Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

I wouldn't call this a "toy", and it sure in the hell didn't come as a box of sticks. I'll stick with my turbines and gassers that come as an ARF. I spent the first half of my life putting together boxes of sticks. I'll pay a little more to let someone else do it now.

Tom Nied

I'm kind of in the same frame of mind as OliverJacob. I like it all. Monday I was out with my Giant Super Sporster gasser, today I just grabbed my electric Super Sporster, because of weather concerns. Today I needed something I could just grab and go and if I had to, pack up just as easy. Oh, by the way a Great Planes Super Sporster EP, is a blast to fly. But next time, I think I'll grab the Tower Razor, Magnum .46. It's all fun to fly. Bungee launched gliders sound like fun to me too. I enjoy it all.

jester_s1

The glow engine purists are wrong headed to say the least. This hobby started with spark ignition gassers, which were heavy and underpowered. Then came this new alcohol based fuel, also ignited by sparks at the time, that gave the engines more power. It wasn't any more proper than gas for models; it just gave them more power. The glow plug made them lighter, and nitromethane made them more powerful. Glow engines aren't traditional or more pure than anything else. They were simply the best option for powering mid to large size planes for about 30 years. If Chuck Cunningham or Joe Bridi had had DLE .30 engines I'm sure they would have used them and loved them. Ditto for lipos and brushless outrunners. But they didn't, so they used the best power system they had at the time. The expectation then was that something better would come along and displace glow engines. It's sad to me to see modelers criticizing other modelers for being a part of that natural process.

And while I'm on the topic, when did this hobby become about preserving the past? Sure, there is a heritage to aeromodeling that I appreciate. But the impression I get is that in the glory days of the 60's and 70's modelers were all about innovation and embracing new technologies. That's what made it exciting. Those same people now say that if you are flying something developed in the last 20 years you aren't a real modeler. I say the old heads who are hung up on tradition aren't real aeromodeling hobbyists. It's a much bigger honor to our heritage to continue innovating and exploring new technologies like they did in the "glory days" than to sit around complaining about what's new. Myself, I appreciate all of it. I fly a classic pattern plane that is glow powered because that's the best choice for performance, I fly a modern Sukhoi 26 that uses a modern CDI ignition gasser, and I fly an EDF F16 among others. None of my planes are state of the art today, but they all were the newest thing at one time. We are far too small a group with too many difficulties facing us to divide over something as silly as tradition.

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

My first flying model was electric powered - a Wen-Mac Electra Mustang in 1958 when I was 4. When I was 6 I got my first glow powered airplane, a Comet Rookie with a McCoy 35, however flying was not a success due to PIO. I built a small stick and tissue rubber powered model at 9 that barely flew before dropping to Earth with the rubber power exhausted. But by 10 my Cox RR-1 powered Scientific Mustang flew pretty well with it's balsa log fuselage and sheet wing and tail. After that a few more years of half A then three years of .35 powered control line stunt planes. Finally I built a Mambo that flew free flight because I didn't have a radio yet and in 70 a Falcon 56 and Orbit. So I have over 57 years with glow, and a handful with electric, and while the improvement in electric performance has been phenomenal, I like flying for more than 5 or 7 minutes at a time.

I like the power to weight you get with glow, I like the sound and the smell of glow, I don't enjoy listening to a flying electric toothbrushes. Even gas engines sound awful to my ears, and four stroke glow engines bore me. I like rpm, I like high performance, I like fast airplanes. The gurgling Super Tigre on final is like music to me.

GhostofAuger

Couldn't agree more. I'm always quick to wipe down my models as all I use is dope and tissue to cover with. Kids these days with their toy plastic iron on films. Real modelers only use silk (silkspan is OK these days) and dope!

Tom Nied

I spray castor oil on my electric models after flying just so I can experience the luxury of wiping it off and getting it on my clothes.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

You are a good man Tom!

