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Originally Posted by superart
I have a 49cc engine on my scooter, the same type as on those pocket bikes, and it is pretty heavy. Any ideas for somethng lighter and with similar power output/efficiancy?
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I don't think you will do much better than that motor on your scooter. If it's power is ~7HP that will work fine for a very low speed RPV plane. You can also probably use a pocketbike's alternator (assuming they have those) to power your computer gear. As far as fuel depletion affecting CG, a 2 gallon tank on the main spar of the thing will keep the CG of the vehicle pretty stable, because your spar is where your highest incidence of lift will be, and shouldn't really effect the CG. Those values as well as CP change with extreme, like supersonic speeds, but I doubt you will encounter those issues with this plane!
The trick is the efficiency in your prop, how it is mated to the engine for your specific airframe. Yyou need to figure out how fast you want the thing to go, its drag, and weight, and then find the motor/prop combo that can do that within the spec. But as far as the power/weight ratio of your scooter motor not "feeling" like it can do that for you, find the equivalent electric motors and battery system to drive it for a comparable amount of time at a comparable power level, as your scooter motor and say, a gallon of gas, and you will see what I am saying.
So what's the scheme here anyways? You gonna fly a webcam with a Linksys WAP and a Linux laptop on board or something?