Zephirus79

I have seen lots of people here bash OS engines but the pilots that I know of LOVE them. They are reliable, easy to setup, and they are not made in China...

Your thoughts? Considering buying my first one.

Cambo

My Feedback: (2)

They live up to there expectations but are in many cases, more there two strokes than 4 strokes, way over priced.

fireman7875

My Feedback: (7)

I will agree that they are overpriced but every single one I have had has run like a dream. I never found another brand that is so consistent in terms of run quality and user friendliness. I have seen LOTS of reports of the nickel in the liners peeling but I have never encountered this myself. Then again, I don't run my engines lean either. Given the quality of the engines, one has to think that maybe they are worth the price. Do I have other brands of engine? Sure but all my favorites are OS's.

Brian

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

No, they are not overrated. In two stroke engines, they have the best on the market. In four stroke engines, they are on a par with Saito and YS. Probably more trouble free and consistent than either of them.

RVman

Can't agree they are best in market, but the ones i have seen run well, tune easy, power is average, you decide whether price is worth it. I personally prefer the european engine brands for twostrokes.

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

I have an OLD Super Tiger .60 Italian built engine and an even older HP .40. They are both really power house screaming demons and I love them. Which European engines are you referring to? However, I love my OS's.

joesabido

Hold an OS 120-AX on your left hand and a GMS-120 on your right hand. Just LOOK at them.

Only by looking at them, plenty of differences in terms of design, craftmanship, quality and metalurgy will arise.

They are definitively worth more than cheaper engines, how much more? That's where I'm not so sure

Joe

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

I'd consider OS to be the standard against which others are judged. Does that make them the best? Nope, not by a long shot. The worst? Not even close. They're good, reputable engines that serve their owners well. If a person is willing to do a little research and work, a better engine can usually be found for the same price and can certainly be found for more. If you just want an everyday engine that will serve you well, you really can't go wrong with an OS.

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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Your last sentence sums it up for me too. <G>


Ed Cregger

RVman

Webra, mvvs, irvine, norvel, the ST's are good too i have some of the italy and china ones and they are excellent, can't tell the difference from where they are assembled.

digital_trucker

I shall never part with my early '90s HP .61...the thing is a BEAST.

Piet Le Roux

In the past when I rated my OS engines on RCU I gave it a bad rating on “value� because it’s so expensive, but a year or two later I would look at it again and change the value rating to good. You can’t put a price on hassle free flying.

piroflip2

When newbies at my club turn up with none OS in their trainers they may or may not run well.

With OS they always run well and continue to do so.

Another plus (with the four strokes) is the very low fuel usage compared to Saito.

OS are worth the money. When I see guys at my flying club p*****g about with cheap engines trying to get them to run, it just
confirms that you get what you pay for. I have seen brand new cheapo four strokes that would not run at all out of the box because the tappets were a mile out, this would never happen with OS.

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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Cambo, you started with the wrong OS four-stroke. Don't judge the others by your FL-70. If you had put that engine on a model requiring an upright or sidemounted position, your entire opinion of that engine would be completely different. I know how frustrating it was for you. I followed you along throughout your posts. You hung in there like a trooper. I respect that.

The two-needle four-strokes would have been a piece of cake to set up inverted compared to your single needle FL-70. However, even the FL-70 would have been easy if you had broken it in upright on a test bench.


Ed Cregger

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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I have to agree with you JollyPopper. For normal, every day applications, the OS four-strokes are on the top of the heap. I have many Saito (very light) and YS (very powerful) four-strokes, but my OS four-strokes are by far the most reliable sport flying four-stroke engines. Of course, this is just my opinion.

However, for just putting around in classic putting style (floaters), I still love my Enya four-strokes the most. Why? Character! <G>


Ed Cregger

Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Flip, the only time a same sized Saito burns more fuel than any other brand is when the LowSpeed needle is poorly set, I can say this with confidence because I have an OS .52, (2) Saito .56s, and an Enya .53TN. You could not go wrong with any of them.

Sport_Pilot

Nor are the best alternatives, Saito, TT, Webra, Fox, etc. Not saying these are better than OS just better than the Chinese engines.

buzzingb

My Feedback: (2)

They may be good but if you can't afford one what good are they?

Rebeldude

My Feedback: (5)

I have a old Kyosho truck that was given to me. I don't know how old it is but it has an OS Max .10 in it. I pulled it off the shelf yesterday. It has sat up for about 2 years. I sprayed WD 40 in the cylinder and carb to get them to move. They were both froze solid. After some time and TLC, everything managed to move freely. I added some fuel and a glow plug. If started on the second pull. In about 5 minutes I had it set and running smooth. To me that say tons about a product. Good job OS.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

Define "best" and then we'll talk.

They are consistently good quality engines, well designed, user friendly, good carburetion, etc. But there are some examples that have been troublesome, for example peeling nickel liners. On average they are excellent engines, and you can generally be assured you are spending your money wisely.

Their sport line of engines are usually somewhat more expensive than the knock-offs, and in the past you could be assured you were getting a better engine for a bit more money, but these days some of the clones are giving OS a good run for their money in more than just price. I think it is true that many people look at OS like PC buyers used to look at IBM - better get IBM, don't know about those other brands so better play it safe. And using that philosophy with OS engines won't hurt anyone for sure.

Now let's take cost out of the equation and compare an OS46 or 50 to, say, a Sport Jett .50. The Jett is built like the provberbial brick s---house, user friendly, more powerful, superb carburetion, you name it. You get what you pay for. Some folks might argue that is not always the case with OS these days, at least with certain examples.

There are others who will tell you that they consider other brands of engine equal to OS, and they have legitimate reasons to say so.

That said, all the OS engines I own are great engines.

Matthew Allen

This would be roughly my position too. OS makes user-friendly engines that are just a bit more expensive than they ought to be, but at the same time many many people feel they are worth the extra, and there is a reason that OS is the most copied brand on the market.

Matthew

piroflip2

we will have to agree to disagree on that one, I have many saitos and os/fs

all with fully leaned carbs, my s82 drinks juice like water and if you go the the engine forum , most will agree that saitos are thirsty

Sport_Pilot

Most of those brands cost the same or less than OS. Especially TT. No good reason to buy an OS two stroke with TT around. Except for a few special cases.

Sport_Pilot

I can say the same except it was 15 years, and the engines were Fox, K&B, Enya, and HP.

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

Thunder Tiger was the first manufacturer to copy the OS engines, that were the
best in the business at the time....the early Thunder Tiger engines were probably
the worst pieces of junk ever sold on Planet earth.

To this day, I wonder how they got away with it. [X(]

FBD.