muddrunner1968

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i am getting a tower trainer with an os .46 la and i was wondering if anybody has any thaughts on this, like if it will work well and what prop to use

carrellh

For break in OS recommends an 11x6 prop. They recommend 11x6 or 11x7 for trainers and sport planes. I'd stick with the 11x6 for a while. It should be plenty to pull the trainer nicely, assuming you are getting the 40 size trainer.

Fubar-One

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Should fly well. I second the 11X6 prop tho I have run my .46LA with 11X7's no problem. Many people bag on the LA series engines because they are sleeve bearinged but my .46LA has always been the best running engine I have owned.

muddrunner1968

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i also wondered what reciever pack i should use if i want to get about ten flights

da Rock

What receiver pack for 10 flights?

That's a really hard one.

Actually, 10 flights is a fair amount for most people so....

The pack you want is one that's in the model where you can easily swap it with a freshly charged backup. You go to the field with two fully charged packs. And that's really not a dependable solution.

Actually, it's really hard to predict what capacity battery pack is needed for someone else when you have no idea whether his flights are just flying around or constant aero routines, if his pushrods drag or if his surfaces stall, if his servos are strong enough for the aircraft's surfaces or if their gears are in good shape or have been somewhat damaged in hard landings or crashes, if he keeps the covering tight on his model or flies a wrinkled mess, if he flies the flight with the engine firewalled or twiddles the throttle the whole time, how large his tank is, how much nitro is in his fuel, what brand of prop he's running and does he keep the grass buildup off it and retires the ones with pits chunked out of their leading edges, and if his plane is crash damaged and repaired straight or crooked, what size tires he has on the sucker, and just how long he flies on an average flight. And that's ignoring what shape his engine is in, whether it's new or worn, and whether or not he ever touches his needle setting and how good his low speed needle is set. I'm sure I missed something that matters to flight time.....

The only decent guess anyone can make with none of the above information is going to be shooting in the dark, VERY dark dark. And even with information couldn't give more than a guess. But you can see that it's not an easy prediction for anyone. And it's not a good prediction to make for anyone else. And not very hard to work out for yourself.

And it really won't take you any real effort to figure out in one flying session. Put any size, fully charged pack in and go fly. Fly until the ESV reading shows out of the green, or tells you it's recharge time, or it's not safe to continue. Anyone who wants to fly to the extent of his aircraft's battery capacity really needs to have an ESV and use it before every flight. If you don't have one, it's really not a good idea to take anyone else's guess about your needs. But back to the test at hand.... divide the number of flights you just flew into the capacity rating of that pack and you have all the test info you need. Any capacity pack that has enough capacity for 11 of those flights is your pack. (And btw, when you're cutting it close in a flying session, if you don't have an ESV and use it, you BETTER count your flights.)

Since today's battery packs are so very cheap it's a fairly sensible idea to take a charged backup with you. And ESVs are cheap too, and whatever their price, they really should especially be used by everyone that wants to push their battery capacity. Heck, they're best use might be to tell you whether cells in your pack are dying prematurely, forget about flying the most in a session.

If you're new at this, and just want a simple, sound byte answer, then get the largest capacity pack you can afford. If you balance your models by checking the CGs, you will almost surely find the extra battery weight useful. Excess battery weight is very often quite useful. And if you don't want to spring for an ESV, then you simply fly the model until the battery quits on you. There really isn't a good ground test that'll tell you if the plane has a flight's worth of juice left. Well, unless you count plugging an ESV into the recharge jack as a ground test. So you got the biggest pack in the a/c. The only way to see if the pack is large enough is to fly it until it quits. With luck that'll be on the ground. And it'll be VERY lucky if it happens that way.

I think there are $9 ESVs, aren't there?

The Raven

Tower trainers aren't available in my part of the world but the LA engines are. 46LA is an ideal engine (I run a 40LA) and will give more than adequate power when properly run in and tuned (suggest 10% nitro once run in, remove muffler baffle, 11x6 for the 46).

People bag the LA, as previously mentioned, but they are great. Only real downside they have is they get a little messy, some oil will eventually make it past the front bearing.

My engine has close to 100 genuine flight hours on it without a single problem, still on the original glow plug.

Good luck.

suitcase

My Feedback: (1)

Ten flights in one day's flying? Man at my field, I seldom get in more than four or five and thats taking two or three planes, one beingl electric. Usually so much bull being tossed around that flying time gets incroached upon.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I learned on a Tower Trainer with a 40LA. That was barely enough power at my club's grass field. A 46LA should be just right.

You might have ground clearance problems with an 11x6 inch prop. Get a bigger nose wheel or go to a 10x7 prop if you do.

Using 700 mAh pack I get about five 10 to 15 minute flights on my 40-size planes. That is plenty in a day for me. I don't know of anyone at my field who gets 10 flights a day. I guess if you want 10 flights you need to go to 1100 mAh or higher capacity pack.