lopflyers

If you can only have one type of power which one would you choose.
i know most of us have all three, but I am in the process of leaving glow for good and want to know what most people think.
Maybe is bad luck but I only had problems with my glow engines, 50% of the time they would not start, out of tune, bad plug, loose muffler, leaking lines, leaking tank, bad valves, bad bearings, bad gasket. While I'm there x 20 mins struggling, flipping a prop until I'm blue in the face, my friends come, insert a Lipo plug it and up he went.
Nowadays you can set even a 40% to run on electrons, so my vote is 100% electric.
What is your opinion?

flyinwalenda

If I could only have one it would be gasoline.
My choice has been electric for planes from park flyers to 60 size, gasoline for 90 size and up, and I still fly glow in the 40-60 size.
Now with the new 40-60 size gasoline engines( Evolution 10cc for example) the smaller-medium planes now have a good gasoline option.

vertical grimmace

Gas for me as well. I love my small gassers. DLE 20, and I am looking at the Evolution 10cc as well.

lopflyers

I do have one gasser, after the initial break in, is being great. It's a DLE 30cc.

dignlivn

Gas for me too.



Have all 3, but gas for a lot of reasons,


Bob

speedracerntrixie

My vote goes with gas too. I do have to say though that if you are having that many issues running glow then you will most likely have issues no matter what you use for power. Proper setup and maintenance is required for any power source.

lopflyers

So, its my fault that the gaskets, bearings & valves goes wrong. 

Warbird40

I only fly glow mainly because I enjoy tuning engines. Yes, electric is convenient, but the sound is what makes the plane in my opinion. I will try gas as soon as my budget allows it. Meanwhile, all glow for me. My engines have been very reliable and once they are tuned for the first time, very little adjustments are needed.

Best regards,
Ed

speedracerntrixie

Gaskets, bearings and valve failure could easily be from excessive heat. Bearing failure can be from using fuel that has been open and has absorbed a fair amount of water, then raw fuel left in the engine can rust the bearings. Rust particles are very abrasive and will destroy an engine in no time. You mentioned leaking fuel lines and tanks, if these items are correctly assembled and maintained they don't leak. Leaking fuel system means a lean running engine.

OK Gassers, an additional battery to keep charged, most use tygon fuel tubing and it tends to get hard and inflexible after a year or so. Gassers are more vibration so one needs to deal with muffler bolts working loose. The gasser carbs have a few moving parts and gaskets that will dry out if not used on a regular basis especially if you live in a location that adds ethanol to the gas.

Electrics may seem plug and play but they really are not. Batteries have to be taken care of. If you over amp them in flight or don't have propper cooling you can easily damage them. Run too big a prop and you can pulll too many amps from the speed control and fry it. Sometimes you need to program the speed control to the motor. Things like braking, soft or hard start, timing all come into play.

The point i'm trying to make is no matter what power system you use you will need to learn it's requirements and work within them to be successful.

dignlivn

No, it's about maintenance and walk a rounds.
With models and full scale. Things come loose
or break, no matter the power source. JMO

Bob

WILDCRASHWILLY

I still like glow but, for the most part I'm going gas. No electrics for me. They have just never impressed me but, that's a personal decision and I respect the modelers who fly electric.

freddy s

I enjoy flying glow power,looking into gas for 60 to 90 size planes.Electric is fine if you like it,nothing i like better than a big warbird going by sounding like my blender,,yyuukkk

Luchnia

Gas, electrics are a total pain - buy a crap load of batteries and fly, charge, fly charge. With gassers you just fill up and go and depending on the size of the tank you can chew up some serious time in the air. Some planes I have seen guys fly for 20 minutes or more. Fillup and go again.

dbacque

I chose one over 40 years ago and have never seen any reason to use anything else. Light weight, sounds great, gobs of power, I know the ins and outs and the fuel costs are not unreasonable considering the size of planes I fly and the amount of fuel I burn.

I see others at the field using "alternate" power sources fiddling with what size of this, how many of that, what prop gives you the other or what widget do I need. I see people with alternate liquid fueled engines cranking their arm off to start an engine. I fuel up, fire up and fly up. First time, every time. My planes are fast, light, powerful, have unlimited vertical performance and do everything a pilot could want. As an engineer I always say if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!

