Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Tower engines are garbage.

jsilvers

My Feedback: (219)

GMS engines used to be distributed by www.mecoa.com. They still sell K&B and Mecoa, but don't list GMS any more.
I'm guessing they discontinued the GMS line.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

The Tower .46 I watched at a club field a few weeks ago sounded and acted like an anemic piece of junk. But I was flying a Sport Jett 50 from the pit next to him, so maybe my point of reference was a little jaded..

MJD

Mike06659

I received my Tower 46 about a week ago. I just took it off my airplane and packaged it back up to go back to Tower. It was junk! I played with it for a couple of days and said to myself "no way." For you new guys I have tried to save a few bucks myself but you will learn in this hobby "YOU CAN"T AFFORD CHEAP" It's not worth the risk of a deadstick an loosing your plane. I have an OS55 on the way so I can actually fly and not have to work on my engine all day at the field.

Just my thoughts,
Mike

mclina

I bought my GMS-47 from Advantage Hobby. They are like $69 with free shipping, and if you are a new customer, you get 10% off. I think I paid about $63 delivered. I went with the front needle valve just to keep things simple.

I am really impressed with this engine. It's a powerhouse, and I love the sound it makes.

Good luck

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Okay, I've got to call you out on this one. How can it be "just Marketing crap?" So they can make money by selling nothing? So they can raise the price when it becomes available again? This is a very good engine that has always been priced cheap, and is probably a good seller. To call a shortage where they are losing sales and money a marketing decision doesn't make a bit of sense.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Perhaps I'd think differently if I ever saw a Tower engine than ran ok after one season, but I haven't. They are junk, pure and simple, and money spent on them is wasted. I don't understand RCers who will spend $150 on a nice ARF, another $150 on radio gear, and then justify to themselves that it is ok to risk all that on a difference of $45 between a quality engine and a junk one. I'm baffled.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

A friend had a Tower .46
We tweaked and adjusted the carb until we were ready to junk it...but I remembered he had a crashed TT .46 so I swapped the TT carb onto the Tower .46 and it runs great. ( I had to turn down the neck on the TT carb a few thou. to get it to fit though )

I've seen a couple of GMS .47's and they both seemed to run quite well.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Great point Bob! I have never owned a Tower engine after reading this thread one is not on my list! I did go to a GMS when I needed a engine for a cheap plane that bought on ebay to use for a Sunday flyer. But what I soon learned that they was easy to set up ran great and with good power! On the 40 to 60 size they have become a favorit! Not had to rebuild one yet but the parts are so much cheaper then the OS, But I do like my OS also and use the bigger OS to power the bigger stuff, Magnum I just got one so will see how that turns out!



Remember it is easier to ask for forgiveness then for permission!

Stamey

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks guys for the info on sealing I just got a good deal on a tower 46 and will give it a try and see what all I can do with it. After the research I have done on the gms and tower, I feel I can get the tower to run just fine. I have never had any issues with the gms and carb so have good hopes. The guys I fly with are miracle workers with engine issues so should be ok. Will try the seal method with it and let you know. Thanks!

Eganwp

My Feedback: (1)

Lol, way to throw a big wrench in my engine decision making asmund and Ed! haha. The ASP .52 XLS was actually my first choice because of it's extremely cheap price! $50 from China!!! The only problem was, I couldn't find much info on it and the few reviews I did find seemed unimpressionable. In a lot of reviews people were saying that it has a very rich bog mid range, indicating a bore size too large for the crank case. I'm not sure if this theory is entirely true or not, as I don't have enough experience with these engines to be able to agree/disagree with that statement. Maybe someone with more experience on these .52's engines can comment on that. Only reason I beg to differ is if you look at an engine like my OS 55ax which is a much larger bore in the .46 casing, it's midrange is perfect. I've never owned an ASP, nor many of the other brands to know the answer.

In my reading I did find that some versions of the .52 ASP's are real power houses though, and I too don't doubt that it would smoke a GMS .47 from some of the numbers I've seen. Problem is, I just don't have enough info to go off to know if it'll run on low-0% nitro, if the mid range is infact poor and unfixable w/ the current carb, and the engines reliability/longevity as a whole. The price sure is cheap, so maybe my next order to China I'll toss one in just play with and find out.

