Bill,

Thank you for the reply, the information and your concerns. You gave me a lot to think about. That's appreciated, especially the personal safety reminder

As far as my personal safety is concerned, "Nine Finger Jack" ha, if I had to use a 2 stroke wirhout a muffler I am very certain I would be safer with the 4 stroke. The stomach jitters from tne sound would be too disturbing for me to use an un-muffled 2c engine. I just wouldn't run the motor, or fly, naturally. But, having been near a .46 2 stroke with a muffler I could concentrate on keeping my fnigers out of the way. And the 4 stroke isn't so calming that I would forget about the spinning prop. After all, I have worked in heavy industrial environments doing maintenance work part of that time and have kept all my fingers and toes, so far. But, I very much appreciate the concern and the thought.

I realize the 4c engines are heavier, but I have to admit I haven't researched the exact weight differences between the 2c and the 4c, but I did notice that the displacement differrence was about a factor of 2 to get about the same power. I also didn't know that the 4c engines in the size ranges you noted were specialized. I'm not sure how that applies. Does that mean they are built for a specific load? I was thinking about a .52 or a .70 Surpass for a 4c engine in the Eagle 2. I thought that anything bigger would be too heavy for the plane's easy balancing. I also haven't looked at the sizes of 4c engines required for different planes. The .52 and the .70 cost about $170. to $190 if memory serves correctly. Still that's a lot extra to pay just for a bit more realistic sound if reallistic soud was my only concern.

I have picked up that it's better for a 2c engine to run it more to the rich side of tuning, but I didn't know it was more critical for a 4c.

My club has some mid wing and low wing planes for me to make the transition from trainer upward in difficulty. Since I have no idea of the proper progression, I'm glad to have the steps outlined on the way toward the airliner I mentioned.


I'll save your e-mail in a folder for further reference.

Thank you again for the input,

elad