Axi 5330 F3A motor - $269
Axi 8mm prop adapter - $15
Castle Creations Phoenix 85HV controller - $170
Castle Link programming cord (easier to program with this cord) $20
Simple setup for 2 meter F3A airplane
(Updated 9/29/2009)
Simple electric setup:
Axi 5330 F3A motor - $269
Axi 8mm prop adapter - $15
Castle Creations Phoenix 85HV controller - $170
Castle Link programming cord (easier to program with this cord) $20
Alternative Axi motor is the new 5325/24 motor which is 3oz lighter than the 5330/F3A motor and still has plenty of power for an 11lb F3A plane.
True R/C 5S-5000mah battery (2 packs at $112 per pack)
42oz per 10S setup
The Rhino 5S-4900 20C packs from Hobby City (Hobby King) are working well an available for as little as $65 per pack ($130 per 10S set) Downside is they are heavy at 45oz for a 10S setup
FlightMax also from Hobby City 5S-5000 @ $80 per pack are working well. Comparable weight to True RC at 42oz for 10S setup
APC 20-13 electric prop - $15 (best in light winds)
APC 20.5-14 electric prop - $15 (best overall prop)
Complete power set up with 1 set of batteries approximately $700
Chargers and power supply:
Thunder Power 1010 charger - $199 Plus Thunder Power 210V balancer - $99
Alternative charger setup :
CellPro 10S with integrated balancer - $189
2ea 6 pin balance nodes to fit your packs - $15 ea
Iota 55amp RV power supply - $110 from various sources on EBay
4mm to 6mm gold bullet connectors (connect motor to speed controller)
Deans Ultra connectors (connect battery packs to controller)
Optional:
12V deep cycle marine battery - $110 from Sears - will allow up to 5 flight
battery charges. ( it can be recharged by Iota power supply above)
or
110V generator - $150 to $700
The optimum number of flight packs is 3 sets. This will allow you to fly almost continuously if you arrive at the field with 3 charged packs. Also, if you bring a deep cycle marine battery as well, you will be able to get in 8 flights per session.
Basic Castle Controller settings: (these are
the important ones)
Battery - 30V (don't use auto-lipo setting)
timing - low
frequency - low
sensitivity - insensitive
You can get more power by using a higher (mid or high) timing setting but start
with low until you get used to the set up. Most likely you don't need the extra
power this will give and it will run hotter and use more battery power too.
Don't mess with the brake settings either until you get comfortable with the
basic operation of the electric set up.
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Set your plane up with these settings and you will have an absolutely reliable power plane with more power than you will ever need for a 5kg airplane. There were several people flying this exact setup at the 2008 NATS up through Masters class.
****Update 8/23/09****
Note about firmware.
The 85HV seems to work with no issues with the 1.55 and 1.56 firmware. The higher firmware versions like 2.0 are sometimes hit or miss as far as "screeching" at high power levels. The only fix is to decrease the amp draw (smaller prop) or limit the high throttle via throttle curve or atv setting. These last 2 solutions only mask the problem and are not a true fix. If you are using the 2.0 and above firmware, be sure that you have the lowest timing setting and lowest frequency settings programmed. This is your best bet of eliminating the screech without moving back to the 1.56 firmware and losing some of the newer features in the 2.0 and above firmware versions.