Hello All,
I just received two of Airfix’s 1/24 Mosquito in the mail (Golly what a kit!) and would like to motorize the two props on one of them. I have two Airfix motors specifically designed for their kits, but what I don’t know how to do is attach a battery and switch to complete the circuit. Oh, and each motor requires only one AA battery. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Do you want the entire uint inside the plane or do you want a “powerpack” that is stored in the display base?
Not everybody has to be an electrician - but knowing something about electricity helps in a world where amost everything is electric. Now I don’t mean to be rude, but I think you are going to need a lot of help, if you ask such a question.
To connect a motor is not very hard - you make a “circle”, professionally known a s a circuit, in which the current flows from the “plus” of the battery (not really, but its a convention), through the closed switch, through the motor to the “minus” of the battery. A lot more questions follow - where does the battery have the “plus” and where “minus”, what contacts does the switch have, how do you connect the wires to everything else, where to get the wires, what kind of? Please try to experiment with one motor and if you have further questions - please post them. If its too easy for you, try connecting the motors in parallel. Watch for the rotation direction. I hope it helps a little bit, have a nice day
Pawel
PS. It’s such a fine day for science!
The motor should have 2 posts for attaching the wires, which wires you attach to which post will dictate the direction of rotation. So, if it spins the wrong way, flip flop the wires.
Test the motors and connection before installing everything.
You can probably get away with “daisy chaining” the connections. Run the neg(black wire) from battery to first motor, then on to the second. Run the pos(red wire) from battery to one switch post, then from the other switch post to first motor then second.
I’m no electrician, by any means, but that shoud work and will cut down on the amount of wiring.
Here’s 1 I did on Airfix’s !/24 Spit, mounted in the base.
Yes, I’d like it hid in the base like you did the Spit. I think I can try it now. Appreciate the help!
Hello everybody!
Fermis - now I’m an electrician, and would like to clarify that double motor question. And let me try it avoiding too much techno talk (at the cost of precision). “Daisychaining” the motors is technically called connecting “in series” when you do the connection like battery, switch, one motor, then the other and back to battery. This could work, but the motors don’t get the voltage/current they are designed for. This method of wiring could be used if you decided the motors are turning too fast. Then again you can slow the motors down this way only a certain amount. If you run electric current through a motor, but the motor doesn’t spin, it’s going to heat up and could burn out or melt the plastic around. So that’s why, when connecting more than one motor rated X volts to a single X volts source (where X is a given number, like 1,5 in case of the AA battery)you should go for the “parallel” connection. Then you wire battery to the switch, and then from the switch contact you connect two wires, one to every motor, and then you wire the other side of every motor and the other battery post together. Let me try ASCII art: ±X-<8>- where + battery plus, X switch, 8 two motors one over another [:D].
By the way - it’s a good opportunity to learn soldering, because it’s hard to connect the wires other way to be as reliable as soldered connection. I don’t recomment “twisting together” or other such techniques - the tend to lose contact after several weeks due to oxidation.
That was too long a mail anyhow, so please let me know if you’d like me to go on. I hope it helps, have a nice day
Pawel
Multi-engine aircraft have propellers that spin in two different directions but still pull the aircraft in the same direction. say the engine on the left spins the prop clockwise while the engine on the right spins the prop counter clockwise. To test which direction the motor spins the prop put the props on the motors and add the wire and batteries. If both go counter clockwise take one and label ithe motor itself with a piece of tape marked RS forright side and mark the wires with say yellow paint for positive and green paint for negative. Now for the left side motor you will have to reverse the polarity of the motor which means swapping poles on the battery so that the wire you used as the negative connection on the other motor becomes the positive pole while the positive on the other end becomes the negative once done mark the positive wire with yellow paint and the negative with green paint.
Okay, I didn’t realize that. I’ll do it. Thank you!
Actually the only multiengine aircraft that have their props spin in opposite directions are either the P-38 or planes with two propellers in line with each other, as on the Tu-95 Bear.
Planes like the Mosquito, B-17, B-24, B-29, B-36 all have their props spining the same direction.
The P-82 had the same engine set-up as the P-38…
except it didn’t have the central cockpit pod and all it was was 2 complete P-51 fuselages. It still boggles the mind how it actually flew.