OS MAX 55AX-BE. Will be released in July. MSRP 20000yen(US$165)
Uses Bio Ethanol fuel with 10% Biodegradable oil, BE-3 glow plug.
10200 rpm with APC 13x6, more than 15 min flight with a 180cc tank.
The exhaust smells of liquor.
The magazine says OS plans to release FS56-BE next.

Tsutomu Mabuchi

But can you get the fuel? Locally (Australia) I don't think it's readily available.

And where can you buy this fuel in US?
Also,
here in Greece i don't think i can find...

Though,
this environmentally friendly engine will be my next project....

It sounds like a solution that is looking for a problem.


Ed Cregger

Sorry, OS will supply bio-ethanol glow fuel BE-1 when they release the engine,
US$30/4 litter. You can see it behind the engine in the picture.
Bio-ethanol fuel does not vaporize enough in low temp(7 deg celsius or below),
so it is said that we have to warm up the engine with rich needle before flying
in a cold day.

Tsutomu Mabuchi

I think the fuel is 0% nitro also.

Right. They say the reason OS release a .55 was that they wanted to keep
it .46 size and compensate a disadvantage in power with 0% nitro fuel.

Tsutomu Mabuchi

YOU ARE SO RIGHT !!!!!!
Will use more energy to produce then it saves..
More farmland required tp produce it...and that
will raise veg prices...
And ON and ON and ON but it FEELS GOOD

It's interesting there's a special glow plug so I'm wondering what the difference is. Maybe something other than platinum to get the reaction or is it a much hotter plug? It'd be interesting to know what other changes were made compared to a normal glow engine.

Well, I can't knock OS for trying something new but it will be interesting to see how it works out in the long run.

At a guess, I'd say this on the fuel supply.
Ethanol is a pretty simple product to obtain - provided you have a licence to do so and more and more Ethanol plants are being set up around the world so fuel may well be cheaper.

Most vegetable oils - including castor are Biodegradable.

It's possible that OS will release a specification for the oil requirement and the myriad of fuel manufacturers will start blending the mix once the sales pick up.

Good to see you back on the forum, Mabuchi-san. Thanks for the heads-up.

At the moment, I mix my own fuel, buying the methanol in bulk.

I can't imagine the Customs Dept. letting me have a 44 Gal (US 55G) drum of pure ethanol sitting in my shed. If so, the party's at my place! Bring your own mixers!

I wonder if the AX .55 BE and its fuel is intended for release only for the Japanese Market.

downunder,

BE-3 is said to be a newly designed glow plug. Coil size, spiral dia, spiral times are different
from a standard glow plug and has a bit longer reach.
In addition, it has mm screw instead of inch screw which normal glow plugs have so that it
would not be used incorrectly.

Harry Lagman,

Welcome, I'm also much interested in new technology or designs in the R/C world.
I think OS will surely release them for the world market.

Tsutomu Mabuchi

But why? I don't understand why someone would invest any time or money in such a project. I am only familiar with my country, the USA, so maybe that is the problem.

Are there such places in the world where methanol is difficult to obtain, where ethanol is readily available and where the locals can afford an OS model airplane engine? Yes, I am confessing my ignorance.


Ed Cregger

There's a lot of push on to develop alternative fuel powered motors and Ethanol is a common one currently under investigation.

It's probably like 4 stroke Methanol motors - At some point they would have been a new idea with who knows what applications. I bet there was a number of us who used to think "Why bother with the additional complication" when 4 strokes first hit the market place (I don't know what brand or when that was) but we now have them as common units.

I suspect that it is an answer to environmental concerns which are taken very seriously in Japan and there are probably good tax breaks for companies that develop such items and get them to the marketplace. MAybe in 10 or so years, OF's like us will be saying, "I remember the old methanol motors, they used to be so slimy putting all that oil through them".

If it could run on E85 (which I believe is available in America...but not Australia) then it's just a trip to the local service station. You'd still have to find the oil though.

If it will burn ethanol, it will burn methanol. Tuning may differ but it should be no problem.

Would that not attract the drunkards to my flying field?




sorry, I could'nt resist................

Sounds like an interesting concept, Although I don't know why enthanol would be a better or more eco friendly fuel than methanol.

Whatever the reason, it is an interesting development. It won't take over the world. But otherwise, why not? Shoot, I am waiting for the hydrogen powered model engine to be released soon.

I suspect that this engine would run on denatured ethanol which is widely available in most countries and known as methylated spirit.

"Meths" as it's often refered to often contains about 97% ethanol, 2% methanol, a distinctive dye and an emetic substance designed to make it decidedly nasty to consume.

The only problem I see with this is that it seldom has a guaranteed minimum water content.

It's often cheaper than methanol, which must be good :-)

It is worth noting however, that methanol can also be made from renewable resources such as cellulose (trees etc) so you could also be "environmentally friendly" without spending extra money for a special engine if you source your fuel from the right place

An OS engine, being run in the US with no nitro? Not even a bit?

Naaah, that can't be happening...


Platinum is a catalyst of ethanol as well, but I am not sure its intensity would be enough to keep the glow-element lit, with a normal glow-plug.


There is a very positive side to it, though. Ethanol, while it is the active ingredient in booze, is not as powerful a toxin as is methanol.

10 cc of methanol, if consumed, can cause permanent blindness. More could be fatal.

Ethanol will not even make you drunk in such amounts.


Nitromethane is said to be a carcinogen, so its removal is also for the good.

Ethanol has a slightly higher stoichiometric ratio than methanol and its heat energy is more than 25% higher than methanol.

Read [link=http://www.flyhi.org.il/fuel.htm]this page[/link].


OS only rate this engine at 0.97 HP at 10,000 RPM... Maybe they are finally telling us the truth.

With fuel going for $30 a gallon, it might not be very popular to begin with.

I use 100% bio fuel. Methanol and castor oil. Ok most of the time I mix in 5 to 20% non bio fuel, Nitro, but the methanol can be made from wood, and the castor oil comes from a plant.

What is the oil? If you use peanut oil, then at the end of the day you could mix in some crème de cacao and some penut butter and have a Reeces Penut Butter Cup cocktail!

It is on the list of suspected carcinogen's. However it has been on that list so long, I doubt that it is. Haven't heard of a high list of cancer in drag racers. But then they also smoke less, kinda dangerous with all that fuel about.

I agree with you. I think OS is giving us just wider selection. The result depends on us.

Tsutomu Mabuchi