Sport_Pilot

Idon't seem to sell my old stuff, so I don't consider this at all.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I look at the price of parts. OS engines are too expensive to repair, imo. They are, for the most part, disposable engines. Why pay 60% more for a piston and liner set over the going rate for other well made engine parts? And, you would be buying a nickel plated liner for that extra money. I just don't see the value at all.

rcfighterjock

I don't usually jump in on these, but here's my two-cents. Back in the '80s when I started flying R/C, I took someone's (can't remember who now!) advice and bought an O.S. 40 for my very first trainer. Not really knowing about all the pro's and con's, what I noticed over the years was that when I took my "overpriced" O.S. (which by the way, I understand) out to the field, I hit it with a starter and I went flying. All the other club members spent their afternoons fiddling with their K&B/Supertiger/Fox engines needle valves or idle screws or whatever else they could blame for the @%#$&! thing not running right. That's how I've defined overpriced over the years. I've flown exclusively O.S. engines and have zero complaints. But just to prove I'm not one of those "O.S. guys", I've recently converted to all electric so I have some really nice brand new O.S. motors for sale!! Keep 'em Flying, Guys!!

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

You summed it up nicely.

Sport_Pilot

In the 80's OS was not overpriced. When Indy sold off to Horizon and Tower became the sole distribuitor the prices shot up.

I don't spend any more time adjusting my other engines. My TT's and ASP is just the same as OS, but one ASP needs attention. The ones with Perry carbs are touchy and need adjustment frequently, but not difficult to adjust once you learn that the disk only need small tweeking. The Fox's are better than the OS once broken in, even the old carb with the crude looking needles. They just don't need as much needling.

If you are only using OS, you need to get out more. Only their large motors are worth the price.

Sport_Pilot

If you get a motor to last 10 planes then it must be a Fox or Enya, not an OS. Course that depends on how long the plane lasts. 12 flights is my shortest. Others 100's of flights. Some people at the field seem to have a new plane each week, cause they crash one every week.

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

the good news here is bearings are cheap through an industrial bearing house... use-enco.com or mscdirect.com. All you need to do is measure and replace. I just replaced the bearings in a 1965 enya for under 10 bucks with high quality nsk bearings.

badarkstar

My Feedback: (28)

You would really have to know how they treated their motors to give their bearings going bad any kind of validity. I have an OS.25FX that is at least 12 years old with the original bearings in it. It has been in various race and sport planes. At the end of that days flying, i run it out dry in the air, and then it gets loaded up with Marvel Air Tool oil. This keeps the internals, including the bearings from rusting, until it gets run the next time. It is still going strong to this day.
I do not see many that treat their glow motors this way. Most do not even run them dry at the end of the day. bearings go bad very quickly when allowed to rust.

aspeed

Rcfighterjock is right.  If you get a new one and just fly, OS's are great.  They have a small carb, good suction, good carbs, ok performance. Great motor for the masses. So are 'some' of the others.  When you mention K&B and some others, you have to remember that they are a very old design that were very good for their day.  I have K&B's from when they weren't schneurle ported yet and they were considered the best in their day for pylon and other events.  They are still good runners, but the ones with the older Perry carbs are a bit tempermental, and some of the newer carbs are fairly good.  Having said that, they were made and designed in the1970's, and things have progressed.  Even the Supertigers, which are still being made are an older design, including the arguably inferior carb.  They are still a good motor.  I have used multiples of most brands and can't really say any are leaps and bounds better than another, unless price comes into the equation.

earlwb

Although I am not a OS fanboy, I prefer other engines for the most part, I do have some older model OS engines about my home. But I typically always suggest a newbie to model plane flying get a OS engine for their plane, as the OS engines usually give the newbie the best chance at being successful. The other engines may have varying degrees of difficulty that may set the user up for failure unless they have become more experienced with the engines, et cetera. OS seems to have been able to make really good carburetors and many thousands of really good carburetors reliably all the time. Some cheaper brands are lucky if the carb will even let you run the engine much less expect to have the throttle work. But you can pretty much count on OS carbs to work in any case. Thus the new beginner has trhe best chance at being successful with a OS engine. But after they have been flying and are advancing they skills and knowledge they can then branch out to use other engines as thery see fit.

Another thing is OS seems to have figured out to make their engines more user friendly. But also the engines usually don't need a long break in, as nowadays people seem to prefer use it now not later and they don't want to perform a long break in with the engines. So it just makes it good for a beginner of course. Now granted a more experienced flyer who has quite a few years flying will likely go with a brand of engine that uses a longer break in period as that type of engine will last the longest and wear well for a long time. But by then a experienced modeller is past the point where they crash a lot or have problems adjusting a engine to get it to work.So it won't be a problem for them then.

jp1961

Watch somebody tinkering/tweeking/adjusting an engine that's not running "just right" at your flying field, I bet it's NOT an O.S. While I do own engines from Aviastar, Thunder Tiger, Super Tiger (I use my 2300 as a paper weight), like most things in life,,,you get what you pay for.

