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TOPIC: Performance of 2014 L-3 Motors

Performance of 2014 L-3 Motors 9 years 10 months ago #153

  • rogersimmonds
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Hi Guys,

at the recent Old Warden meeting, Chris Richards tried one of the latest (2014) L-3 motors in his 'Rocket Boy':



The initial thrust tore the model out of my hands (I was charged with 'launching') and the supercharged model ascended rapidly in a spiral climb for about 15 sec. Spectacular, if not what we were expecting.

So the thrust of these latest L-3's is way up on what we are used to and the duration a disappointing 15 sec or so, way down on the 25-30 sec of previous L-3's.

I suspect these might be 'L-3 HP's'. :ohmy:

My suspicions were possibly confirmed by an email from Jim Free, our resident Hydroplaner, about his 'Swordfish'.



Jim writes:

"I tried out the new batch of L3 motors that I got from Neil over the week end, they seem a lot more powerful than the older ones I have, my little Sword Fish model had a perfect run even if it was about an inch clear of the water".

So perhaps Jim's Swordfish should be in the 'Flying' thread! :lol:

I haven't formally tested any of these latest L-3 motors. Has anybody else tried them out ?

Jim has given a lovely description of what could be called, "The flight of the Swordfish".

"The Swordfish run was very interesting indeed and went something like this:
On the motor firing the first thing I noticed was the model actually pulling under the thrust of the motor, on letting the little beast go, the acceleration was very rapid I thought it was going to be like this for the rest of the run, but after about 40 feet or so the thrust seemed to increase to such a point that the nose lifted and the only thing in the water was the guide fin. It looked stunning :P .

I was lucky on the run as it ended in some surface weed which stopped a pile up on the bank. Sorry I don`t have any video cameras.
These motors seem a lot more power full than some of the older ones and I might try them in models made for either Jetex 100 or PAA Loader.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could have some motors that were equivalent to the 350."


The old L-3 motors at best put out about 3-400 mN for 25-30 sec. The Jetex 350, a real man's motor had a thrust of 3-4 oz (up to say 1000 mN) for 30 sec.

So, yes, such a Rapier would be 'interesting' - the old Hydrojet was designed for tethered running and a 350. Oh that we had a video of it! :whistle:
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