ok so i have used the 102 wing in the beginning and that thing will get you on foil with almost 0 effort its just massive and too MUCH loft for wave foiling as you cant get rid of the extra lift the wave gives you… it too big IMO
The 82 ( 2 sizes down ) is a much better fit for IMO for 1-4 foot swell wave riding. The wing has heaps of lift and its small enough to have good control and turn ability on waves. I have been in 6 foot swell and there was so much power in those waves that an even smaller wing is needed.
i did test this even smaller wing once ( friends wing ) : 900mm HA Carbon Front Wing - AXIS Foils and whilst you did need more power to get up and foil it was even more responsive and at higher speeds say 25 km + used less power.
at the end of the day i chose Axis as they have interchangeable foils and that allows me to choose the wing for the type of foiling i want to do… there is no such thing as a prefect wing for everything.
look DIY and building it yourself is super fun and can eventually be satisfying when you get it to all work and i did make 3 outrunner DIY systems myself but with 2 kids and lack of time these days i just wanted to spend more time above the water and less time trying to foil. im am for that reason very grateful FR spend the time to custom build me a Axis mast version.
For surf i use 6s only but with the 7" FR prop. The 6" prop works but its under powered on 6s. That allows me to use a simple and cheap hobby king 6s boat ESC with built in ESC and its super simple. It just worked first try and i haven’t changed it since. 6S limit the power on tap a makes the throttle management on a wave much easier. BUT you have to use HV lipo batteries that can hold their voltage under load to make 6S work. these tatto cells can hold 4 volts for a long time under load. 18650’s would not work in this case as they have such poor voltage sag. ( i have tested this)
i also have a smaller old FR 5" board that i have built up. This will be my 2nd surf setup but i have built a bigger 54 Ah 8s pack from 18650’s for a longer 1.5 hr ride time. This pack will have higher V under load / more power but as it gets towards the end of its capacity its voltage will drop to a similar level that my 6s tattoo dose at the end of its run time so the 8s was necessary.
Yes I noticed at the end of a 18650 ( voltage sag) I need all my 12s8p for rpm and power, so like lipo at wait 5min , and a have 5min more of slow flight … , 8s ( bigger) of 18650 is enough to still have fun ? ( running 7 pitch as well )
In the surf where power and high speed in no way as important as flat water lake foiling would be. I find flat water foiling a bit dull and if I had to do it I would want 10s or more. BUT. I foil surf and that is way more fun and provided you have enough power to pop out of the water and put run waves if needed then yes it very fun.
I did try foiling in the surf with 10 and 12s the throttle management was just why too difficult. When you catch a wave there is so much energy boosting your lift and speed that the throttle mismanagement from a simple flick of your finger could launch you out of the water to easily.
If found 6S so much more manageable and I never wanted for more power. Lower voltage increases your throttle Resolution as each individual percentage for throttle accounts for a much smaller power output.
this is great info. Thanks. I’ll look into the axis foil.
What does your set up weigh…25kg? I have a smaller wing(66cm) and a 5" pitch yamaha prop cut back to 140mm. Sounds like I need a larger wing and higher pitch prop…maybe even 150mm or bigger.
I’m using the maytech motor and its not enough power …or I need to change these other things. I have a FR prop coming so that should help.
i would recommend Axis as its very modular and you have many wing / mast choices. the 75 cm mast is what i use anything smaller would be too short once you loose the height of the motor / duct you can only fly say 50cm above the water before you breach the prop and duct and it drags you back into the water.
weight for FR stuff 5.1 kg.
about 5-6 kg depending on my battery choice / boxes and foiling system is about 10-11 kg.
i cant comment on your maytech setup as i have no experience with it. what i can say is that i have worked with brushless motors my whole life both in RC and for work. The FR motor did and still dose shock me with how much torque it has for an in runner and how linear the amps increase with throttle. I’m not sure how he has made it so powerful but it must all come down to just very well matched KV / poles and really good quality hardware working together to meet a sweet spot + the lack of drag in the water being an in runner where as out runner has massive losses when rotating in a liquid.
the total lack of maintenance needed is also a big + for me as the triple seal system so far has no leaked once.
The FR prop you have coming is a good prop BUT it may or may not help if your motor setup / voltage is wrong for that size prop. its a balancing act.
Hi rcjetman,
Im reading the whole time your posts . They are very interesting. I think, FR makes very good stuff, you said it often too. If I order a setup from FR, what would you recommend? I dont know, which foils FR sells. Are these Gong foils?
Gobbla would recommend the SUP Foil gong allvator 65 L - SUP - 2018
Is it a way, to order the whole setup with a gong mast , and if FR cant deliver the allvator I can buy it somewhere else.
Next part: I want to go in the waves too, but I also want to go fast on flat water. You think, 6s are enough with Trampa 6VESC 6+ ? Or would you recommend the 75/300?
I think this will help you and others work out what direction to go in and get more understanding of the FR setup. Somthing I would have loved to have when I was looking at the FR product when such little info was available.
Also I will upload a video i did of the board on 6s with FR motor and prop. I have some basic amp and speed data as well for those who asked for it. Stand by
Thats super. I'm looking forward to it. It is realy complicated, when you are not involved in rc and electronic. There are so many things, I dont know…
And it is too expensive to fail .
So it is better to copy, than to try a new one without knowlege.
But there is one ting, I know right now. It would be the smaller board…
This video is for those who want to see if 6s can work with minimal hardware, modest cost and almost NO DIY work needed.
Also to put a stop to a few people who question if 6s can even be done.
Disclaimer : I am NOT sponsored or receive anything from FR for any of this its just me trying to give back to the community. + it would seem FR is way to busy making stuff to do anything like this and it’s a shame because its a good yet somewhat unknown product, but unless people post info like this I think a lot of people who are afraid of DIY or don’t have the time could be missing out on a good short cut into e-foiling through the FR product. If it helps just 1 person then that’s good.
This is a link to a video of my big SUP foiling around on small single 6s 12Ah lipo battery with FR motor and 7” prop. I used such a small battery to highlight even with the absolute minimum in setup you can foil on 6s.
Had GPS data from my phone I saw an average moving speed of 17 kmph what I would call cruse speed to get around with maximum efficiency. Max speed was 24 kmph but with a bigger battery I would normal use it’s more like 25-26km. (plenty of speed range for surfing )
I had a go pro setup in the box filming the amp meter as this esc has no logger but as Murphy’s law would have it the amp meter fell down shortly after i got up on the foil…… massive fail. But I did get some video before it fell down.
To foil on the 82 wing is about 49 amps at a curse speed. As this is a small single 12 ah pack amps will be up a bit as the amp load is higher = lover voltage retention VS a larger 44 Ah pack.
On the larger 102 wing its only 40 amps to foil but its slower speed.
