Originally, the PCK drive was installed in the BJ Craft Strato, which first flew in July of 2025. After 71 flights and numerous setup changes, I struggled to achieve flight characteristics to my liking. During the fall of 2025, I acquired a PAP F3A single-prop 2-bld low-KV drive from a buddy and decided to try it in the Strato. The motor swap made an instant improvement. I can only assume the PCK was not a good match for the Strato.
Fast forward to May 2026. I decided to try the PCK again in my contest-proven Hacker C54-powered Anthem. After minor surgery to the nose ring and rear supports, the F3A drive was installed. After only a few trim flights and tweaks to the throttle curve and rudder trim, I was able to fly the P-27 sequence very respectably. Because the PCK is very quiet compared to the Hacker, I was tending to overspeed, causing the Anthem to seem unsettled in horizontal and vertical uplines. The PCK 4-bld is even quieter than the 2-bld F3A drive. RC pilots rely on visual ground speed vs knowing actual airspeed. Adjusting to the lack of sound and focusing on a lower ground speed made the plane lock and return to the flight traits I was accustomed to with the Anthem. Overall, the PCK is a good power system match for the Anthem.
I’ve proven to myself that single-prop systems continue to be competitive in AMA Masters, to the ever-so-popular Contra power drives. I’ll continue to learn and improve utilization of the PAP F3A and PCK drive drives in the Strato and Anthem. Will post performance reviews on the PAP F3A and PCK drives soon.
Time to move on to the next projects involving Contra Drives mounted and ready to go in an Angel's Shadow V20 and Aurora biplanes.
Anthem with PCK Drive
