Electric Pricing

1429 Views 29 Replies 11 Participants Last post by cropdusterdave, Nov 17, 2004

Tater

Discussion Starter · Oct 23, 2004

Just for curiosity - I checked the price of a kit from FancyFoam - $349. I then priced out the individual components - as best I could - mostly from HobbyHorse. Allowing for the FancyFoam price of just the airframe - $35 - and not considering shipping - this guy ain't making squat on the electronics. His profit is just from the airframes. Of course - he's buying the gizmos wholesale. But - I have to say - I was a little shocked. Is this gonna be typical for these electric planes? Is this stuff that competitively priced?

Anyway - the reason I'm doing this... I want an electric & I'm ball-parking the initial cost. I figure $400 to $450 should do it right. That would be everything - including a charger - not including a TX.

$450.00 Holy Shucking Fit!

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Prowler

· #2 · Oct 23, 2004

Well, I didn't do a ton of shopping around. Read some forums here and there, and my mind was made up rather quickly that fancyfoam was damn tough to beat.

I figure it this way...

Fancy Foam Sukhoi - $349 + shipping: $359.47
Charger - Hobbico DC Field Charger MkII: $49.99 (Tower Hobbies for a quick reference http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXCTZ5&P=0 )
1 Bottle of gorilla glue - $5 @ home depot
4 Cans of Short Cuts - $2.19 each @ K-Mart (next time I'll use sharpie-cote) $8.80

So, I've got roughly $425 wrapped up right now. For what you get, seems to be one hell of a deal.

I swear I'll get a build thread going on my Fancy Foam one of these days, but here's a taste...

J

:rockon:

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cropdusterdave

· #3 · Oct 23, 2004

Yup...for the first time electric consumer....fancy foam has it all figured out for you. Pretty good deal I think. Just go get yourself a Triton or an Astro 109 charger and you're good to go. Hey, don't worry about the $$$$$.....it's sooooo worth it.

ChuckAuger

· #4 · Oct 23, 2004

Yep, the initial outlay can seem daunting, but you can use the stuff over and over. Unless you crash into your charger or something..

Tater

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 23, 2004

Weather today was krappy - verging on shitty - overcast, sprinkles - threateneng rain. No way would I bother to drive down & unload my glow shit. But if I had an electric - I would have flown today. Maybe I'll get a loan & buy it all next week - then spend the rest of the winter paying it off.
But at least I'd be flying every damned day - damnit!

fly300s

· #6 · Oct 23, 2004

Just to let your know Tater, HobbyHorse is generally overpriced. Your best bet would be to search the web and mailorder.

mfeuilly

· #7 · Oct 24, 2004

You can get a smaller plane going for cheaper....

$50 for a phoenix 10

$10-50 for a motor (DIY cdrom or a geared feigao 12mm)

$50 for 3 servos (blue bird or blue arrow 4.3-6g servos are around $15)

$30 for an RX

$10 for a sheet of 3mm depron

$10 for some carbon

$30 for a 2 cell lipo pack (smaller stuff does OK on just 2 cells)

$30 for a cheap 2 cell charger.

so, around $220-260

I usually aim for around 200 sq" of wing area.

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Quicker

· #8 · Oct 24, 2004

Weather today was krappy - verging on shitty - overcast, sprinkles - threateneng rain. No way would I bother to drive down & unload my glow shit. But if I had an electric - I would have flown today. Maybe I'll get a loan & buy it all next week - then spend the rest of the winter paying it off.
But at least I'd be flying every damned day - damnit!

Same thing here. Just before dusk the wind died. I got out the eKatana and flew through 2 battery packs in the field behind my house before it got too dark. I'm now a happy camper! 8)

Sky_Dancer

· #9 · Oct 24, 2004

I'm gonna put a plug in here for All e RC . When I got the stuff for my foamy, they had some pretty decent deals on motor/speed control combos. I got all my other electronics and the battery from Tower. My only problem now is that all the stuff is sitting here in a box because I messed up my airframe that I got from 3Dfoamy. I'm waiting on a new one as we speak.....errr type. I think when it was all said and done, what I spent was pretty close to the fancyfoam package price but I like the looks of the 3dfoamy airframes better. That's just a personal preference though.
Michael

rcairnut

· #10 · Oct 24, 2004

Don't just go out and buy stuff look look and look some more!!!!
I literaly trew away $500 on e-stuff :shock: It still pisses me off :x

Tater

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 24, 2004

mfeuilly said:
You can get a smaller plane going for cheaper....

