There is of course another reason why fewer glow engines are being produced in addition to petrol engines squeezing glows from the top and electric motors doing the same with the smaller sizes, the greying of the hobby, i.e. glow engine aficionados are literally dying out! If my club is anything to go by, the younger element, and I'm talking married men here with full-time jobs in their thirties or forties, fly big mostly petrols or electric motors of varying sizes right up to 1/4 scale aerobatic models which require batteries as big as house-bricks. The only man in this age range who flies a glow-powered model is returning to the hobby after a break of about twenty-five years. Curiously enough, he has a very impressive Thunder Tiger Pro 46 in a WOT 4.
As for younger fliers, out of eighty members,
AFAIK we have one member who is in his teens and he is an electric flier, mostly quadcopters. Other members have sons of that age and have even built or bought trainers for them, but the lads are not interested. I don't think we have any members in their twenties. Mind you, I'd lost interest in model aeroplanes when I was in my twenties!
So there we are. Fewer glow engines will be produced but more good second hand ones will become available as we all die off! Lol as young people say!
PS. It looks like my house sale is going through so I'm beginning the process of putting all of my i/c models into store prior to moving to France. I will just take electric stuff with me at first. I flew the STM for the last time in England yesterday. This morning I will start up its Thunder Tiger 91, oil the engine and put it into store.
