's about 50 bucks more than the nitro, which would EASLIY be made up in paying 22 bucks a gallon or nitro fuel...

Not to mention, with electric, you plug it in and GO!  no more fiddling with crap, you just FLY (or drive)...

Do some research also, there are modules which have been developed for RC air which use a speaker and a digital processor to reproduce engine noise... nothign quite like having an RC P-51 that actually SOUNDS like a real Merlin!  bet there are some modules for rc land out there similar...

Been in RC air for 27+ years, and my best advice is GO ELECTRIC (unless you want to go turbine, but thats a whole nother thread)

Matt

[Bronk]

this same applies to RC Air.  I have not, and do not plan, to do RC ground, but, with my airplanes and helis, I have a couple of turbine jets, which is another story entirely, but aside form those, EVERYTHING i have has been converted to electric.  Nitro is a royal pain, and not worth the effort.  With the advent of cheap batteries from hobbyking.com, electric has become very competitive price wise with nitro, even when considering multiple battery packs.  For instance, a 6 cell 5000mah LiPo, which is 22.2 volts.. will fly an airplane which is approx a .60 size nitro engine.  Those batteries run about 60 bucks a piece, a motor for 40, and an ESC for another 30.. 9these are estimates, not hard #s)

A decent nitro engine int hat size would run about 200... so... if you bought 3 batteries, plus the motor and esc, that's about 50 bucks more than the nitro, which would EASLIY be made up in paying 22 bucks a gallon or nitro fuel...

Not to mention, with electric, you plug it in and GO!  no more fiddling with crap, you just FLY (or drive)...

Do some research also, there are modules which have been developed for RC air which use a speaker and a digital processor to reproduce engine noise... nothign quite like having an RC P-51 that actually SOUNDS like a real Merlin!  bet there are some modules for rc land out there similar...

Been in RC air for 27+ years, and my best advice is GO ELECTRIC (unless you want to go turbine, but thats a whole nother thread)

Matt

 

[F22RaptorDude]

this same applies to RC Air.  I have not, and do not plan, to do RC ground, but, with my airplanes and helis, I have a couple of turbine jets, which is another story entirely, but aside form those, EVERYTHING i have has been converted to electric.  Nitro is a royal pain, and not worth the effort.  With the advent of cheap batteries from hobbyking.com, electric has become very competitive price wise with nitro, even when considering multiple battery packs.  For instance, a 6 cell 5000mah LiPo, which is 22.2 volts.. will fly an airplane which is approx a .60 size nitro engine.  Those batteries run about 60 bucks a piece, a motor for 40, and an ESC for another 30.. 9these are estimates, not hard #s)

A decent nitro engine int hat size would run about 200... so... if you bought 3 batteries, plus the motor and esc, that's about 50 bucks more than the nitro, which would EASLIY be made up in paying 22 bucks a gallon or nitro fuel...

Not to mention, with electric, you plug it in and GO!  no more fiddling with crap, you just FLY (or drive)...

Do some research also, there are modules which have been developed for RC air which use a speaker and a digital processor to reproduce engine noise... nothign quite like having an RC P-51 that actually SOUNDS like a real Merlin!  bet there are some modules for rc land out there similar...

Been in RC air for 27+ years, and my best advice is GO ELECTRIC (unless you want to go turbine, but thats a whole nother thread)

Matt

Those turbine's run around 2-5K they are so cool though. some of the new RTR cars are bind and ride. Only problem would tuning the engine, and fueling it up. Also at my Hobby town you can get 2 gallons of fuel for 20 bucks which will last a while i'm told if you don't gun it constantly.


Also there's just a thing with me and planes that doesn't mix, once I got into it I could keep a plane in the air until the battery died, but for some reason they crashed because of parts falling out or coming loose even though I always double checked my stuff constantly. On my aerobird I had it for 26 successful flights before the electronics went haywire and I crashed, then when I got the body replaced the wing snapped in half doing a turn and the crash destroyed the v-tail and the body.

Hellcat was the same, I was finally able to fly it good but the damage from crashing before did it in, the wings wobbled uncontrollably but I was able to make a turn around and land. Added the extra epoxy to the wings and took off again and was able to keep it in the air despite the wings shaking so much the ailerons were useless. Eventually the right wing just flew off and it went spiraling out of control.

My wildhawk was a mistake from the beginning, flew it in my front yard and not the giant field across from the school where it would have been best to fly it. It got so torn up it wouldn't even fly when you threw it.

After all those experiences I just got to scared to try it again.

