Discussion Gas vs. Electric

[Ahblair4]

ah yes, the age old debate! gas vs electric....that's good for half the night around a campfire at a fly-in, yes?

Haha yep! It only lasts half the night because everyone is tired of the endless back and forth!

 

[3dNater]

Almsot as good as belly-in hovering!

 

[HuckinHavoc]

Heh, I figured I was opening a can of worms. I was looking at it more from a cost/benefit analysis. Since I am alraedy electric I think I will stay that way and just try to plan mynset ups so that I can use the same batteries by tieing say a 3s tofether to make a 6s etc. Batteries are really the big cost that makes me nervous, tnat and I am not sure how well gas motors hold up in crashes. I know when I was learning on my nitro trainer I killed one nitro engine in a crash, assuming hard crashes would be no different here. I have never managed to destroy an electric motor beyond repair (knock on wood).

 

[SnowDog]

I don't think durability in a crash will be won by either electric or gas...both are just as vulnerable, in my opinion.

 

[gyro]

I don't think durability in a crash will be won by either electric or gas...both are just as vulnerable, in my opinion.

Sort of... I think the heavier weight of a gas motor makes motorbox/firewall damage more likely in a crash (ie, what happened to my 90" extra when it landed flat).
With electric, a lot of the weight is in the batts on the tray.

 

[SnowDog]

Good point

 

[HuckinHavoc]

I am talking about the motor itself, not the airframe. I have definately trashed some motor boxes, battery trays, wings, tails, well everything. Hence the HAVOC! I busted the block on a nitro trainer when I first started (learned about brown outs). Worst I have been able to do to an electric motor is bend a shaft or pull a wire, clean out the dirt. Those are pretty easy fixes. I can see grass and sand going into the carb of gas and causing major issues if not torn down and properly cleaned after a crash. I would imagine a few of you have been there before!

 

[gyro]

I am talking about the motor itself, not the airframe. I have definately trashed some motor boxes, battery trays, wings, tails, well everything. Hence the HAVOC! I busted the block on a nitro trainer when I first started (learned about brown outs). Worst I have been able to do to an electric motor is bend a shaft or pull a wire, clean out the dirt. Those are pretty easy fixes. I can see grass and sand going into the carb of gas and causing major issues if not torn down and properly cleaned after a crash. I would imagine a few of you have been there before!

Yes, I agree. More opportunity for damage on a gas engine, more moving parts.

 

[Enterprise]

I can vouch for that. I have managed to eject both a electric motor (hacker A60-5S) and a gas engine (OS GT60 ). The hacker ran perfectly after cleaning out the mud, the OS ended up needing so much in parts I should have bought a new one.

The electric motor is my one foray into a Ebox and it did not hold up to the torque. The gas engine was a motor box repair where the epoxy did not properly adhere as the surface was not rough enough. That repair had held for months, until that day it didn't.

I obviously can't decided in 30cc as I do a little of both.

The VVRC 40 makes a compelling argument for gas as it cures a lot of the downsides with spinning 21" props and running fairly smooth and being easy to setup with the bottom carb.

The 12S electric I am currently doing is fairly expensive.

 

[rcbirk21]

to me one of the biggest advantages of the 30cc class planes is that on 6s, its a single pack. makes it as simple as a 4 footer