So if it's smaller - does that mean I can't fly it in the wind? Or would it be every bit as wind-proof as a larger one? The last thing I want to do is build something that will only fly right in zero wind.

ChuckAuger

· #12 · Oct 24, 2004

Get a "Regular". Trust me. You live on the Great Fucking Plains. It is never calm. Ever. I know.

And them light planes ain't Tater Proof. Trust me.

mfeuilly

· #13 · Oct 24, 2004

They can be a little tougher to fly in the wind. Not just because of their size. The smaller planes have to be built with a lower wing loading to feel the same in the air as a normal plane, and that hurts them a lot in the wind.

I usually wait for less than 8mph winds. I also do a lot of hovering in the house.

Straightup

· #14 · Oct 25, 2004

Hey 2 hours to the north buddy...

I got my Shocky sitting on the bench ready to assemble.

I read literally thousands of posts on this plane on various groups. I bought everything from Hobby Lobby, Dymond (Servo's), and RCMicro.

I've spent a little under $350 and I have everything except Batts and Charger. All equip I ordered was Bro approved (they had good luck with the same stuff). You can see a thread where I listed my equip in this forum.

Going to go with Tanic 830's (2C) and the Apache 2500 charger, so only $100 more I'll be in the air - I know I'm going to need more batts though..... So Yep - $450.

You got a place to fly indoor up there? I have a couple of 1 court gyms that I think will be available for some indoor electron burning. Oh - and I think WOW-OOPS is going to bail on us and winter down south this year - lucky dog........................................I got a call from him the other night, he checked out flying fields before he checked out places to live!

Jeff

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cropdusterdave

· #15 · Oct 25, 2004

They can be a little tougher to fly in the wind. Not just because of their size. The smaller planes have to be built with a lower wing loading to feel the same in the air as a normal plane, and that hurts them a lot in the wind.

On my little ones (7oz) any perceptable breath of breeze will affect them outside. My 36" 12-14 oz foamies handle a breeze much much better. As a result...I don't even fly my little ones outside much anymore, but they rock inside!

rcairnut

· #16 · Oct 25, 2004

ChuckAuger said:
Get a "Regular". Trust me. You live on the Great Fucking Plains. It is never calm. Ever. I know.

And them light planes ain't Tater Proof. Trust me.

Truer words have never rarly ever been uttered. I live on the GP also!
A rolling mass of selfdistructing foam as it blows away Is an ugly thing. :shock:

rcairnut

· #17 · Oct 25, 2004

sight is laging today! darn double post!

mfeuilly

· #18 · Oct 26, 2004

Maybe I'm a little crazy, but I'll fly all my stuff in a little wind. Most of my planes weigh under 5oz.

Heres a vid of one that was less than 3.5oz in gusty winds(5-10mph IIRC). http://www.rcsites.net/fwilly/video.html

Edit: fixed link.... Damn restricted remote linking!! anyhow, its the second video down.

Tater

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 26, 2004

Goinstraightup said:
You got a place to fly indoor up there?

Well - the elementary school principal is a friend of mine.

Goinstraightup said:
WOW-OOPS is going to bail on us and winter down south this year - lucky dog.

Have you seen the ads in the mags about the retirement community that is built for airplane pilots? There's an RC & a full scale airstrip there - probably a golf course too - for when the glue is drying.

johnny b

· #20 · Nov 15, 2004

Bite the bullet. Spend the bucks, worst case is you'll sell it second-hand on the 'net for about 70 cents on the dollar provided you don't beat it to all snot. If you're flying outdoors, and want max portability, max performance, and need for a minimal flying area, go 30"-36" w/span, 11-13oz auw, 3S packs, Axi 2212/26 (or equivalent whiny-gearbox Himaxx thingy) spinning a 10-11" prop, and this little bugger will WOW everyone with its awe-inspiring vertical, its whisper quietness, and you can fly it in just about any park or small available field.

IMO, the 5oz stuff is real cool (my first 3D was an original T3D), but they don't handle wind as well. I'm talking real wind-- 15-20mph, with gusts upwards, not sissy 5-10mph, everyone can fly that stuff. Granted my birds get tossed in our gales, but they're like big waver surfers with their chopper blades up front and mostly full-flying r/e surfaces and huge ailerons. We deal here on the Windy Coast.

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