50mm power mods

[19000rpm]

The JPower 50mm F-16, mine from BH, has been a lot of fun this summer and fall. It was a kit with motor and fan. Just added the electronics and battery and it flew perfectly from the maiden on. Stock power on 3S was nice...

But, Santa put something in my stocking that will up the ante out on the field. ;D

It was a Don'sRC combo: 50mm Wemotec fan and a 4800kV motor. Dynamically balanced. For those not familiar that is the entire unit balanced as one. Not just the fan. The fan and the motor together. How did Santa know that?

He also brought me a Sky Lipo 1000mAh 4S 30C pack and an Exceed proton 30A ESC. That Santa guy really knows his r/c.

So, here it is, early on New Year's Eve. My hands are itching to get this together. I uncorked a bottle of bubbly and dove right in. The project I mean. Not the Champagne. That I sipped.

The whole thing took only an hour or so. Most of it soldering. Don highly recommends soldering the ESC leads directly to the motor and, on no occasion, shorten the motor leads. That last part voids the warranty on the motor.


Don's motor combo wired to the 30A ESCESC.


The 4800kV motor compared to the stock mystery kV motor.


The Wemotec 4 blade fan compared to the stock unit. The housing on the Wemotec fan is much thicker and stronger than stock.


The lip of the Wemotec fan housing is slightly larger than the stock so the grooves in the fuse and motor hatch need to be deepened slightly.


The Sky Lipo fits nicely. I'm using a clone 6100e. Same one from the original kit build.


I added a strip of dense cardboard to the fuse on each side of the canopy hatch for more strentgh. It also aids in keeping the hatch and battery in place. Can you see the smile on the pilots face? ;D

When powered up, the EDF sounds very smooth, unlike the whine of the stock unit.

There's lots of thurst. I don't have a way of measuring how much, but a lot more than stock.

According to Don's chart this combo puts out 430Watts and draws 29Amps. It ought to really scoot. ;D

[akent]

Yer a man after my own heart!
There is NO substitute for HORSEPOWER!!!!

That's running around .6 horsepower! That's a LOT for a little guy!

At least for prop planes, 300 watts per pound is stupid power. That's only .4 horsepower per pound. That's where I like to keep it!

My Funjet that disintegrated was about 850 watts per pound. It was really stupid!

It will be interesting to hear how it flies!
Kent

[19000rpm]

I hope to be able to fly it this week. Just waiting on a low wind day. Not for the plane. For the pilot. BRRRRRRRR!! I can stand the cold. Not the wind chill.

Over half a horsepower sounds about right.

I haven't weighed it, but it is still fairly light even with the heavier motor and battery. AUW on the stock plane is 12 oz. I think I'm still well under a pound.

The only thing about these tiny planes and speed is they get small in a blink of an eye. Guess I won't blink. ;D

[Gabe]

Oh gosh - that setup is nuts! Man after my own heart! Lol! Power power power!

[19000rpm]

Like Tim the Tool Man said, "You can never have too much power."

I believe this setup may be good for over 100mph as reported on the forums.

With the delta setup the stock plane rolls like a drill bit. Some pilots have pinned the ailerons and are flying on tailerons only. I don't know about that. I like the delta setup.

I went around and added more Epoxy to all the joints. Hope that's enough for now. If not,maybe I'll add some CF to the wings and horizontal stabs.

[19000rpm]

Well, as it turns out, the monster motor and 3 blade fan has too much torque for hand launching. I think the larger mass of the motor is the primary issue.

I beat the carp out of the F-16 trying to get it launched at just the right rpm. No matter what I did it either torque rolled or stalled into the ground. No fun.

Instead, I went back to the stock EDF and used the 30A ESC with 4S. I re-arranged the battery, wiring and Rx to get the CG back. It required some foam removal, mostly for wiring, since the location of the battery is now at the rear of the space; which is narrower than the forward portion of the space. It's a very tight fit.

I hand launched the new setup as I had with the stock one, with a slight upward javelin toss, but with 60% thottle instead of WOT as with the stock setup. She went up like an arrow. WOT produced 80-85mph passes.

With the revised power; the fan makes quite a bit more noise than stock (much higher RPM) even though I had tried to balance it. Others say the rotor will eventually blow. I don't doubt it.

Donsrc.com carries a more robust 6 blade fan, but it's out of stock. If it comes back in stock, I'll order the fan and send him my stock motor for a dynamic balancing. That will be quieter and more powerful than the stock fan.

I sure hope my stock 5 blade fan lasts until the 6 blade unit becomes available. It's a blast to fly.

[Gabe]

I bet that thing disappears quick as it goes by! I'm becoming more interested in this little devil.

[19000rpm]

Yes, it wants to disappear quickly. All that power wants to make it climb very fast. Fortunately, its red and blue on white markings make it fairly easy to see. I was going to re-paint it in a two tone gray scheme; like an Air Guard plane. Not so sure about that now.

If you get this plane you'll have some fun with it. Its size makes it convenient to carry and fly almost anywhere. On stock power it does about 60-65.

I just found out that Donsrc is not going to carry the 6 blade fan any longer. HK is backordered. So I thought I'd order a few of the stock ones from BH. They want 14.95 to ship 3. Outrageous. These fans are only 2" in diameter. I may try to put a 55mm in it.

[19000rpm]

And today, as predicted, the fan blew. Just so happens I finally located a good 6 blade fan replacement. Good timing. ;D

[Gabe]

Ah no! Any damage?

[19000rpm]

Nope. No damage except the fan. Put another stock fan in it to use until the 6 blade fan shows up.