Jeff

1QwkSport2.5r

For those guys at the field 'tinkering' with getting their Fox, SuperTigre, Enya, or any other engine with a 'finicky' carb running right probably haven't read and understood the instructions on how to set it up in the first place. SuperTigre gets a bad rep because of their carbs. Fact is they are very good carbs, they just need to be set up differently.

I also note a small adjustment goes a lot further than a big adjustment. Some people don't get this concept.

jp1961

Sorry,,,I've read the instructions to a T (multiple times) and could never get my T.T. .75 four stroke to run without
cutting out right at takeoff, cost me two planes. SuperTiger is the same. If the carbs need to be set up differently, than why doesn't the factory set them correctly? Both are useful engines, I use them to hold two pieces of balsa while the glue dries! Model airplane engines are like car brands, some people swear by Chevrolet, while my family had nothing but problems with them,,,there is a reason why they came within a heartbeat of going belly up.

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

NOT SO

fly24-7

Probably because people tend to share information on what they've had experience with. If you have a large amount of the modeling population who run these engines and they perceive to have had a good track record with them, they become evangelists. The same is true for those who've had a great track record with other brands. Soooo, why not just leave it alone and let the poster of the questions decide what advice is worth taking. Last I checked, there's no feature to this site that permits you to hold a gun to someone's head to "help" them make a decision. They can read and digest the feedback and make a decision that's most sensible for them. Don’t get where you’re coming from with this “shoving an OS down their throat� comment.

FWIW, I’m not an OS evangelist. I run glow engines from multiple brands and have had good and bad experiences with all of them somewhere along the line.

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

i drive a f150 ford pick up are ther better trucks out there i think beginners schould go to there local flying field and see what people are useing then get what they want i have tried almost all engines and still come back to OS

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

politely... I don't think the likelyhood you are replacing a piston on an engine that wasn't abused or ran extremely lean in the first 10 years is more than a couple percent. I've never had to do this on any glow engine. I have many engines that are 20 or more years old and I've never had to do this, and I don't know anybody that has either. my perspective on this would be yes its expensive, but you'll likely never have to do this...so...?

mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

btw not trying to start an argument... I don't have any O.S. engines right now....

skyraider71

My AX .55 is Japan made.

oil_can_harry

My Feedback: (2)

I have owned enya's, k&b, evolution, os, magnum, thunder tiger, supertigre, tower hobbies, & royal engines. I think some run better than others, but its all about tuning the engine. When you get the correct fuel/ air ratio, they will all run. I have had dead sticks on every brand, and all of them, not just one particular brand. Every now and then you get an engine that seems to run better than others. I have 5  52 magnums in various planes, and 3 new ones on the shelf,but I built 2 twm la racers in November,both with new magnum 52 engines. One is green and one red and gave the green one to my brother for Christmas. Both had the same servo's battery pack and 11x7 props. We broke them in flying together. After the 3 rd tank of fuel I could slowly pull away while flying side by side. After 6 tanks of fuel, I could just blow by him. The magnum in my plane runs like it on steroids. Of all the magnums I have, this one just runs exceptional. All of the magnums have a blue head in them, but the one that runs great, the head has turned an ugly purple from the heat. I am run all my engines on this rich side and have never had a problem with them running 2-3 clicks rich. After checking both planes after flying and on the ground at idle, I checked them with a heat gun on the head and his plane was actually 3 degrees warmer on the head than mine. So I don't know why one will outrun the other, but it will. You can actually hear the difference in high speed fly by's. my engine is turning more Rpm's than his. We both have sky raider 2 airplanes with 45 supertigre's in them and he can just flat out out run me. Same scenario, just the other way around. I have given away 6 planes in the last year to kids who want to fly.  Some have os, some have evolution, some have supertigre's some have la used la engines I have bought on fleabay and we are still flying them all. I think you need to like what you have, if you don't,  and have problems with it, you can always blame it on the product as being bad.

mike31

My Feedback: (67)

Been using Super Tigre, OS, ASP and Saito. All seem to work very well. One thing I gotta say is the Super Tigres are like a Timex. Take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.

1QwkSport2.5r

If you don't want your "paperweight" SuperTigre, send it to me. I can get it running exactly how it's supposed to.

oil_can_harry

My Feedback: (2)

Send them to me, and i will send you 2 nice wood clamps !!

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I like working on them. I buy used engines some. It happens. Bearings get chewed up. People crash. Enough members say they like working on them too.

Roary m

My Feedback: (67)

I like YS, myself.