Tom Nied

Thanks, I don't hear that too often. Today, I'm taking the Tower Hobbies Razor 3D out that has a snarling oil spewing Magnum .46 on it. And in my fuel I throw an extra 4 ounces of castor/gallon. I'm going to come home smelling like castor. I'll have paper towels in my pockets that are going to be oily and smell like castor. The engine is going be noisy, hot and dripping oil afterwards. It's going to be a happy day.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Castor Oil keeps a good engine and the pilot running smooth!

Tom Nied

So I'm flying the Razor and thinking, this engine is running great. OH, it's not a Magnum, it's a Thunder Tiger Pro .46. What a sweet setup. I forgot I had a Thunder Tiger Pro .46 in it. 6 flights no issues, and plenty of vertical. Every flight a nice coating of castor, easily wiped off. I'm happy, didn't use too much nitro. Very happy with this Nitro plane.

What I'm holding in my avatar is a Tower UPROAR that I built. It has a Magnum .46 in it. I have to get that oil spewing hot rod out as well.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Tom, whereas that was a kit, can you post that picture larger?

Tom Nied

Uproar and me. Now there's a snarling oil spewing Nitro classic.

thailazer

I am with HighPlains. I have tried electric but the glow engines are amazing to me still after 50 years of flying models. You can certainly call me a retro-grouch as I am currently building a CraftAir Mystique. A Pico 40 will be going in that, and I won't mind the way my shoes smell when I get home!

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Tom, I like your color scheme....

jerry

Tom Nied

Well thanks, here's the bottom. I wanted something different from the top with a little "razzle dazzle" Ha.

extra300crazy

Tom,
No doubt it makes it easier to read in the air doing rolls in the upline as well as the ever important downlines!
Karl

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

Out of about 10 flyers at the field yesterday there were about two glow powered planes. The rest were Gassers or electric, I had one of each. This has become about the norm.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

All I know glow engines was the first engines I have ever used and just dont want to change to anything else, the power the smell the sound, even wiping a model down is a labor of love, The electric planes bore me with the lack of sound and foam is and will always be packing materials for my balsa planes, I buy my fuel two cases at a time, Magnum fuel, 5 quart jugs for 17.00 a jug, This is my only hobby now, don't smoke or drink, and don't have TV at home, this is what the wife and I enjoy doing as a hobby. Been great all these years. Nope not changing my glow engines.

maukaonyx

I have been in a club for about 10 years and gradually the makeup changed from exclusively glow and gas to now about 2/3 electric and only 1/3 glow and gas. I would have answered yes nitro is dying but hopefully never dead since I like glow and gas from growing up with it. Out of 20 flyable planes in my garage, 15 are glow/gas while 5 are electric. I can have fun with electric too, just not as much, but sometimes I do tire of lugging the flight box around. Just in the last few months, I joined another club about the same time and distance from home, but I found they are a bunch of old timers who still love their glow and gas! This club is the opposite of my old club, so I fly at both, and now think maybe glow and gas is doing better than I had come to think based on the old club.

jharkin

My Feedback: (2)

I resisted the inevitable for a long time... but to be honest, in the last 2 years I have flown my one remaining glow plane a grand total of 3 times. Meanwhile I put hundreds of flights on t gas planes and helicopters.

And each time I wondered why I bothered with all the hassle and clean up.

I do love the sound of a big Saito but frankly its so liberating to bring out the gassers, leave the field batteries and starters home, fly all day on $1 of gas, and pack up to go in just 5 minutes with zero clean up.

And on the small side I watch the extremflight guys fly circles around my .90 glow planes with their 60inch 6S electrics....

