gear ratios

[griffly]

I am new to small electric motors, and I am having a hard time figuring out proper gear ratios-can somebody give me some rough guidlines.

[Nieupt]

There are a number of vendors that advertise motor/gearbox combos. I would search them out first and narrow down the size plane you want to use this in. Then it becomes easier for us to help you, as your request is very broad.

[jimwalker]

I agree, try perusing the vendor links on this page and start comparing planes. Many slowflyers come with a motor and gearbox that has been tested and works well with it's particular weight, wing, performance envelope, etc... Correct me if I'm wrong everybody, but it seems to me from my gathering of information this past year, that there are many different ways to power a specific airplane. Different gearings, motor sizes, props, voltages, and even just direct drives all have advantages and disadvantages. It's a trade off between flight time, raw power, and speed envelope of the particular plane. It depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

A good example would be when I researched a conversion system for a friend who wanted to change an IC plane to electric. I looked on the internet for planes that had similar weight and wing area that sold as electric planes. My experience was that I could go either direct or geared drive by juggling motor size, number of cells in the battery, gear ratio, and prop size and pitch. It depended on what kind of performance I wanted...i.e... Glow engine-like or Slowflyer.

Happy Flying