[Bronk]

Those turbine's run around 2-5K they are so cool though. some of the new RTR cars are bind and ride. Only problem would tuning the engine, and fueling it up. Also at my Hobby town you can get 2 gallons of fuel for 20 bucks which will last a while i'm told if you don't gun it constantly.


Also there's just a thing with me and planes that doesn't mix, once I got into it I could keep a plane in the air until the battery died, but for some reason they crashed because of parts falling out or coming loose even though I always double checked my stuff constantly. On my aerobird I had it for 26 successful flights before the electronics went haywire and I crashed, then when I got the body replaced the wing snapped in half doing a turn and the crash destroyed the v-tail and the body.

Hellcat was the same, I was finally able to fly it good but the damage from crashing before did it in, the wings wobbled uncontrollably but I was able to make a turn around and land. Added the extra epoxy to the wings and took off again and was able to keep it in the air despite the wings shaking so much the ailerons were useless. Eventually the right wing just flew off and it went spiraling out of control.

My wildhawk was a mistake from the beginning, flew it in my front yard and not the giant field across from the school where it would have been best to fly it. It got so torn up it wouldn't even fly when you threw it.

After all those experiences I just got to scared to try it again.

Build foamies... check this guys stuff out. http://www.youtube.com/user/rcsuperpowers?blend=2&ob=4

A little imagination you can build some cool stuff. http://www.youtube.com/user/rcsuperpowers?blend=2&ob=4#p/u/86/iSCq14Okhis

[F22RaptorDude]

Build foamies... check this guys stuff out. http://www.youtube.com/user/rcsuperpowers?blend=2&ob=4

Tried the F22, Cut everything down but had to cut out shapes at least 5 times because they never fit, in the end its in my room being held together with tape because the epoxy didn't stick. I'm just not crafty at all anymore.

[Sol75]

I wasn't trying to convince you to go air, jsut pointing out that even us air guys are moving towards electric.  Honestly the turbine, the only reason I use them is because of the "cool" factor... they sound, and smell, like a full scale jet.  The electric ducted fans are actually performing jsut as well, and some even BETTER than the turbines!

If you want to see the performance of an electric jet, go to my thread titled "rc video".  my Habu 32 is electric, and performs nearly as well as my F/A-18...
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,315612.0.html
As for tuning the engine etc, thats a huge part of it, with a nitro.  for every minute of flight/drive time you get, figure 2 minutes of maintenance/tuning.  this is jsut not true with electric, sure there is SOME tuning, but not nearly as much.

if you truly want to learn to fly air, get a mid-sized electric foamie TRAINER, seek out a club near you, and GET AN INSTRUCTOR.. sure, you will pay membership dues, but in likely 1 summer, you will be proficient enough to move up to something like the hellcat.  Another thing that works wonders is a simulator, such as Realflight.  Sure, its pricey @ about 200 bucks, but it will save you at LEAST that much in repairs.  To this day, if I am learnign a new maneuver on a heli for instance, I will practice the snot out of it int he sim, before moving to the real deal...

[F22RaptorDude]

What was your electric r/c car?

You do realize they make the electrics pit in races...not because they run out of juice... but because now the new lipo packs last longer than the tanks on the gas jobs.

A good brushless with lipos should run 15-20 min... you will get 10- 15 with gas.

I have no idea what model it was, I can maybe find it and take a picture though I think I might have thrown it away. The battery would last for about 15-25 mins. and HobbytownUSA no longer carries it.

I wasn't trying to convince you to go air, jsut pointing out that even us air guys are moving towards electric.  Honestly the turbine, the only reason I use them is because of the "cool" factor... they sound, and smell, like a full scale jet.  The electric ducted fans are actually performing jsut as well, and some even BETTER than the turbines!

If you want to see the performance of an electric jet, go to my thread titled "rc video".  that Habu 32 is electric, and performs nearly as well as my F/A-18...
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,315612.0.html
As for tuning the engine etc, thats a huge part of it, with a nitro.  for every minute of flight/drive time you get, figure 2 minutes of maintenance/tuning.  this is jsut not true with electric, sure there is SOME tuning, but not nearly as much.

I'm reconsidering my strategy towards this.