I think its time to face the inevitable and go all gas/electric.

aspeed

I just flew my LA .15 a couple days ago on a 3 channel plane. I think it was a 4 oz tank, which I used half of. That is 1/60th of a gallon which was less than $20 or $0.33 a flight. At full throttle I got in a bit of trouble, and it demanded my full attention for sure. It was a fairly windy day, no problem. The 60 inch 6s leckies are pretty cool, but 2 battery packs at over $100 each, which are the consumable compared to fuel are not really cost effective. Gas, well OK, but assembly, the trouble with ignition which you can deny, but I know better. I will stick to the little glows thanx. Maybe a .25 or .46. Eh, maybe a .10. Leckies I will save for a little glider in my backyard slope, snowy days and indoor for now. I have to use up my glow stuff first. Some day leckies for sure, but not until I see better batteries than LiPo. My toolbox is a bit heavy for glow, but often I hand flip for 10 flips before I go to the starter, and it goes.

jharkin

My Feedback: (2)

Hey speed-

What ignition problems are you having? Ive never once had an ign problem on gas, but then aagin I fly exclusively DA and Zenoah, which tend to be bulletproof (but $$). Im far away but if you where local Id help sort it.

On the 60 inch electrics- I used to balk at the cost and battery life too but I just priced one out - you can get into a 60inch extreme flight acro ship for around $700USD + receiver and batteries. My 90/100 glow planes cost similar money (with a Saito 1.00 running close to $350 new) + the ongoing cost of fuel which is now over $25 a gallon for me just to get 15% and I have to mail order. The 6S 4000 packs they run can be had for as low as $50-75 each if you use Glaciers or Turnigies and I know people who have managed many years on a set of packs when flying weekends only and taking good care of them (proper storage charging, etc). A pack now costs less than a case of fuel now and back when I was flying glow only i could go thought a couple cases a summer easy.

The big hurdle for electrics is the charging setup. Starting from scratch that still tips the economics in favor of glow but I have all that gear.

Not hing wrong with sticking to glow... I really wanted to as well I just dont have the free time anymore to manage all 3 power sources or justify all the extra gear taking up garage space so Im streamlining. I do hope it doesnt go away altogether.

aspeed

$50 to $75 works out to $100 here with exchange. I don't have gas, but watch a lot of people fiddle around, ask someone that knows, and then go home. The next time it does work though. I just have one 4 stroke, a .91 Surpass 2 I think, on a CG Super Chipmunk which is great but I tend to go with the .46 AX Twist and Sig Wonder type stuff for more fun and less hassle. I know I am a minority, but while my shop and garages are a good size, the bigger stuff makes it hard to walk around after 3-4 bigger planes. When I started flying almost 50 years ago as a little kid, the simplicity of the glow motors always amazed me, as well as the 20,000 rpm sound. Now 30,000 and up still keeps me interested. I may go gas, but doubt it, and I do have some leckies which I do like a lot (except one that makes me mad every time I try it) I don't think I would go much over a .25 size leckie though. Just me I guess. There is a guy in the club with a .60 size leckie that is trying to convince me to go that way, it is pretty impressive. Even the control line guys have some pretty cool stuff now, but it is not cost effective when you have drawers full of glow stuff already.

jharkin

My Feedback: (2)

If people with gas are fiddiling and going home its just a lack of knowledge. Same thing we saw all the time with glow engines during their heyday. Lots of people in this hobby not willing to put the time in to learn how to do it right.

Listen I love tinkering too, and for years Ive been one of the guys at my field who was always tuning everybody else' engines. I have forgotten how many guys I helped who would show up with a big Saito or OS 4 stroke that would drink the fuel tank in 5 minutes... because #1 they treated the left stick as an ON/OFF and #2 they didn't know how to turn a needle and just left them at the starting point. Saitos would come from the factory with the low needle a good 1-2 full turns rich.

Same thing happens with gassers. And we get the same "what should me needle settings be" threads now as we did 10 years ago on glow engines.

The sad reality is that this hobby always was full of people who struggled, where not mechanically inclined, and only built kits and ran engines because they had too. Electric, like it or not, gives all those folks who just want to fly a path to get there wihtout all the hassle. And anything that keeps the hobby alive today is a good thing.

There will always be a small core of us gearheads.
I'm glad people are still keeping glow alive, I just finally realized that gas puts a grin on my face now and glow doesn't anymore...

EDIT to add: I plan to keep 1-2 engines and my flight box in the closet in case I ever decide to go back to glow. But for now its all gas for me.

aspeed

Smiles per gallon, and smiles per miles. Go for it.