I would say that if Paul can program a “Gas Mode” in addition to the “Sport” and “Chill” that we already have…and the “Newbie” orders the lighter battery…that the SP140 would be fine for a beginner…otherwise, it can be a real beast. Thinking back to my training, it would have been a good machine for me with a Gas mode and lighter battery.
Bill
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I guess “gas mode” would pretty much just be a slight time delay between throttle adjustment and actual RPM change, with some reasonable cap to maximum acceleration?
Why do you think “Gas Mode” would be better for newbie’s than “chill” mode? I figured chill mode was designed for newbies. Maybe I’m wrong. I have to admit, I don’t do well with a lot of weight on my back. Is the SP140 with the one hour battery pack really heavy for a newbie? I’m not sure what it weighs in at. I’m considering bolting the SP140 to a trike to eliminate the weight problem.
In “chill” mode the torque is still more noticable than on my Tornado 280. “Gas Mode” that Paul told me about is a very good idea. I for one am looking forward to it.
Bill
A usable “Gas mode” would attempt to reserve power for that late flight go around. It would need to even out the available power throughout the flight. Essentially limit full power with a fresh battery to that which is available near the end of the charge. I think “chill” mode does this. I wouldn’t call it “gas mode” though. “Economy”? “Range”?
Greg,
I think the object of “gas mode” is to add the slight “spin-up” delay that we have on our gas paramotors. This helps manage torque and helps make take- offs smoother. He may be thinking of doing other adjustments to the curve too…but I don’t know. You will have to ask him. I’m just excited about the spin-up delay adjustment.
Bill
This is the part that I struggle with. We certainly can reduce the max throttle even further than chill mode but we really need is an easy way to limit “power” aka watts. Limiting the PWM signal output still causes inconsistencies from the beginning of the flight when you’re at 100v vs the end when you’re down to 60v. At 80% throttle even in chill mode that might be 15kw for your initial takeoff but voltage drop + sag means you only have half that at the end for a go around.
Ideally these power modes are something that the ESC would handle internally but without full control of the ESC firmware we are a bit limited.
Make the throttle less responsive (more mushy) is thankfully pretty easy 
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Like a soft start on a power tool. Several advantages. Easier on the pilot and the driveline hardware. Easier on the battery too probably.
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You all have no idea how ludicrously fast the sp140 could spin up without any throttle response delay…
It’s straight up insane.
Probably fast enough to break things.
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After seeing the motor response time it for myself without the propeller, I would not be surprised if it could shear the motor mounts clean off the frame or the propeller into multiple pieces. Even with the throttle input spread over 1.25 seconds, the throttle response with a propeller is still so fast that it’s borderline dangerous for a foot launch PPG.
realy? what kind, brand of esc?
It was an APD esc coupled with the MAD M50 40kv motor.
OK. then of course I understand.
I could be totally wrong. You know a lot more than I do, but the throttle response I was seeing from 100-2700 rpm with a heavy 4 bladed propeller was borderline scaring me and that was with the throttle response smoothed over 1.25 seconds. What I found fascinating is that with the throttle response limit on that motor, the spin-up time with and without a propeller was nearly identical. It’s as if the motor wasn’t even trying.
Additionally I was seeing a comparable throttle response time from the much smaller and less powerful MAD M40 and a comparable propeller, so I know the M50 is capable of a lot faster without any throttle response limit, but I may be mistaken on how much faster the spin-up can be.
Definitely YES for a “Gas Mode” and less punch during takeoff or sneezing in flight😆 From an instructor’s point of view, the less immediate thrust availability in the hand of a newbie the better.
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mechanically if you had a progressive spring could provide better control.
That’s exactly what is perfect about EPPG. As a manufacturer, DIY, you set the acceleration ramp exactly as the pilot would like. If you want to fly exact fooddrags, set it for 1.5 seconds. for classic eppg ideal 2.5-3 sec. powerful power trike 3.5-4.5 sec. esc from the industrial sector almost always have a protective function. that is, the designer of the eppg would only set the ESC for 0.5 seconds. The propeller still accelerates in the range of 1.2 - 1.5 seconds because the physics cannot do otherwise because of the load. because where should the extreme performance that would otherwise be needed come from? the esc cannot be overloaded, so it interrupts immediately if the phase current increases extremely excessively when it starts up. Basically, every project is started with a long delay and the time is gradually reduced if necessary while observing the currents in real-time telemetry.
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