Your airframe can be lighter since you don't have an engine trying to beat it to pieces.
Most guys try to build light anyway
Try knocking over a pound out of a 40 sized profile and see how you make out
Your airframe need not be totally sealed against fuel creep.
Many guys don't worry about this anyway, but it does help.
Whether or not most guys do it or not is not the point. If they want a fuel soaked piece of shit, that too is a personal decision
You never have to clean your airframe, it stays shiney and clean.
That would be nice...
Well, if you don't even fuel proof your model I can't see how it would make any difference
Same thing for your shop..no more fuel or oil getting on stuff.
You'll probably have at least one gas/nitro around anyway so not much change here.
If I had 3 electrics and 1 glow, and worked on each one equally, 25% of my shop time would be with a greasy plane. 4 glow..100% shop time. 75% is more than "not much"
No more worrying about after run oil, bad bearings, bad fuel.
Still have to deal with bad connections, spur gears, pinion gears, batteries going dead/losing power over time etc.
Indeed...nor would I have to worry bad fuel tubing, leaking tanks, loose needle valves, my plane's engine flaming out and crashing in the trees.. and glow planes still have batteries that go dead
You never have to tune your engine.
Another handy part, but you can overheat an electric which can be a problem.
And you can fry a glow engine if you run it too lean, seen it happen. If you use the proper motor for the plane, overheating a motor isn't a great worry.
You never have to buy a glow plug.
I'm sure the cost of the high cap lipos absorbs this and then some.
Yes, but I don't have to stop off at the hobby shop to get a pack so I can fly, don't have to worry about my last plug blowing right when the wind dies, don't have to live with a crappy running engine because I couldn't get just the right plug... OS F Plugs are $10 at my LHS, 9 plugs and I have a new pack...
Never have to be grounded by a dead ni-starter.
Takes a lot less time to charge a ni-starter than it does to recharge a 2000mah lipo.
But you can't fly at all with a dead ni-starter. I can fly while my lipo's re-charge
You never have to worry about dead sticks (if you have your set-up right).
You can still run outta juice just like you can gas. At least you can see your gas tank and if the engine dies, you can still fly a gasser. A bad connection on an electric and everythning can go dead. Just ask Ulf.
Ulf's crash had nothing to do with a "bad connector". I've seen plenty of glow planes go in from radio interference...seems like you were experiencing some hits at Nashville. A "bad connection" on a glow plane (bad switch, etc.) will cause a glow plane to crash just like anything else. You can still fly an electric plane once the LVC sets in, the BEC on the ESC will provide power to the RX long after the pack has been drained to the point the LVC has hit.
Less noise to complain about.
No question there, but personally I like the sound of a 2 stroke and it's unlikely I would ever fly a .40 size electric anywhere I wouldn't fly the same size gas plane.
That's nice that you enjoy the sound...many neighbors of flying fields do not share your enthusiasm about the noise. Enough neighbors complain and you fly neither
Less wear and tear on your flight equipment from vibration.
A definate pro about electrics.
Sure, the batteries are expensive, the chargers are expensive, the batteries can burn...all of that has to be taken into consideration.
By the time you got all the batteries you needed, speed control, chargers etc, you could probably buy several engines and a whole lot of gas! If I remember right, I think Spidey (40 size Sledge electric) was about $1400?
That was the entire plane. Figure in 4 servos at $90 each, the cost of the kit, the covering job, etc. The power system was more expensive than a 2 stroke glow, but you have to have the rest of the stuff anyway.
Sorry Dan, not trying to spoil you on the idea, I was mostly thinking out loud and stirring the pot a bit. I'd probably have an e-setup if I could afford it, but there's no way I can so this is how I justify it to myself lol.
No offense Chucky, you know I'm fulla shit anyway
Rik
