I bit the bullet and gutted the front end
of my Genesis Extreme design ...

Okay, bear with me this month; I have to tell you all about what I'm doing in my shop right now, and in what direction my modeling is heading. I'm so excited about the following that I just had to share it.

As regular readers of this column are aware, I've been expounding on the virtues of electric-powered flight quite a bit of late. This is not because I have anything against glow- or gas-powered flight, but because the world of electric power is on such an amazing technological upswing.

Huge strides are being made on an almost daily basis in electric, while only incremental advances are being realized in the design and performance of our model internal-combustion (IC) power plants. That is not to intimate that the IC engines we have available are not wonderful—they are! It's just that the long-term development of the IC-type power plants have brought them to a point where big gains are not the norm anymore.

Perhaps in the future a breakthrough in IC technology will once again bring focus to the type, but for now the most exciting advancements are certainly happening in the electric field. But that's my opinion, of course.

Having stated the preceding, I must confess that I did not own an electric-powered model until just a few days ago. I have flown many electric-powered OPAs (Other People's Airplanes) at my local RC aerodrome and have been quite impressed. These models, however, were mostly of past-generation electric technology (and the generations are advancing rapidly!).

I had never had the opportunity to fly a model powered by one of the new outrunner motors or one that had any of the new-generation batteries onboard. All that changed a few weeks back.

At this year's Nats I had the opportunity to fly one of the two electric-powered CL Precision Aerobatics (Stunt) models that were entered in the contest. One was the Silencer that was designed by Mike Palko and featured in the March 2005 MA as a construction feature.

Mike flew that model in last year's Nats Advanced CL Stunt program, and with it he finished a credible sixth place. That performance was looked upon as an interesting milestone, but it wasn't enough to move many to follow Mike's lead into the CL electric world. One did follow, however, and it was his model that I got to fly.

Walt Brownell decided to try the electric route this year and produced a neat elliptical-wing model he called the ARCANGEL. It had a front end reminiscent of a P-47. Behind that large cowl opening was mounted an AXI 28/26/10 motor and a 4S2P, 4000 mAh Thunder Power Gen II Pro Lite battery pack.

As did Mike's Silencer, Walt's model used a Castle Creations Phoenix-45 ESC and a Sergio Zigras CL timer. The timer can be programmed in 30-second increments, and Walt had it set to six minutes.

I normally don't ask other pilots if I can fly their models; I usually wait for an invitation. But on this occasion I couldn't control myself and asked for "a ride." Walt was gracious and more than willing to have me take a turn at the controls.

Now, for you strictly-RC types, the following may not mean too much, but to those who are used to actually feeling the horsepower through the lines, this thing had copious line tension—everywhere!

On the takeoff roll I knew I was experiencing something special. The tension on takeoff was unlike anything I'd ever felt before in a CL model. That feeling only increased during the level laps before the Wingover entry and continued through every maneuver in the pattern, including the Overhead Figure Eights. At exactly six minutes the Zigras timer did its thing and the ARCANGEL glided in smoothly. My arm was aching!

The next part is really interesting. After I thanked Walt for the experience, I walked off the field and was promptly stopped by several fliers who had seen me fly Walt's model. Each of them wanted to know my impressions of it in detail.

I can safely say that even though this year's increase in electric models in the CL Stunt event was logarithmic (one last year and two this year), the next few years' increases will be along a pronounced exponential curve.

To start that ball rolling, when I returned home from the Nats, I bit the bullet and gutted the front end of my Genesis Extreme design that was set up for glow power, and I installed a system similar to Walt's in the nose.

Really the only difference in my power system is the use of the new Thunder Power Gen III Pro Lite batteries that have a 20C peak discharge rate (lower internal impedance) and a balancing charging system. These batteries were unavailable to Walt at Nats time. As I mentioned, huge strides are being made on an almost daily basis. That's not an exaggeration!

Actually taking the Perma-Grit grinding bit to the maple engine mounts in my model did require a leap of faith. I would be unable to go back to glow power once the mounts and the tank floor were removed.

Fortunately I had my good buddy Dean Pappas on hand to make sure I didn't chicken out. As he always says, "Commit the atrocity quickly!" To make what could turn out to be a long but potentially humorous story somewhat shorter, I'll cut to the chase. Within approximately three hours, the nose was cleaned out and a new, much lighter electric mounting system was installed. I was particularly satisfied by being able to produce a firewall (electron wall?) that not only keyed into a small section of the old maple mounts we left in for strength, but fit neatly against the hollowed-out top block and at the same time positioned the motor to mount in a manner that would allow the spinner to perfectly align with the existing nose ring.

And I did it in one shot! Dean was so proud.

While I was cutting and grinding, Dean was soldering. He charged and wired a four-cell, 4000 mAh pack into a shape that would fit into the existing tank compartment, and he had it ready to go when my part was finished.

We were missing one component, however. I did not have a Zigras timer, and that was needed before we could power this thing up. A quick call to Mike Palko netted one of the timers (he had an extra I talked him out of), and I even convinced Mike to visit a few days later and instruct me on how to install the device.

Mike finished the wiring and said we were ready for a test run of the motor. The model was positioned inverted on some foam pads, with the nose hanging over the edge of my bench. Mike was able to get between the bench and the nose of the airplane, and then we turned it so that his eyes were not in line with the soon-to-be-spinning propeller.

He connected the battery to the speed control via the robust Deans Ultra connectors, and a series of neat musical notes signaled that the system was armed. Mike had only to hit the switch and start the motor.

How many of you glow-power modelers have ever even considered starting your engine in your shop? Me neither, but it seemed perfectly appropriate to start an electric motor inside. Mike said to hold on, and he hit the switch. The soft-start function on the motor control only made the impending seem a bit more surreal.

As the motor spooled up, all the loose bits of paper, foam packaging peanuts, small screws, round tools, and such made a beeline to the aft end of the model and beyond. Within seconds my shop looked as if a blizzard were passing through. Mike had a look of horror on his face. His shop had been properly prepped for such tests, but we both forgot that mine wasn't.

No harm was done, except that I had to spend an hour or so cleaning the floor and wiping the dust off of my motorcycles that share the shop space. It did teach me a lesson about safety. One of many I will be learning as I delve into the world of electric flight, I'm sure.

As of this writing (in mid-August) I am waiting only for some bits that will mate the spinner backplate and my propeller collection to the new and smaller shaft on the motor. "Jersey" Jim Martin is producing these for me, and I am going to pick them up this evening. By this weekend I should be ready to fly this thing.

My plan is to get it quickly to the point where I can fly it in the upcoming FAI Team Selection contest in Muncie. That's three weeks away!

I know this was a different type of editorial from what I usually write, but it does fit the spirit of the title of "Modeling Spoken Here"! I'll let you know how all of this turns out in next month's column.

When I'm not making dust in the shop, I can be reached at (610) 614-1747 or via E-mail at robinhunt@rcn.com. Let's see, what else can I convert? MA

I bit the bullet and gutted the front end of my Genesis Extreme design ...

I bit the bullet and gutted the front end
of my Genesis Extreme design ...