Gear Reviews

Introduction

The purpose of this page is to do reviews on various components that I have bought for RC Flying, and give you my thoughts on them. For each component I will try and tell you what application I am using it in, an overall rating, and why it is good, bad or neutral.

If you want to see what I think of planes instead of components take a look in the hangar.

Index

Batteries

• Elegance 3s 1500mAh 12C LiPo
  
• FlightPower EVO 20 3s 1200mAh LiPo
• Model Engines 3s 800mAh 20C LiPo

Electric Motors

• Align BL430L Brushless Outrunner in a Can (2800kv)
• Eflite 480 Brushless Outrunner (890kv)
  
• Ewatts 2212 Brushless Outrunner (1500kv)
• Towerpro 2408-21 Brushless Outrunner (& Towerpro MAG 8 ESC)

Receivers and Crystals

• MKS Receiver Crystal (single conversion)
  

Servos

• JP EnErG Micro 7.5g Servo (Cheap Servo)

Speed Controller

• Align 35A Speed Controller
  

Elegance 3s 1500mAh 12C LiPo

Date: April 2007
Supplier: North Queensland Radio Control
Application: I bought this battery originally for my Ultrafly P51, but now I use it for either my Tucano (ewatts R2212 brushless - 16A burst) or my GWS Tigermoth (400 brushed engine).
Price: 49.00
Notes: At about 120grams this battery is quite light given capacity, and bang for buck is a good deal. The only limiting factor is it is only rated for 12C continues, so 18 Amps. My application only draws 16A and although it is working if I fly the plane at WOT a lot, it is doesn't appear to be stressed. I've done about 10 cycles with mine so far and it seems to be holding up just fine.
If you don't need a higher C rating (and lots of applications don't ) then why pay for it both in terms of dollars and grams. Compared to my Model Engines 3s 1500mAh 20C the 12C Elegance is about 25 gram lighter and $20 cheaper.
Overall Impression: Provided you have an application that suits a lower C battery this is a great way to save money and reduce flying weight.

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FlightPower EVO20 3s 1200mAh

Supplier: Super Toyworld
Application: I use this battery in my GWS Zero teamed with an ewatts R2212 brushless motor. There are not many 3s LiPos that will fit a GWS warbird battery compartment, but this is one of them along with the model engines battery below (although my battery compartment was slightly cut before the fuse halves were glued together).
Price: 85.00
Notes: At about 104grams the battery is very light, given capacity, and unlike the model engines battery below is able to sustain the 16A that the Zero's ewatts r2212 draws at WOT from fresh to almost fully discharged. The battery is very thin and might even fit an unmodified GWS warbird battery compartment.
I get good flight endurance from this battery - 6-8 minutes at mostly WOT, or 12-15 minutes if I try to loiter.
Overall Impression: Although quite a bit more expensive than the model engines battery below this is a much better battery - it gives the sustained current, weights only a fraction more, and even seems to fully live up to it's capacity rating.

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Model Engines 3s 800mAh 20C LiPo

Supplier: Nitrodude
Application: I use this battery in my GWS Zero teamed with an ewatts R2212 brushless motor. There are not many 3s LiPos that will fit a GWS warbird battery compartment, but this is one of them (although my battery compartment was slightly cut before the fuse halves were glued together).
Price: 46.50
Notes: At about 80grams the battery is reasonably light, and gives good bang for buck as a value proposition although it is possible to get LiPos with more capacity for only a litte more weight but quite a few more dollars.
Battery's 20C rating is slightly exaggerated IMO - I haven't been able to draw more than 14.5A (should be 16A) from the battery when fresh which very quickly degrades to around 13.5A
Overall Impression: A good cheap upgrade for your GWS warbird even if you are still on Brushed power.

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Align BL430L Brushless "Outrunner in a can" 2800kv

Supplier: Nitrodude
Application: This motor is powering my "killer bee" elebee teamed with a model engines 4s 2200mAh LiPo, 35A Align Speed Controller and an APC 5.5 x 2.5 Propellor.
Price: $60
Notes: The outrunner in a can design means that this engine can just be mounted like a 400 class burshed electric which greatly simplifies that part of your project. If you follow the link to the killer bee above you will see I just mounted it using cable ties. You can also front mount it using screw holes. The motor is rated for 23A continous, but only 260watts, which I have taken to mean 23A on 3s continous. Currently I have the up part of my throttle on the elebee limited to 60% to stop too much juice going into the motor, but it seems to handle that little bit of abuse okay (clamp meter says it is doing about 300-320 watts at that position). These align motors are not repairable so if you bend a prop shaft you need to throw the motor away - one thing to be aware of.
Overall Impression: I'm certainly happy with the way this motor moves my elebee around the field, and the noise it makes is just to die for. This seems to be really good bang for buck for $60, but at this stage I don't know how much abuse it will take, which is apparently something the more expensive motors tend to handle.