[Sol75]

(see my post above, I edited it to add more after you replied)

[F22RaptorDude]

(see my post above, I edited it to add more after you replied)

Problem is i'm already good enough to fly the hell cat, I was able to land it with out much aileron control cause of the wings rocking. The only reason I'm going ground is because of the mental limitation of the air, I would love to do it, I have the skill already, I just don't have the guts to have another costly crash due to electrical or other problems that usually arise. Notice in my video I had a good take off but lost control due to rocking wings again, and I guess damage done before. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck7J0viGOu0 It looked really good until I got up to speed. For the whole plane including electronics was around 400 bucks, The electronics are still good except for the speed control. (shorted out in my pool when I was using it for my boat project and it capsized)

[Sol75]

based on that video you do not have skill up to par to fly something like that hellcat.

3 problems.

1. based on the appearance, your previous experience with this plane has been rough.
2. You flew witht he wings "rocking" as you say.. BAD IDEA.  if you did a proper pre-flight check, followed by repairing any issues (the wing issue could easliy have been fixed, would have taken me all of 10 mintues to do), you would not have these failures, whether it be electronic or physical in nature.

3.  The airplane flew as if it was far too tail heavy. Did you check the balance?  did you know you NEED to balance an airplane?  Warbirds are known to be VERY sensitive to out of balance conditions, especially if tailheavy.

this is why I say get an instructor.  It will teach you good habits, and before you know it, you will be flying 140+mph jets like myself and many others.

I HATE to see someone give up on the RC air hobby, it is such a great hobby and educational to boot...
I would be willing to guide you to a proper trainer, and even assist you to the extent I can with setting it up, and then finding a club and instructor.

Matt

[F22RaptorDude]

based on that video you do not have skill up to par to fly something like that hellcat.

3 problems.

1. based on the appearance, your previous experience with this plane has been rough.
2. You flew witht he wings "rocking" as you say.. BAD IDEA.  if you did a proper pre-flight check, followed by repairing any issues (the wing issue could easliy have been fixed, would have taken me all of 10 mintues to do), you would not have these failures, whether it be electronic or physical in nature.

3.  The airplane flew as if it was far too tail heavy. Did you check the balance?  did you know you NEED to balance an airplane?  Warbirds are known to be VERY sensitive to out of balance conditions, especially if tailheavy.

this is why I say get an instructor.  It will teach you good habits, and before you know it, you will be flying 140+mph jets like myself and many others.

I HATE to see someone give up on the RC air hobby, it is such a great hobby and educational to boot...
I would be willing to guide you to a proper trainer, and even assist you to the extent I can with setting it up, and then finding a club and instructor.

Matt

I will look into it, seeing as how i'm getting a job as soon as i turn 16 i'll have something to spend my money on. As far as the video goes I was trying to get some altitude to avoid hitting the house, I saw I needed to ditch as soon as I took off, but I quickly thought to get alt and try to swing around the house, I guess I had the stick jammed to far down, I was panicing, but I guess that means I really am not experienced.


As far as my AeroBird 3 went(No longer sold) I ran it until the batteries ran down and I had to land by gliding in, it only failed when the electrics screwed up that one time and when I flew it in to much wind, I had no idea the wing would snap into an L, I actually thought it was a pretty sturdy bird never had a problem with flying characteristics

[F22RaptorDude]

Btw: Another reason I was wanting to switch is because of my eye sight, Glasses don't help as much and when the plane is high off he ground its very vital to see, with the hell cat it got to the point to where I couldn't see it and I had to figure out where I was pointing to come back.

[Killer91]

I've had electric and Nitro R/C cars. The electric one was fun but wasn't that great. My current R/C car is an OFNA 4X4 Nitro buggy. It'll do around 55-60mph. Its also made out of mostly metal. hardley and plastic on it what so ever so its quite heavy but extremely durable. I've lanched it off skateboard ramps and watched it flip multiple times and never break once. The only thing I've had go wrong with mine was the rear differential stripped out from doing to  many donuts. The radio crystals went bad and i had to replace them but other than that no problems at all. The only problem is the $25/ gallon nitro fuel is just a hair on the expensive side and i don't have anywhere withing 60+ miles of me to buy it. So I haven't drove it in over a year. All in all I perfer Nitro. The engine takes some tuning and ABSOLUTELY needs to be broken in correctly but overall great fun.

When it come to airplanes though I go electric all the way. Nitro airplanes are a royal pain to maintain.

[F22RaptorDude]

Did some more browsing and looking at opinions on different forums, i'm going electric to avoid the hassle and going to buy 3-4 batteries. http://www.nitrorcx.com/51c809-pro-rallymonsterep-aablue.html Looks really cool and the price is just a tad bit more than nitro, luckily the batteries are 15 each and they are pretty big.



As for planes, they just don't appeal to me right now.