I'll let you guess which power source I run but I'll repeat the hint, I started flying it over 40 years ago!

Dave

lopflyers

Gas

speedracerntrixie

Dave, I know what you mean. It's really hard to beat a properly tuned glow engine. I do run all power sources but my pylon airplanes are obviously glow, Rossi powered to be specific. Once you take the time to get just about any glow engine figured out and familiarize yourself with their quarks then operating them is pretty straitforward. 9 times out of 10 I don't even use a starter. Once primed and throttle set to a high idle one bump against compression and it,s running.

lopflyers

That might be right, but you hitted in the head, once you take the time, that time can be months. Glow engines have personalities. I had a 91 4 stroke that ran well but only if started by an electric starter. Had a Saito 100 that needed no priming at all, if you turn that prop just once before starting it, ooppps...hydrolock.
Electrics on the other hand is fly, charge, fly. Everytime all the time.

maukaonyx

I fly all three, but partitioned by size. My largest ones are gassers, just three so far. Two are DLE-30 and one is DLE-55. These planes are 72" and up. I have about 15 glow planes, almost all 4 stroke, and they are from 52FS to 180FS size. The larger glow planes overlap into gas engine range, such as my Giles 202 with OS 160FX. Then I have a very few electric planes and choppers that are small. To me, I gotta have the sound of a plane to make it a complete experience....not just a whir and whoosh. Nothing against that, but I personally need the putter or roar of the glow or gas engines to make me smile. Especially in a warbird. And how about that first glow exhaust aroma on the first startup in the morning at the field! I like it as much as bacon frying or coffee percolating when you wake up! Regarding spending months getting a glow or gas engine to run right...hmmmm. I agree you should go with electric. It's ok because to tell the truth, I don't get all the sophisticated battery technology and handling, so it goes both ways. In the end, ALL power sources are enjoyable. Jon

speedracerntrixie

I've only owned two 4 stroke engines. The first was an OS 70 that did require a strater the second was a YS 91 AC. The YS would hand start but took some doing to do so. I would venture a guess that on your Saito the center line of the fuel tank was higher then the carb. This allowed fuel to siphon and easily flood the engine. Can't really blame the engine on that. With everything there is a learning curve, it just can't be avoided. You will soon find out that electrics have their own " Personalities" and are not as plug and play as you would think.

turbo.gst

I fly all 3 types. The electrics are for my backyard only, when I can just manage to squeeze in a couple of flights before sundown. When I get a really good day, they will stay at home. The glows are my current favorite and have been for over 30 years. I have a lifetime supply of them bought up and looking forward to getting to them all. I am a relative newcomer to gas, but seem to be amassing several of them. I am enjoying the learning curve.

daveopam

Gas

landeck

Glow for 60 years

Bruce

AB Bob

Glow. The only engines I have are .46 to 1.6 two cycle glow. I just love the smell of burnt castor!
If I flew more, then maybe gas, but I don't get to fly as much as I'd like. I work 6- 12 hr night shifts per week (translate 1-2 flying days per month!), so fuel costs are not much of a concern.

lopflyers

Ahrrrr Bob, work is overrated[X(]

k3 valley flyer

I use all 3, gas, glow, electric and prefer the glow by far. Maybe becasue have used glow for 25 years plus but I find setting up a glow plane just a lot easier. Once you have one set up properly they are simple to use. The con to glow is of course the clean up, but I use that task to do airframe and engine maintenace as well. All sysytems require maintenance. Gas is cleaner but I find set up with elelectrinic ignition, extra batteries and switches, smelly fuel, mixing oil, a pain. Gas biggest con is Vibration, constant checking for loose bolts, mufflers, etc. It does get better as ways are found to keep things tight but after 3 or 4 flights you better do a thorough check that everything is still in order. Electric is good but you have constant battery charging and replacement. So many types of balance charging boards, chargers, battery leads etc. Staying with one brand of battery and esc helps but a lot to learn about battery care and charging and safety, and still seem to replace most batteries every 2 to 3 years if used much. Glow I can land, refuel, and fly again in just a few minutes, takes as long to switch batteries and much longer to recharge. They all have good and bad points, all are fun, and all have their place. Would not want to be limited to just one but if I had to be I would choose glow.