Scorpion Motors Dominate the i-Hobby Expo Mini Heli Competition!
Scorpion powered helicopters stung the competition with a one-two punch in the Indoor Mini Heli Championships, held in conjunction with the Chicago i-Hobby Expo on October 20th and 21st. Scorpion sponsored pilots Nick Maxwell and Bobby Watts both flew prototype X-Cell 450 size helicopters from Miniature Aircraft USA powered with Scorpion Motors. Nick finished in first place with a record setting score of 823.5 points, and Bobby finished second with a score of 798.5 points. Nick's helicopter was powered with a Scorpion HK-2221-6 motor and a Scorpion 55 amp ESC.Bobby flew a Scorpion HK-2221-8 motor in his machine, and both had plenty of power to spare. Below is a photo of Nick (on the left) and Bobby (on the right) standing with their helicopters, in front of our booth, at the Chicago show.
Rounding out the field in third place was 12 year old Kyle Stacy, who also put on an excellent show, and received a total of 773 points. For first place, Nick received a check for $1,500.00, for second place, Bobby received a check for $750.00, and for third place, Kyle received a custom Trex 450 helicopter from Align that had all of the metal parts plated with 24 karat gold! Here is a photo of the top 3 contenders from the event with their prizes.
Noted RC Groups Helicopter Guru Ken Dill (kdill2160) was there to videotape the final round of competition, and has posted videos of the entire final round to share with anyone that would like to watch. These can be found at the i-Hobby Heli Finals Video link.
New 30mm Motors Added:
Over the past few months, we received many requests for some new motors with a lower Kv rating for use in the small and mid-size 3D type aircraft that have become so popular. In response to these requests, Scorpion has introduced two new motors: The S-3014-22, and the S-3020-16. The S-3014-22 has a Kv of 892, and can swing an APC 13x6.5E prop on a 3-cell Li-Po battery, and produce 61 ounces of static thrust with a 30 amp current draw. The S-3020-16 motor has a Kv of 812, and can swing an APC 14x7E prop on a 3-cell Li-Po battery, and produce 75 ounces of static thrust with a 39 amp current draw. Both of these motors will also work very well with 4-cell batteries using smaller props. Check out the new S-3014-22 and the S-3020-16 motors on our site for more information
New HK-2221-6 Helicopter Motor getting Rave Reviews:
A couple months ago, the Scorpion company received a request for a new helicopter motor with a little more punch than the already popular HK-2221-8 model, for use in the slightly larger 480 class machines that were being introduced. They came back with the new HK-2221-6 model, that has a Kv of 4400, and can handle 50 amps of current on a 3-cell pack for 525 watts of power! Scorpion sponsored test pilot, Nick Maxwell, recently amazed the crowds at a Heli fly-in with his Gazaur Poseidon 480 helicopter, that is powered with one of the new Scorpion HK-2221-6 motors and a Scorpion 55 amp ESC. The temperature that day was 90 degrees, and after 4 minutes of intense 3D flying, the temperature of the motor was only 95 degrees, and the ESC was only 109 degrees! To see this motor in action in Nick's helicopter, please watch the HK-2221-6 Flight Demo Video. For more information on this motor, check out the HK-2221-6 Motor Specs.
40mm Motors are On The Way!
We are happy to announce the the new 40mm Motors are in production, and will be here very soon. There will be a total of 6 different models in the initial release, 3 in the 4020 size and 3 in the 4025 size. These motors will work great in .60-.90 size glow or .90-1.20 size 4-Stroke aircraft. We are taking pre-orders on these motors now, and will ship them out and soon as they arrive. To check out these new motors, go to the Scorpion 40mm Motor page on our website.
Scorpion Motor Comparison Chart Now On-Line
With all of the brushless motors that are currrently available, it can be a confusing maze of numbers trying to figure out how one motor from a manufacturer compares to another motor from a different manufacturer. We get emails every day asking, "What Scorpion Motor is equivilent to a 28-940 from Manufacturer X, or the kit calls for a 3245-18 from Company Z, what Scorpion motor would you recommend to replace it." To answer these kinds of questions, we have put together a very comprehensive list of 12 popular brand brushless motors, and matched them up with each other and the appropriate Scorpion Motor that is closest in performance. This chart can be viewed on-line at our Scorpion Motor Matching Chart. For a formatted 2-page PDF version of the Motor Comparison chart that is ready to print, please download the Scorpion Motor Chart Zip File.
Scorpion Calc Software Available for Download
After several months of Beta Testing, the new Scorpion Calc software is available for download. This program has the parameters for all of the Scorpion motors pre-loaded into it, making prop selection a snap. With Scorpion Calc, you can experiment with different props and input voltages to see what kind of performance you can expect. The program currently has a database of 254 propellers ranging from a GWS 3x2 up to a Mejzlik 32x10, so there is a wide range to choose from. For any given prop and voltage, Scorpion Calc will give you the RPM, Pitch Speed, Current Draw, Watts, Motor Efficiency and Estimated Motor Temperature. The fields for Rm, Io, Kv and motor weight are user selectable, so if you have another motor you want to simulate, just plug in the values and Scorpion Calc will do the rest. Scorpion Calc is the work of Louis Fourdan, a French RC modeler and programmer, that worked with Scorpion to develop this great piece of software. The best part is that it is available for FREE by going to the Scorpion Calc v2.36 Download Link.
Here is a screen shot of the Scorpion Calc program in use. In this simulation, a Scorpion 3020-14 motor is being tested with an APC 11x7E prop, running at 14 volts to simulate a 4-cell Li-Po battery under load. In this screen shot, you can see that Scorpion Calc predicts that the motor will turn at 9,935 RPM with a pitch speed of 65.9 MPH. The prop will produce 71.4 ounces of thrust and absorb 56.78 ounce inches of torque. Further down you can see that the estimated operating temperature of the motor at this load is 117.5 degrees F, and that the motor is operating at an efficiency of 75.5%. With this prop, the motor will draw 41.236 amps of current, which gives an input power to the motor of 577.3 watts, and based on the 75.5% efficiency of the motor, this would yield 417.1 watts at the prop. Every time you change a prop, or adjust the input voltage, Scorpion Calc with re-calculate all of the values for the new inputs. This makes selecting the right prop for your Scorpion motor as easy as bolting it on!
New Scorpion Product Catalog Available!
After several weeks of work, the new Scorpion Product Catalog is now available. We will have them at trade shows all across country this year, So if you see us at a Trade Show, be sure to ask for one. For our on-line customers, we have it available in a downloadable form that you can print out yourself at home. Here is a look at the cover of the new catalog. To download a ZIP file, which contains a PDF copy of the catalog that is ready to print, click on the Scorpion Catalog Download Link.
As the exclusive US distributor of Scorpion Brushless Motors & Speed controllers, Innov8tive Designs has the entire Scorpion line available to hobby shop owners that is interested in carrying these fine products. If you own a Hobby Shop or Web Store, and would like to carry Scorpion Products, just send an email to our sales department at info@scorpion.com.hk and we will get back to you with our dealer program information.