spiceflyer

Ive been out the hobby for 5 years or so... Been flying ultralights.. But anyhow im back and wanting to get some planes in the air... about to join the local club down the road.. What I have been noticing is that nitro planes are getting over run by electric.. Even nitroplanes.com don't even sell nitro planes anymore.. That's just sad... I know towers does and some other places but its not looking good... I love nitro.. Ill never own a electric plane... I just don't think there anyway cool.. Im sure there more convenient, but man.. The smell and sound of a sweet 4 stroke is what makes the hobby for me... I even love the occasional dead stick landing and the oil on the planes... I really hope electric isn't phasing out nitros....

TomCrump

If you build your own, you won't need to worry about what the ARF suppliers want you to buy.

Glow will be around for a long time, but you probably will need to build your models from plans.

kmeyers

Yes, I think it is on it's way out.

Right now it lives in a small notch .40 - .90 size. It also has the depth of already built planes that people like me still fly. I have a 1/4 scale cub that was and is still powered by a ST 3250 glow. One of these days though I will redo it as a gasser.

I think it still rules here (40-90), but, the 20cc gassers and up are just too good above .90 and below .40 the electrics are just too good.

Glad your coming back to RC.
See you at the field.

aspeed

I would have to say below a .25 size, that electric is good. A .25 to even up to a .90 glow is hard to beat, and then maybe gas would take over. I won't change any time soon though.

bhady

For most of the .40 - .90 size, I think glow will be around for a long time. Larger stuff will and does use gas. Nothing beats the sound of an engine. After all real planes have engines...not electric motors.

Hortco

Guys-I recently switched from electric to nitro.
When I began flying I knew nothing about glow fuel engines except that they were a real pain ( my father flew glow fuel nearly all of his life).
I enjoyed the clean quiet simplicity of electric power but the downside was LiPo batteries.
They were expensive, I couldn't just go fly whenever I wanted because it took lots of time to charge them, they needed to be monitored while charging, most don't survive a crash, they are a fire hazard and when they run down your done flying.
When my father passed away in 2000 I got most of his stuff so I always had glow engines stored in the shop. Last year I decided to give glow power a chance.
It took some time to learn how to use them but once I got my first glow-powered plane in the air there was no turning back! There is something satisfying about getting that motor running and then flying the plane- the sound, the power, the smoke and when the tank runs dry, you just fill it up and take off again- all day long!
Sure it's messy and there's more to take to the field but it's worth it!
I do still have a few electric planes (the ones that I really liked that flew great) but most of the time I take the Glow planes to the field.
There will always be a market for glow power. I seriously doubt that it will be done away with.
There are many still flying and buying them- myself included!

kmeyers

Refueling is the number one reason why I say glow still rules below 20cc gas until 7.5cc glow.

When a plane gets below about 2 kilos though the cost and the watts of the batteries is so low that you can have a lot them charged.

There are some pattern guys who are rockin generators during their contests. I heard a story of a guy blowing the circuit breakers in his hotel room.

Two 5s1p at 5000 mah is near the limit for a 20 amp breaker in 120 VAC system unless you charge (refuel) under 1c.

I doubt I will ever go big electric. It has opened a whole new world in small rc though.

foodstick

You are in a buyers market if you want to fly glow around here. I see some super expensive 4 strokes being sold at used 2 cycle prices anymore.

countilaw

I've been flying glow engines for over 50 years. The only people I see and hear calling for the doom of glow engines are those too damn lazy to clean their planes and only play with foamy toys.

If you are in this hobby for your love of planes, the artistry of building one, and then seeing it fly-- You, my friend, are a true hobbyist. You are the one that loves seeing the fruits of your labor fly and fly the way you expected it to fly. If you enjoyed wiping the castor oil off the wings and fuselage while checking for any damage and all the while thinking of ways to make it better-- you are a true hobbyist.

If you are a person that orders your foamy or arf online, charge the battery, and go to the local park to fly it, and then throw it into the trunk of your car, where it will sit until you get the urge to play with it again -- well, you are just an over grown kid with a toy.

Now everyone can rant and rave about how I have insulted electric fliers (boys with toys).

And wait for it, wait for it - - - The "I don't have time to build !!!" excuse.

Frank

countilaw

I thought I would get some kind of reaction. What are your views?

TomCrump

Not much to say, really. You pretty much covered it.

I fly some electrics. They are easy. I don't seem to have the same involvment with them, as I do my gassers and glow models.

Charlie P.

My observation would be yes. Based on the two clubs I fly at, anyway.

My own hanger has three glow models (and a fourth .40 size engine still in the box) vs. three giant-scale gasoline powered and fourteen electric powered (from micro to giant scale). I don't imagine I'll ever again buy a glow-fuel powered engine. Too expensive to feed. I'll probably keep the four glow engines I currently have in something until they give out or take that final dirt nap.

