Mikel-t

My Feedback: (12)

It seems to me that there are two distinct camps of R/C er's out there. The Glow-Heads and Watt-age boys. I am tempted to go electric simply because of the time lost loading and de-planing and the travel time to the field Vs. running over to many of the open fields nearby to fly. But the thought of flying a FOAMY type plane and learning about volts, amps and lithium-ion-plutonium batteries bores me to sleep. SO, Why doesn't some smart guy invent a quiet glow engine that could be use to power 7lb planes, in a mild breeze rather than a nutron-ium battery!!. There must be a HUGE market out there for this type of park flyer. Just look at all the new AMA members just on the other side of that hill flying around the baseball diamond thinking about that GIANT scale warbird, someday. Well, for my 2cents I 'd tell the engine mfg. guys stop building bigger glow 4cyl stuff and think about the future. Smaller is where it's going and sshhhhhh quieter too!/

Scalebuff

Glow engines caome in all sizes, i have 3 electric planes converted to glow, and toodle about the sky but you still got that nice sound of the engine...

if you want small search for the "baby bee" a 0.49 glow engine or the smaller 0.10 "pee wee"

i found a little somthing here for you to see what im talking about, great little engines i love em ...

not as much as the big 4 strokes though

[link=http://www.airfield2000.com/engines.html]small engines[/link]

rcuffflier

Sorry Rick,
My old .010 is a little high pitched screamer that you can hear about 1/4 mile away from about 150-200 feet up. I think my .020 was quieter just because of the lower pitch.

Once I had it cleaned at the hobby shop and when I got back to pick it up, the guy started it up right in the store to show me how nice it ran. Pretty loud.

Once my son (now 20 months) is old enough, we will probably build a new model for it
and fly it once or twice in an abandoned field to see how we did it back in the old times, and go back to flying electric.

Bill

Grampaw

I once had a GP SlowPoke with a K&B .28 (with muffler) on it. I knew it was quiet but didn't really appreciate how quiet until one day at the field when several guys were out with their large gassies and the noise level was fairly high. My habit on days like that was to take off and climb to get above them then throttle back and orbit at about half throttle until they either ran out of gas or landed from fatigue in looking up. Once they were all down it suddenly got very quiet. With almost a full tank I would then enjoy a clear sky and do my thing. One day while I was the last plane up a guy walked over and asked me if my plane was an electric. I answered him by bringing it down and into a low fly by so he could hear that .28 at full bore...still quiet. Often to see if it was still running I would put it into a climb. If it went up it was still running. Those mufflers were very effective. I hope the new K&Bs are as quiet.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

A friend has a .10FP powered Spirit glider that he's able to fly in parks without a problem. Up at altitude it's not loud enough to be a problem of any sort. I think the key is to use a prop that'll give off less noise, and an effective muffler.

Flyfalcons

I have heard some electrics that made more noise than a 10FP.

Scalebuff

LOL i just love em my old man remembers all these little engines VERRY well (as he keeps telling me about the OLD DAYS

i like putting them in small electric planes it gives them 2x the power in some cases and still being R/C they are a blast to fly with no throtle control

there little hotrods untill the fuel runs out then it time to bring em in FAST

Mikel-t

My Feedback: (12)

Thanks for the heads-up on the engines Rick. I guess I'll just look around for a K&B that Grampaw mentioned and test run it with a muffler. I'm sure I'll find somthing sporty to put it in. More that\n likely I'll have to go to a micro flight pack. Thanks again and I'll check in when I find somthing.

Grampaw

MikelT,
K&B engines are now being manufactured by another company and I had hoped to get an address for you before I started this but came up empty. Maybe another RCU member can provide that info.
As previously mentioned the .28 and the GP SloPoke was a great combo. I made a change in the wing however, by dropping the dihedral of the outboard tips a mite and adding ailerons. That made a fun plane even more fun! At full throttle it moved around like a .40! Slowed down it would putter around all day, and on landing would sneak in and touch down like a feather but under full control. It is an easy kit to build, looks and flies great. That K&B engine just kept getting better and better the more it was flown. What else can I say? I liked it.

Flypaper 2

Another good choice would be the thunder tigre 070. A friend of mine had one and you could hardly hear it at idle, only prop noise. At high speed, still very quiet, good power besides. So impressed I had to go out and buy one.

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

I believe that K&B engines are now sold by MECOA/RJL. They advertise in several magazines with trade-ins etc.

Spaceclam

glow engines aren't going to be quiet. the vibration makes noise, there is reciprocating noise, the noise of the ignition and the noise of the exhaust. the more you quiet it the less power it has, and the harder it is to tune. doesn't exist man. however, the os .91 four stroke is kinda quiet, will power a 7 lb plane (if you don't need unlimited vertical you can use the .78 four stroke, same case) and you can get ultra quiet mufflers for those kinds of things.