F3G - Technic

Update May 2024

Based on the 2023 F3G season and preparations for 2024, the Leomotion 3031-2900V2 as well as the Mega 16/30/1.5s engine are probably the most widely used engine configurations in F3G.

Nevertheless, we continue to experiment diligently and there are many different combinations that are used successfully. The benchmark is (still) 370 meters take-off altitude at 350Wmin/30 seconds and 3 kilograms model weight.

What is the difference between the Leomotion drive and the Mega drive?

• The Leomotion drive comes with the gearbox already fitted, so it's ready to go straight away without any major work. What I also like is the gear wheel milled onto the motor shaft. It seems very robust to me. The challenge with the "Leo" is the higher weight, which usually requires lead in the rear and the possible customs and transportation costs if it is ordered directly from Leomotion in Switzerland.

• The Mega has become very popular because it can keep up in terms of performance and efficiency and is cheaper and approx. 30-40 grams lighter (in conjunction with the Reisenauer gearbox). This usually saves the lead in the tail, but you have to mount and glue the gearbox and output gear yourself. I've never done this before (I always get ready-made drives from friends) but it shouldn't be a big problem/effort.

Propellers

One issue is the propellers, especially the VM (Vladimir) 16x8.5 and 17x10.
I had big problems with 17x10 VMs bought (produced?) in 2023. There seems to have been changes in production so that the ones I bought in 2023 no longer performed as expected. In reality, 20% of the height was missing. The usual dealers do not currently have any VM 17x10 in their store. Unfortunately there is no information whether this propeller will be available again in the future.

The same problem occurred with a set of VM 16x8.5. In contrast, a VM 16x8.5 purchased in April 2024 works perfectly.

As an alternative, I am currently using the GM Competition series successfully. The spinner is even more aerodynamic than the VM, but depending on the fuselage, it can be problematic whether the blades can be folded/attached cleanly to the fuselage. So try it out first.

As a rule of thumb, I always choose the GM Competition one "size" smaller in diameter - i.e. where the VM 17x10 fitted, I now use a GM 16x10 Competition. This fits very well with the drives I have tested and used.