MTK

John,

It depends entirely on what you want to fly and which sequence....

My SAP 180's served well in my pattern planes for almost 3 years, flying the masters schedule. Early on we had a couple issues, namely prop drive woodruff key, and front bearing, which Todd took care of immediately. The changes were incorporated into current engines. The engine is a revver and needs to spool up to be happiest. I ran it with a standard apc 17x12 early on and it was a good set-up but I had to run it a little rich to keep it from sagging. Then at Bob Moulder's urging, I switched to a 16x12 which cranked the rpm quite a bit, and the engine simply sang at the 8800-9000 rpm region. It was very happy and my 10 1/2 pound Temptress flew very well with the small prop

But is it THE answer for Pattern? It probably was 10 years ago when we ran OS140RX's. Since then, many things have changed, key among them a slower much more constant speed presentation. The engine requires throttle management and finnesse and it do a great job. After all, it is a great little sport engine that I adapted for pattern....

Are there engines more suited to Pattern? I've found that the OS33GT has the stump pulling power we are looking for but mine was a lemon with factory defects. I had one heck of a time getting the engine fixed. And now of course in the middle of winter, we can't get any more data.

I absolutely love my DLE55 with a 3 blade prop. It is heavy and not many will be able to get a plane set-up and make weight...

So to answer your question, do we have a good gas solution for Pattern? I think the closest is possibly the SAP at high revs or the 33GT which is still largely unproven. I suppose you could always use the very expensive YS170/175 and electric set-ups, but those are always on back burner and are everpresent options Hope that answers your questions. Sorry but I don't have a direct "YES" or "NO"

F-4

Matt,

Appreciate the reply. I fly the Advanced schedule. Will give serious consideration to the SAP 180 and keep an eye on this thread. Thanks.

John

MTK

Resurrecting this thread for the sake of Giant Gasser.

Look in the early pages where Bob Moulder outfitted his Focus with the SAP. There's a wealth of information in this thread that you might find useful on the care and feeding of the SAP

Giant_Scale_Gasser

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Thanks, I appreciate it.