MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I know that there are a bunch of guys who bought a 40LA when they were starting out and now it's collecting dust. My son recently got a Nitroplanes Ultimate 40 to review that we were planning to put an Evolution 46 in, but when it arrived, the plane was so small that we were afraid a good 46 would rip the wings off it. So knowing how many people have 40LAs sitting around, we thought we'd slap one of those in it.

Well, it turned out to be a great combo!

So if you're wondering what to do with that old 40LA, have a look at this review:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=766

foresterxt

My Feedback: (35)

Also, take a look at the Tower Uproar Arf. I had a .46la sitting around that I stuck it in one and was amazed. Weighed in at just under 4lbs ready to fly and flew like crazy, plenty'o vertical. Perfect choice for an LA.

Regards,

Dave

stallspeed

Hey foresterxt you are right about that Up-roar arf! I got one when they first came out, with the sale price and other discount it was practically free. Its a good quality and great flyer. Also the OS 40 la is a good little engine, does well with a 11-5 prop. For all the folks who have one of these engines sitting around build a Sig LT-25 and put it in that. A top quality lazer kit that is a joy to build, even a caveman could build it. After flying your high performance planes its fun to do touch and go's with this plane. Have fun!

opjose

Re: Ultimate 40S.

I find the Ultimate 40S "just right" with a .46 AX or a TH .46.

I tried it with the .46 LA and found it ok, but still preferred the AX's greater power.

I would imagine that the .40 LA would be far too anemic though.

The .46LA is about the equivalent of the O.S. .32 FX, which would put the .40 say around a .25 FX?

Ouch... not optimal for this plane.

mancha

I flew with my LA40 for 4 yrs. in a salty dry lake in south baja, now a days it is at the end of my fishing line!! it was an excellent engine and out last 2 FX46. it always used a 10x6, for a while, when the first FX46 passed away, it was at the nose of a dazzler, then in it`s elder times flew a Buzzart Bomb Shell 3 channels, then it went back to the dazzler nose and died.

Romantic but not good for your ultimate.

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

First you get a bobber and a fishing hook...<G>

Just kidding.

All you newbies - never buy a .40 anything. Save yourself money and grief later on and buy as big an engine as you can that will fit in the forty sized trainer that you are considering. Plain bearings, ball bearings, it doesn't matter, but there is no replacement for displacement. Buy at least a .45 for your trainer.

One fellow pretty much wrapped up my opinion of the OS .40 LA in this one statement, "The OS .40 LA is the best .25 I've ever owned".

All kidding aside, these are good solid engines, but they can be difficult to put to further use after flying your trainer for a while. What puzzles me is why the engine companies bother making a .40, a .46 and some go on to make a .50, .52, .53 and a .58 in essentially the same size crankcases. It would make more sense to start out making these engines as large as you can and then forgetting the smaller iterations. By making just the one size, they could sell the large engine for the same price as the smallest one they would normally make. The end user would have a better, more usable engine for a larger variety of airplanes, etc. But of course, we know that "they" don't want you to reuse your old engine, but instead want you to "move up" in size and sophistication.

When it comes to .40 size engines that share a similar mounting dimension format to larger engines, follow Nancy Reagan's lead and "Just say no".

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I agree that this is not the strongest engine in the world, but my point in starting this thread was:

There are a LOT of people who already HAVE a 40LA and now they can't find a use for it.

If you are in this position, the little Bipe I mentioned is a GREAT place to use it

opjose

The Model Tech Extra 300 is a great home for both the .40LA and the .46LA.

I ended up putting my .46LA in the Model Tech 300.

Even though it calls for no more than a .32 sized engine, the size and weight of the .46LA is identical to the .32 O.S. engine.


Most .32 sized planes should be able to accept the LA's.

edh13

My Feedback: (9)

I've been a fan of .40la's for a long time. They are small and light for a forty. They have a little more power and much more torque than a .25fx. Best part is you get O.S. quality for 50 bucks. They are perfect for a .25 size plane especially if it's a little tail heavy.

mancha

Well , a 46 FX does not put up with the punishment a 40LA does.-

I never lost a cooling fin on my LA40 !!

I did on FX46s !!

I never chaged a carburator on the LA40 but did on the FX46 !!

When you are at that level the bushed engine make sence, it is robust !!
.... and you always can take it to your other hobby.... fishing !!!

rcfan450

OPJOSE,
I know you posted 2 or 3 years ago on this forum (so I'm not sure if you even check this anymore), but I was curious if you could tell me more about how your LA46 worked out in the Model Tech Extra 300? I actually just finished building that exact combination and was wondering if there is anything important I need to know before flying it. It seems like it should be pretty quick. Have you ever clocked yours or do you have an idea of how fast it'll go? The balancing worked out almost perfect and I'm excited to get it in the air.

opjose

After MANY flights the triangle stock holding the motor mount to the firewall came loose. Of course I am just a BIT hard on this plane... heh...

Fortunately the design is such that the airplane continued to fly this way and I only noticed it as I was putting the plane away for the day.

A little epoxy and it was airworthy again. Consider going over the motor mount area with CA and then putting more expoxy over after the CA has dried.

