50cc Dietrich 260 weigh-in

[flyinhi]

50cc aircraft true digital refrigeration scale weight of plane that is switch on and fly ready with 14-16 oz of fuel....17lbs.13.7oz.So much for the 15-16 lbs. range. The plane flys fantastic though.
Engine DL-50 std. can, redundant 2c 2100 mah lipo with individual regs, HD switches, 4c2700 nimh on ign. w/HD switch, 6 servos, fiber optic ign. kill, 7ch. RX.

Soooo what is your TRUE ready to fly weight on an actual scale and not a similar plane you read about or guessed at?

[bodywerks]

There isn't a single arf manufacturer out there that uses "ready to fly" weight, with a full tank of fuel. So you ended up with a 16-3/4 pound plane. It is easy to add 3/4 pound of unnecessary or overweight stuff to a 50cc plane. Your equipment choice isn't way, way overkill, but it is just a little. I could see losing 1/2 pound with lighter stuff, batteries in particular, and another couple ounces getting rid of all the HD switches - they make regs with built-in failsafe switches and you don't need an external switch with the smart-fly cutoff.
Also, if the plane is still relatively new it might still have water weight in it. A friend of mine lost 3/4 pound on a 75cc plane after re-weighing it two months later on teh same scale.

[ericb]

	Quote:
	So much for the 15-16 lbs. range.

They advertise 16 - 18 lbs on the website. Mine comes in at 16lbs 10ozs. I don't know of anybody who weighs their plane with a full load of fuel.

[flyinhi]

	Quote: Originally Posted by bodywerks
	There isn't a single arf manufacturer out there that uses "ready to fly" weight,

Really? I believe all the electric ARFS have a ready to fly weight range.
Any way, all I was wondering is what are real world 50cc planes weighing in at with & without the high-tech electronics available today. When the rig is ready to bust bugs, are the planes with the high dollar / high tech items really lighter?
So you see, I'm not asking for anyone to critique my set up. I'm just curious about the weight of the planes.

[flyinhi]

ericb, true most planes are probably weighed with an empty fuel tank. But none of them are flown that way. The fuel does add to the overall weight and I have read on this web site about the handling characteristics changing as fuel is depleted. This is most likely due to lighter over all weight and or CG relocation. I also read where 50cc's are best around 15 pounds for 3D and just looking to see if anyone has acclomplished this weight.

[rager24]

I have one with a dl 50 on a can sys
4 7985's 1 7955 1 2300 a123 pack 1 2000 4c pack
and my mine with no fuel is 16 lbs 14 oz
and it flys great

[bodywerks]

	Quote:
	Really? I believe all the electric ARFS have a ready to fly weight range.

Got me there - of course electrics are weighed that way, and it would be a little more accurate if gas planes were advertised as weight with fuel. But the first manufactirer to do so will get a bunch of people not reading what the weight includes and call their planes tanks.
As far as thrust to weight, 15 pounds is ideal, but a 50 can usually still pull a 17 pound(dry weight) plane around decently, and most true 50cc planes nowadays are pretty big and have plenty of wing area to still make that 17 pounds float. Personally, though, if I had a 17 pound 50cc plane I would hope that included the weight of the fuel, because I have flown 18 pound 50cc planes and, while they were still plenty light on the wing, vertical pull suffered for the type of flying I like to do.

[flyinhi]

Well let's figure gas/oil per gallon weight of say 8.2 lbs. 1 gallon equals 128 oz. 16 oz. equals 1/8 of 1 gallon so 16 oz of fuel mix equals 1.03 lbs. So now if I deduct 1 lbs. .48 oz. then I would estimate my empty weight at 16 lbs. 13.22 oz. This would put me very close to ericb and rager24 with my "heavier" redundant power set up. So I maybe able to conclude that sufficient weight savings are not there to justify the cost of the more expensive set ups.