Anyway, I think for now I'll pick up a GMS .47 and a Tower .75 whenever they come in stock at tower. Down the road if I need another .46 size engine I think I'll try an ASP .52 just because of the price.

Lots of good info everyone's posting on this thread! I can't wait to grab a .47! Keep the information coming!

Mike06659

Save time and money "GO OS" and enjoy flying all day

Sport_Pilot

All of the Tower engines I have seen have been good. Some have had leakage problems around the carb. But there are OS engines with similar problems. Now a Jett is better than an OS or Tower. But to say an OS is better than a Tower engines is a bit of a close call. I recall the Tower .60 has very good reviews, and everybody seems to like the Tower .75. I have heard good stories about the .46 as well. If you really wanted good quality and willing to spend money by a Jett, Rossi, or Webra. OS is just middle of the road. Great for ease of use and fast break in and few inital flaws, but bad on longivity.

Sport_Pilot

I have seen them run for years, heve seen OS with pealed liners and rusted bearings in just one season.

fly24-7

I know this response is not directly to the Tower vs. GMS, but if your looking for a good value in the the 46-55 range, you should look at the Evolution engines. I have two planes with their 46 engines and after three seasons, they're still running great. No fuss and they start without a problem. They're happy with 10-15% Omega fuel. Sells for $119. Their 52 sells for $129.

Stamey

My Feedback: (1)

For my two cents, the OS are great for some, but others they can have issues too. I know this is taboo, but I personally will never fly an OS again. For me and the planes I fly, they are un-reliable and hard to tune. When I can get them to run, they are decent, but most give me a headache. As for the evolution, I think they depend greatly on what altitude your field is at. My friend bought a RTF with one on it, he could not get it to tune at all. He finally swapped it with an OS then a GMS and has no troubles since. Our field is in Montana though, near 5000 feet MSL, so engines operate a lot differently up here. Altitude, humidity, and air temp play a huge role in engines, even the big boys. This should always be considered first with reviews...

Eganwp

My Feedback: (1)

As I said in my initial post, I don't want someone to recommend me going with an OS instead as that's not the point of the thead.... lol. It's bound to be brought up, and that's cool, but I wanted to solely have more info into the less common cheaper brands. I know OS engines run well, are easy to work with and reliable, but when you consider their price, their replacement parts cost, and their mediocre performance, there are so many engines above OS with regards to bang per buck in this regard. I agree, for those who aren't engine fiddler's and just want to fly, by all means go OS. I love the engines in general. I absolutely love my OS 55ax. But to consider I can have 2 GMS .47's or 3 ASP .52's for the same price, which allow me to tinker with, have much higher performance, with $30 piston/sleeve replacments, and are so cheap you don't have to care about, it's a no brainer.

If I really wanted performance I'd go Jett no doubt, but that's just not me at this point. I like to buy things cheap, mess with them and get them to outperform or at least get near performance of the guys who spend $$$. It's the same with computers. I've been a hardware overclocker since I was 8 yrs old. I run water cooling on my main gaming rig currently, and test and build different cooling solutions (phase change and peltier cooling) for fun. My next project is working on a liquid nitrogen setup. Why? Because I love to tinker. I can buy a $100 processor like I usually do, slam rediculous voltage through it; crank the FSB & multi and get them to run in the 4-5+GHz range which will absolutely obliterate any $1500 processor in any benchmark. I volt mod every single graphics card and motherboard I buy as well. Like anything, this isn't for everyone, just those who like to mess around. The same theory applies to engines and RC in general. Some like to spend as little time as possible messing around and spend all the time flying, and some like to do as much as they can to mod everything in sight; some even like to build/scratch build planes more than flying. Everyone's different, and that's life.

estradajae

Amen Hermano!!

Sport_Pilot

You might try Fox. They will sell anything for 50% of the price listed on their website if you have an old worn out engine somewhere. Not sure if that engine has to be a Fox or not. And 40% off without the trade. Lots of used ones out there. They last forever but LOL take just about as long to break in. The ABC Fox's are an exception to that rule though, they break in quickly as any other ABC engine does.

texasclouds

have you considered the magnum .46?