Hortco

I am one who enjoys building and just tinkering with my planes when not flying them.
Even when I was all electric I still built most of them or converted others to electric and recently converted BACK to glow!!!
The glow motors can be a real pain sometimes but I enjoy the challenge even when it gets frustrating because I know that I am still learning from it.
I have mostly taught myself how to tune glow engines and when I finally get one running just right and get that plane airborne there is a sense of satisfaction.

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

I fly with "like minded friends" and we all fly glow. Since I hang out only with these friends, I don't see glow going away at all. Enjoy the part of the hobby you prefer with those that share your view.

Part of the hobby is building, another part is the engines and the third part is the flying. Take away any of those parts and it's just not the same.

countilaw

I believe that there are those that start out with electrics that become hard core and eventually convert to glow or gas. When I was a kid, we didn't have that option. We didn't have the "net" either. Everything was try and fail and try again. If you were lucky, you would have a friend to help you. I was the first kid in the neighborhood to build a Sterling Ring Master. I must have read those plans 100 times, before I saved enough money to buy glue (Ambroid ) No such thing as epoxy. .

After I got mine built, several of my friends got interested.

Frank

blvdbuzzard

I fly gas, glow, E power. Like them all. There are planes I would never convert to E power and there are some I would never convert to glow. Take a nice 40 sized Ugly stik. No way it would be the same with an electric motor up front. It needs the sound, smell of the glow fuel. I do have a Giles 202 I took out the YS63 and put in a Tacon 46 with a 5s 5000. Oh how I like that plane now. I have a 60 sized Chipmunk with a .91 fs in the nose, she sounds so good going by there is no way I would enjoy it as much with a motor and battery setup.

I can not dispute the ease of flying small e powered planes. I have a couple 6 ounce aerobats that are a total blast to fly. Each has it owns merits. It never did bother me to spray a little denatured alcohol and wipe the plane down. Easy enough to clean. So I enjoy each.


Buzz.

ratshooter

I'm 58 and been messing with glow engines since I was 12. I have no trouble getting an engine to run. I like planes in the .25 to .60 size. Big enough to carry standard radio gear and not too large to store or transport.

I wouldn't mind a small .049 sized electric but the motor, prop, battery draw has me confused and I don't want one bad enough to figure them out,.

By the way countilaw I may have met you before. I met a retired lawman at Thunderbird Field in Benbrook a couple of years ago that said he was a retired Grand Prairie lawman. I told him my uncle was a Ft Worth PD officer named Joe Tiroff and he stated he had met my uncle before. Was that you?

ThunderBoat42

My Feedback: (1)

I still prefer NITRO 4 strokes. Saito and YS. 20 size my favorite engine is the K&B 20 Sportster -- yeah, call me old school.

H5606

I've been flying glow since the seventies - first C/L and now both C/L and R/C. Throughout the years, I've tried electrics and have a handful now - all foamies. The electrics were supposed to be airplanes to use at the end of a flying session at the field after cleaning the "primary" glow powered airplanes and packing them in the car. Now, with the hassle of charging and maintaining batteries, I find I just fly glow most of the time all the way up until its time to quit like I used to and leave the electrics at home. I've got one gasser flying at the present time and it is a wonderful way to fly, but it is a major undertaking event to load, transport, and unload such a beast that it takes some fun out of the equation. So for me, glow/nitro is a mainstay...

takEon

I still enjoy flying my glow stuff the most!

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

To someone who loves motorcycles, hot rodding, drag racing...
model aviation is a real smorgasbord with all of the great little engines and ways to compete with them.
Unless something drastic happens to make running model engines too much of a hardship, there will always be a representative percentage of "Engine Men" who wouldn't have it any other way.
I bought 55 gallons of methanol from a Standard Oil Dealer about 10 years ago for $3 gallon. It still burns just fine, what is left of it.
The oil is fairly expensive, but gallon batches of 10% nitro, 20% oil fuel cost me less than $8 last time I did the math.

chuckk2

As a kid, I started with 1/2A and glow in the later 50's. Worked up to a Ringmaster with a mcoy .35s, the played with an RC Cavalier and a 56.
After fooling with glow in cold weather, I'll likely never go back. Gas is a maybe, but I'm currently into electrics up to about 10-11 lbs all up.

kmeyers

This just in: The local "Hobby Town" will no longer carry glow fuel. This was reported at a club meeting last night. When we tried to confirm it, it was changed to he will only stock quarts of the car nitro fuel.

In my area there are 4 Hobby Towns and they all know their market pretty well. Shelf space vs profit.
So if nothing else the price is going up!

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

Kmeyers:

I've NEVER been to a Hobby Town that I would consider a hobby shop, more like toy stores that might have a few hobby items.

I'm sure you will be able to find a real hobby shop in your area (Chicago) that stock glow fuel IF you really want to run glow engines.

TomCrump

Ya. Most Hobby Towns aren't even a good toy store. I was in a good one, once, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa..

Buying glow fuel in the Chicago area shouldn't be difficult. I can buy it easily, in my small northern Michigan locale.

As you say, 049, it's available if one really wants it.