trevormatney

Hello all! I'm wondering if anyone can reccommend the Tower hobbies .46 glow engine? The power output looks immpressive, as does the price. I just want to see if I should try one out. Thanks in advance for your replies.
Trevor

Villa

I and a friend tried two 46 engines each and found them to be junk. Never again. Now I only use OS engines.

G.Barber

My Feedback: (1)

I have quite the opposite opinion! My Tower .46 ran like a top, and never let me down. I never had a deadstick, and it always started very easy. Mine was side-mounted in a Great PLanes 40 sized F-4U Corsair with a Pitts muffler, and it sounded great too!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I'm with Geoff. I've had several students that purchased the Tower Trainer RTF package that came with the Tower 46 on it. In all the cases the engines fired up easily and ran like a top for them. Never had any issues at all with these engines on their trainers.

Ken

Villa

We purchased our engines from Tower Hobbies about 4-5 years ago.

ChuckW

I had one and couldn't wait to get rid of it. I've seen others have mixed luck. Some are outstanding, others are not. I think it is basically a good engine but their might or may have been some quality control issues.

If you want to try it though, I say go for it. It might work great for you. If you aren't happy or there is a problem, Tower is very good about supporting their stuff so you likely won't be stuck with a bad engine. Unfortunately I bought mine NIB from an individual, not tower. Basically it could be considered used even though it never was ran. I couldn't return or exchange like I could of if I had bought it from Tower.

Wingspam

I have 4 of the Tower 46's on 2 different twins and they ran great for a couple of years. Now they sit in a drawer because I cannot get them to stay running more than a min or 2 ...

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

I just use the OS 46 AX's they survive the high speed meetings with the dirt better............

kristj179

just my opinion i have to agree with rc ken. i purchased the tower trainer 40 the tower .46 was included with the plane i think its a good engine .never had a problem i think its a good choice.

trevormatney

Thanks for your opinions! I believe I will give one a try. Crossing my fingers. Thanks again!
Trevor

sebo

I have a new tower .46 and it is great.

thedeeman

The newer ones seem to work pretty good. And you can't beat the price. Older ones were mixed, some where screemers and others dud. Some guys could buy 2 of them and each woudl work differently. It still seems to be the engine of choice at my club for high speed pylon racing using an unrestricted tower .40 size exhaust pipe.

jimmyjames213

My Feedback: (2)

yes they work great, the thing is they need a good gallon or more to break in. i work with one off of a tower trainer (the rtf) and it runs well once it heats up (im an instructor so i train noobs all the time). if you dont let it warm up it will not run below half throttle due to the fact the engine is so tight. this will go away as the engine breaks in but dont expect it to run great out of the box cause it wont. after a few tanks it gets better and after a gallon or more its great

IFR Pilot

3 words. Ebay and O.S.

sebo

I don't even have to warm it up....maybe you are flying in colder temperatures than I am........our highs this winter are in the mid 40's to mid 50's....it are cold out there.

shaggy48

I've had the tower .46 going two years now a trainer 40. Runs great. Starts up every time and has taken a lot of abuse without failing. Its not the best out there but great for a beginner or old timer getting back into it. It is also reasonably priced. I seriously doubt you'll have any trouble with it if you decide to go that route. My vote is go for it and have fun.

mclina

You might also want to take a look at the GMS-47. It's even cheaper than the Tower .46. I have had one for about a year, and it's been very easy to start and tune.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

We have the same type of problem over in the 1/2A forum with the AP Wasp .061, because of electrics, theres not much left in the way of new small engines to choose from...the wasp is either sworn at or sworn by,,it is a knock off of the Norvel which was a great engine that went under....generally in a small engine it takes about 3 tanks (1-2oz tanks) to break them in..the wasp seems to take quite a bit more, plus you need to remove the back plate and check for machine shavings before you crank it.....Rog

oldtyme

Villa,

I agree with you.......I had a Tower 46, flew it about 5 times and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Replaced it with an OS46FX and never looked back. Luckily I still had the plane to mount the OS in.

opjose

Yup. That's the key.

Keep the head temperature down during break in, and don't try to tweak every last RPM out of the engine.

It wil then be very reliable. They are also real power houses.

As mentioned, the GMS engines are almost identical and many of the parts are interchangeable with the Tower's.

Both are made in the same place it seems.

blueapplepaste

My Feedback: (5)

When I first got into the hobby in '95, I got the tower trainer with their .40 engine they sold at the time. It was total junk. Never ran reliably or started reliably. Just a giant headache. The only good thing is that I got to be a pro at dead stick landings because of that engine.

I realize that was 15 years ago, but ever since then I've never felt comfortable spending my money on a Tower engine. Thunder tiger FTW!

Eganwp

My Feedback: (1)

Check out the thread I started here. Lots of info posted as most of it applies to the GMS .47 as well (other than Tower's not have a misaligned fuel inlet from what I've heard).

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9429910/tm.htm]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9429910/tm.htm[/link]

I just finished breaking in a new GMS .47 and so far I'm very impressed. Do know that i fully seal all my engines however. I'm going to do some rpm testing after modding the sleeve and timing soon as well.

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

I have to give the Tower Hobbies .46 two thumbs up. I bought mine in the late nineties and I was just about ready to throw it in the trash until all of a sudden, like someone flipped a switch, it just started to scream. Has run perfectly since and is a real powerhouse. I do understand, however, that it is a crap shoot. Some of them, according to their owners, never seem to run right. Maybe they need to plug it in to a gallon of fuel and just let it scream until it either quits or runs well.

biam

I have had a tower .46 in three different planes since 2003, it has been thoroughly abused, including trying to split an oak tree in two at full throttle.[:@] It still runs great.

ramboy

The Tower 46 that came with my Tower Trainer RTF runs great. And it starts easier than an OS.