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/210756.asp



Specifications:

[*]Bore: 22mm[*]Stroke: 19.6mm[*]Displacement: 7.45cc[*]Practical RPM: 2,000 - 17,500[*]Weight (w/ Muffler): 16 oz[*]Weight (w/o Muffler): 13.1oz[/list]

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

First, I think OS are only one of a few brands of reasonable quality sport engines, and I am the furthest thing from an OS pusher.

But.. why does an OS engine run unreliably and be hard to tune for you and the type of planes you fly and not anyone else? What types of planes are those?

And what's up with the Evolution engines - altitude, humidity, and air temp play the same role on one brand of engine as they do the other.. if engine A and engine B can be set up and tuned for sea level, how is it different with the altitude change? My .15FP and my other engines ran like a song when I flew it in Colorado Springs and higher up in the plains - assuming I tuned them that is, which is true for any altitude. With the reduced air density, pressure drop is reduced by the square root of the density change, so as you climb the fuel flow reduces at a lower rate than the airflow, and you go rich. So.. screw in the main needle until it runs right, then adjust the air bleed or low speed needle to fine tune the idle. Power goes down a bit, but they run fine. Increase nitromethane by 5-10% if needed to help. Or remove a shim to bump compression and bring cylinder pressures back up.

The only thing I can think of that would bite an engine badly with a few thou altitude increase, apart from net power output, is if the carb tends to have a fat midrange that can't be dialed out. I guess you could go from bothersome rich in the midrange to ridiculously rich, but still, if the top and bottom end mixtures are sorted out I still tend to think the midrange would behave similarly in relation to those two. But, maybe not, have to think that one through.

I recall chopping the throttle and pulling the throttle trim back on my Viking/15FP combo on a sunny day outside of CO Springs when I got altitude and felt some lift. About 15-20 minutes later I was gliding in for the approach and noticed the OS 15 ticking over in a dead slow idle, as it had been doing all the time when I thought it was dead and was playing buzzard. No wonder it soared so long. But anyhow, it throttled up again and I went around, surprised of course. So, I launched at about 6200 feet, specked out to what, 7200-7500, and came back running with a pinhole in the intake for breathing room. That's a good engine. No powerhouse, but a good reliable no BS sport engine. ST, Enya and others have those too. As to GMS, CK, PQZ or other $50 per .46 crappomatic engine brands, well..

I'm as cash strapped as the next guy, truly, but I too cannot imagine why several hundred dollars of airplane, radio, and personal time calls for a $50 hit-or-miss engine.

MJD

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Yes I know of motors not running good because of altitude, 7000 ft here, The Gms has been great!

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Just got done with a tiger stik, and now its time to choose a motor for it! i have two new 46 OS ax, I have a new super tigre 45 as well as other engines of that size but I am putting the GMS 47 on it because to this day i have had no dead stick no problems with them and plum refuse to call the motor a crapomatic as you have! if you do not like em please do not buy them! those of us that like them will keep Tower sold out on them! And I am at 7000 feet and getting very good power out of the GMS!

Sport_Pilot

Magnums are maybe a bit too cheap, good service though, so I don't recommend them. TT is the opposite, good engines, lousy service. I no longer recommend them. Too bad, put Magnums great service, and TT's engines together, and you would have the best low priced engine of all. Better than OS which is really an overpriced lowprice engine.

Harry Lagman

Amen to that! Well said!


To the OP (Eganwp) - don't risk your hard earned cash on a crapshoot engine. You seem to not want to buy an OS and you mentioned the TT .46 Pro in your first post - save youself the agro and buy one of those. They are pretty much equal to the OS in terms of consistency and reliability and cost less. They are a wonderful engine. I don't know where you got the tach figures from but I can tell you that of the many TTs, GMSs, ASPs and others I have tached, the TT is right up there with them. They will do 11,500 - 12,200 on the 12.25 x 3.75, which is in the same ballpark as a good GMS .47 and a lot better than a not-so-good GMS .47. If you let them rev (say in Q500 competition) the TT will outperform the GMS almost every time.

GMSs, Towers, ASPs and Magnums are a crapshoot. They vary enough from engine to engine to make a difference. If you get a not-so-good one, you're on a hiding to nothing right from the start and your precious hours of tinkering might, if you're lucky, produce a mediocre engine at best.

Don't frustrate yourself dawking around with cheap engines - buy the Thunder Tiger .46 Pro and be done with it!