WLtoys F949 stock motor's lifetime is about 10 hours.
For my case, it was about 3 months , 20 times of flying. Motor become old and weak, It can't fly anymore.
I wanted longer lifetime of my first RC plane, and found upgrade to brushless motor is the best way.
With many failures, I finally made it.
For Brushless motor wiring, I read CapnBry's post on RCgroups (https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2244563-WLtoys-F949/page56) and followed it.
F949 stock receiver's 3ch port is for brushed motor. (2 pin)
Electric experts might know how to use it, but I don't know how to convert its signal to brushless properly :(
So I used 4ch port (3pin , PWM) of f949 stock receiver, as a main throttle channel, and changed transmitter's left stick direction.
And after I upgraded to brushless motor, the plane become faster and heavier , so front landing gear should be more strong.
I customized with ball pen refiller as main post , it was strong and light.
Motor : 1104 8700kv brushless motor
ESC : XP-7A ESC
Total weight : 58g -> 67g
Minimum cost : about $40
Brushless motor need more electric power, 3.7V 500mah stock battery is not enough to fly long time. Flight time become short. (20min -> 7min)
But with 2 batteries wiring parallelly, flight time is almost 14minutes. I think it's ok.
When goods arrived, box was damaged, pressed and wing curved. :(
But I tried to fix it with my hair dryer, and it can fly very well now :)
Review
- The most attractive point is long flight time. Actually, play time is more than 30 minutes (about 4~5 minutes x 5~6 times flight) , it is very compatible with other drones average 7~9 minutes flight
- Price is cheap. All other RC airplanes are above $150 or kid toys. Best quality at this price ($50~$80 at aliexpress)
- Weak. it often needs parts replacement. For me, propeller broken first flight. (but in box , there was extra propeller, so I didn't buy new parts yet)
- Lift power lacks. Airplane is about 58g. But just a small wind make it can not fly. (even I throw it with my hands, it can fly few seconds just as by motor power)
- FPV is not suitable. Of course, in internet, many people do FPV on F949 (so do I) , but with very just few weight of FPV camera and transmitter (about 15g~20g), F949 power could not fly. I think F949 itself was not designed for FPV... So many various trial customization to install FPV is on going (and it is still interesting).
- Skill needed for flight. Not like drone, airplane should have high speed to fly without stop. And transmission range is just only 200m! So keeping flight needs making it turns and turns roundly. (or it will go somewhere far away)
I bought it 3weeks ago, and from that day I fly it everyday now. (except bad weather)
In internet, there are too many manias and experts to customize F949 (with brushless motor , it had more power and long flight time , and somebody even made flap on it!)
I don't think F949 is just a kid toy, it can be customized and upgraded to more powerful RC airplane (even compatible with $200~$300 RC airplane).
ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) and motor are the most important parts of RC.
(And it's expensive)
As for beginner , we should check it's brushed / brushless.
(image from google)
Brushed motor : shaft is coil and it has brush for electric supply. Magnet is around the coil
Brushless motor : shaft is magnet and coil is around the magnet
Brushed motor for offroad and rock crawling.
Brushless motor for high speed.
I don't know more detail :)
First, I used brushless , and I'm using brushed for now but I can't feel the difference.
But important for beginner :
Brushed motor is 2 lines
Brushless motor is 3 lines
and ESC setting :
1) power on radio controller
2) power on ESC with setting button pressed - it will beep continuously
3) Stop state (do not touch controller) - press setting button - beep 1 time
4) Forward state (pull the trigger) - press setting button - beep 2 times
5) Backward state (push the trigger) - press setting button - beep 3times
6) power off all and power on again - complete