What are the advantages and disadvantages of electric flight compared to wet power?
Electric power systems are heavier for a given power output. This means that planes must be built lighter, which may be more challenging (especially for the beginner). That’s really the only significant disadvantage. The big advantages are that electrics are quiet and clean. To me, the biggest advantage of all is that electric flight is unusual and interesting.
That depends on what you want to do and where you’re starting from. If you’ve never flown RC before, and you want to start with an electric plane rather than a pure glider, I recommend an electric glider like the Airtronics Eclipse. This will give you the best chance to stay ahead of the plane. In the sport/trainer category, I hear a lot of good things about the Leisure Amptique. If you know how to fly RC, you have a lot of choices. The simplest and most available electric power systems use six or seven cells. These are called “05” systems, and are very similar to the power system of an RC car. You can find all sorts of planes in kit or plan form which will work well with these systems. Outstanding examples are the aforementioned Eclipse and Amptique, old timers such as the Leisure Playboy and Astro Viking, a variety of semi-scale kits from Davey Systems, all sorts of gliders, and the aerobatic ElectroStreak from Great Planes. Any two-meter glider kit can be easily adapted to six or se
Modern NiCd batteries are pretty amazing. You can charge them in 15 minutes, take power out of them at up to 50 amps or so, and do it all day. That capability is what makes electric flight possible. Electric power can be used for any kind of flying—gliders, aerobatics, even racing. It’s an excellent choice for sport flying.