My little Model Tech has hundreds of flights on it now and still going very strong. The only deadstick I've had with it was because I was having too much fun and forgot to bring it down once the timer went off.

I've never clocked the speed of the plane but it is indeed very quick.

The worst thing about this plane is that the wheels are fairly small for grass takeoffs/landings, so if you'll be flying/landing from grass, change out the wheels. I punctured the wings and ripped out the gear once during a grass landing. Again this was an easy fix and the plane still looks like new.

It lands more slowly than you would expect, and given the engine combo you are using, you may find yourself coming in too hot.

Don't be afraid to let it slow down for landings. Once you are used to it's glide slope angle you'll be greasing them all in.

Other than that, you'll have a blast with this plane. It's a keeper.

rcfan450

OPJOSE,

Thanks for the relpy man! I'm glad you still check this. While I was assembling the plane I thought that the motor mount area looked pretty weak like you say, so I did put quite a bit of epoxy in that area. I do fly off the grass so I put on better landing gear as well. So it sounds like I'm on the right track to start off with. I'm glad to hear that this plane will slow down for me because that was a concern I had too. Thanks for your response! Here's a picture of my plane.

opjose

Did your plane come with the cowl like that or is this something you did?

Mine came with an oversized plastic cowl and no stripes on it.


If you go with larger wheels you will not be using the wheel pants. Are yours plastic ( mine are ) ?

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

---------------


The LA .40 and .46 are terrific engines. And I understand the OP's point about already having one and putting it to good use. Yes, it will comfortably fit into and power most .25 - .32 models and provide a pleasurable experience while doing it.

What do I think of the LA engines? I now have six or so NIB LA engines of various sizes. Don't tell anyone, but these engines make terrific Diesel conversions too when using a Davis Diesel conversion head (Hi Bob!).


Ed Cregger

rcfan450

Mine came with a painted red fiberglass cowl, no stipres, very crappy fit, but it works. I thought it looked retarded with no stripes on it to match the plane so yes, I painted those stripes on there myself. And if I must say so myself - Dang they look good!!

It may not seem like it from the picture, but the wheels I put on there are actually 2.75" wheels. They're quite a bit larger than the tiny ones that the plane came with so obviously the wheel pants are not going to fit. I bet the stock ones are only 1.25" or so - they're little suckers for sure. The landing gear I put on actually came off of one of my Hanger 9 Twist 40's. I've had two of those planes and I demolished one [X(], hence the extra landing gear for this plane! Ya, my wheel pants were also plastic. I figured they wouldn't last one flight while taking off/landing on the grass. I do fly on asphalt sometimes but figured I'd be upgrading to different gear anyways.

So I'm happy to hear that this plane will slow down for me. I've had that engine in a trainer type plane before and it will idle rediculously slow (great engine!) - but that doesn't necessarily mean the plane it's in will go rediculously slow. So I'm glad to hear this is a good little plane.

Anyways, I'll let you know how the first flight goes if I can get some good weather to try it out. Thanks for your comments and help.

rcfan450

I forgot to ask, what prop are you using with your LA46 in the good ol Model Tech Extra 300? I have used a 10x8 with this engine in the other plane it was in, just curious if I should stick with that same prop or try to slow it down a little.

opjose

I'm running a 10x7.

A 10x8 may be a bit much, but try it out.

Even the 10x7 is more than the engine should have, but because of the light plane it's pulling around, the prop unloads enough that it doesn't bog down the engine.

Pecanpatch

All I ever saw was people cussing these engines at our local flying field. I had a FP .40 and I gave it away. I never looked back to sleeved engines.

rcluver

I have two LA 40's, they reside in a Twinstar, they are all I could ask for. Easy starting and dependible. A little more thirsty than a .25 so flight times with the Twinstar are a little short, but abolutely no problems flying the plane if one of them should go cold.

NoFlaps

My Feedback: (131)

I put my 40LA in a .25 size fun flyer and converted it from a slow fly poke, to a do anything airplane.
I liked it soo much, I did it 2x to 2 planes! [8D]

TCrafty

NoFlaps, they look great!

I've got a Lazy Tiger as well with a 40 and then a 46LA. I'm even thinking of putting one in a T-Craft.

opjose

The LA's are dependable flyers.

The bleed valve works backward from what most people are used to, and frequently does not let you lean the engine out enough.

I had to open the bleed hole on mine a little with a small drill bit to get it to a suitable range, but it still runs a tad too rich.

That said, if you don't know how to tune them I can imagine that people would curse them.

However if you are aware how, they work great, especially considering the price.

The LA .46 is a great and dependable .32 engine!

rcfan450

Agreed! My LA46 is the most dependable engine I own by a long shot. I've had two dead sticks on it - my first two flights before I realized my low end was actually too lean. Once I figued that out, it has never failed me. It has great response and will idle rediculously low for as long as it has gas. I trust this engine with the same amount of trust I put in my electric converted Twist 40.

Delta3

The 40la will pull a Black Horse twister around ok, is only rated for 25 / 32 and is a light plane, is also able to be thrown around the sky pretty well, nice plane, relatively cheap and a bright yellow color that is visible in the sky.