This is Eric's Electric Hots. He bought it at the RAMS auction. It is powered speed 600 Magnetic Mayhem R/C truck motor and seven - 3000mAh nickel-metal hydride batteries.
We tried flying it off the grass field, but those little wheels wouldn't be pushed through the grass fast enough. Hand launch only.
The plane flew well. It tracked nicely. Low inverted flights with high-angle inverted climb outs were Eric's favorite. Flight times were about 5 minutes. On the 12th flight we were going to take pictures of this very manuver, but disaster hit. On launch it banked to the right and Eric could not correct it. Eric thinks that he had messed up the trim beyond the ability to bring it back to level. The plane and motor did not survive.
Although the plane was a success, and among the nicest electrics I've seen, it convinced me that I don't like electrics. Why? Short flight times, long refueling times; overweight and under powered; expensive. On that last point, here's what the propulsion system cost: Motor ($30) + batteries ($65) + 35 Amp speed controller ($35) = $130. I could buy a nice 2 stroke .15 size glow engine and tank for half that, and it would have a long flight times and more power, and less weight. The only advantage to electric is that the plane comes back clean, and it's quite (well, that's actually another negative in my book).
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