Your Chrysalis 2M looks interesting. Is there any reason why I should not place an 8 oz. electric motor in the nose and a 7 cell battery in the unoccupied space under the wing?

From : Don Stackhouse

You mean like the attached photo? The fuselage sides in the nose are about 3.5" shorter, with the motor mounted with 5 degrees down thrust and 2 degrees right thrust. That's a Speed 600 in the nose, driving a Graupner 8"-4.5" folding prop. That's a cheep, simple setup for sport flying, but a geared setup with a bigger, slower prop would obviously perform better. The battery in the photo is a 7-cell RC2006 nicad pack, but we've flown it on seven 500AR cells. In a steep climb it blew a 20 amp fuse after several climbs, but a 25 amp fuse does fine, so the in-flight current draw in a full-throttle steep climb is apparently in the low 20's.

Because of the downthrust, the aft end of the motor sticks up a bit. On the version we're planning to put in production one of these days if I can ever work it into my schedule, we raise the top edges of the fuselage sides in the nose to make room for this. However, if you're converting the stock sailplane version you can get the necessary clearance by hollowing out the underside of the hatch.

The plane flies extremely well, even with the direct-drive setup. We initially designed the HLG and 2-meter Chrysali with lots of wing area to provide for older, heavier radio gear that beginners were likely to use back then, and to provide a better "visual footprint" to make it easier for novice fliers to see. That extra wing area is excellent for carrying the extra weight of batteries and motors.

Don Stackhouse
DJ Aerotech