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Eflite 480 Brushless Outrunner 890kv

Supplier: Nitrodude
Application: This motor is powering my Eflite Mini Pulse XT and is teamed with an Align 35A ESC, 3s 2200mAh Elegance LiPos and an APC 11x7 prop.
Price: $75
Notes: This is my first "expensive" electric motor and I am surprised at the difference it makes. For example - this motor can sustain 250watts comfortably which is about 50% more than the Ewatts below but seems to give more than 50% thrust. The MPXT is a monster on this motor with basically unlimited vertical which in an 800gram plane is quite an achievement. Mounting may be an issue depending on your application. For example - it doesn't fit the MPXT all that well, but with some dubro 4-40 1.25 inch bolts, and spacing with the included washers it just mounts. To get the best out of this low kv motor you really need to swing at least an 11 inch prop so be aware of that.
Overall Impression: A great motor that has buckets of power, thrust and very respectable pitch speed provided you can swing a big enough prop due to the low rpmv. The inclusion of a high quality hardware kit including a prop adaptor with the motor is a nice finishing touch.

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Ewatts R2212 Brushless Outrunner 1500kv

Supplier: Nitrodude
Application: I'm using this little outrunner in my GWS Zero and am planning to use one in my Phoenix Tucano.
Price: You can get just the motor for $15-20. The nitrodude pack includes an 18A speed controller for $55
Notes: This motor is cheap and fast. I'm running a 7x5 for the Zero, and she is probably doing an easy 70km/hr and has 4 seconds or so of vertical performance from WOT. The motor can do 16A for 60 secs, which is about what she pulls at WOT on the 7x5. One issue I have across is keeping the motor shaft running straight relative to the base - make sure you tighten the nuts that hold the shaft into the flight before your first flight.
Overall Impression: For $15 this is a great motor. Mounting options for GWS Warbirds are not great - I built a special firewall setup, but your bird will zoom around the sky leaving a smile on the dial.

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Towerpro 2408-21 Brushless Motor and Towerpro MAG 8 Speed Controller

Supplier: EP Planes (ebay store)
Application: This little cheap outrunner and speed controller are currently powering my Stevens Aero RV4 teamed with a Model Engines 3s 1500mAh 20C LiPo
Price: approximately $43 including postage.
Notes: This is a cheap and cheerful little motor that runs my plane beautifully. I get about 3 seconds vertical performance at WOT from level flight using an 8x4 GWS prop. Performance is better than a 400 geared brushed motor, maybe not quite as good as a 480 direct drive, but motor combo is quite a lot lighter and you are burning less amps. The MAG 8 has a few programmable options, and is straightforward.
Overall Impression: Provided you don't ask it to do too much this motor can help deliver solid performance to your sub 600g parkflyers.

Looking for programming instructions for the MAG8? Here are the ones that came with mine.

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MKS Receiver Crystal (Single Conversion)

Supplier: Taiwa (Wattsuprc)
Application: I've stopped using these crystals in anything I value. Maybe okay for indoor models at close range, plus fairly disposable models.
Price: $6.00.
Notes: Maybe all of my crystals came from the same faulty batch - three were bought together, the other seperately. I've taken a long time to reach this opinion cause I don't like to discount stuff when it might just be how I am using it but I get glitches - way too many, which dissapear as soon as I switch to other single conversion crystals. Don't read this as a reflection on Taiwa - they are a top shop with top customer service.
Overall Impression: Don't use these receivers crystals in any model if you can avoid it.

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JP EnErG Micro 7.5g Servo (Cheap Servo)

Supplier: Super Toyworld Fyshwick
Application: I'm using two of these cheap servos in my GWS Zero (rudder and elevator) and two in my Phoenix Tucano (wing servos)
Price: $9.95.
Notes: With over a 100 flights under their belts the servos in the GWS Zero are not showing any problems whatsoever. It was these little servos that convinced me that you don't need to spend $22/pop on Hitech servos, particulalry in cheap foam based parkflyers. Best I can tell, the odds of the airframe outlasting the servos doesn't seem that high and on that basis I'm only using high quality servos in aircraft I *really* value like the RV4.
Overall Impression: In the air these servos seem to be indistinguishable from Hitech HS55s. Maybe they wont have as a long a service life, and they will be thrown out rather than recycled at the end of it, but I fly a lot and these servos dont' seem to mind the work at all. Buying $10 servos rather than $20+ saves reduces your avionics bill for fitting out a new aircraft by about 30% which is nothing to be sneezed at.

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Align 35A Brushless Speed Controller

Supplier: Nitrodude (and also Taiwa/wattsuprc)
Application: I'm using one in my killerbee flying wing and one in the Eflite Mini Pulse XT. For the killerbee is teamed with a Align 430L Brushless, for MPXT is teamed with Eflite 480. Maximum power for either setup is around 280watts, and maximum current is around 24 Amps. Killerbee has 4s battery, MPXT has 3s.
Price: $73.
Notes: This ESC is really built for helicopters (the T Rex) range, but seems to do a pretty good job in my planes. This 35A ESC is the price of a lot of other 25A ESC, and although I haven't tested it in the 35A range it certainly seems to handle the roles I have it in just fine. Lots of programmable options - includes instructions. However I've just used mine straight from the pack and haven't had any issues.
Overall Impression: Good bang for buck. Seems like a pretty reliable ESC.

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