Carroll,

I certainly hope no one flames you for expressing your opinion.

I'm with Tim that in most cases you can typically make mods to the plane to achieve balance so you can take advantage of a light motor. I have done it numerous times, though I also know that in some cases this isn't possible, such as most scale planes, and some Suhkois are notorious for the amount of lead they need to balance.

As far as a Zenoah G-62 being smooth, you must have had a good one. The 3 G-62's I've had are some of the roughest singles I've every owned. Yes, you can readily get G-62's and other mass-market engines without waiting, but IMOH they are not in the same league as the other singles like the Brison's, BME's, ZDZ's and at the top of my list Taurus'. There's a reason you have to wait for these engines, and if it's not worth the wait to you, I fully understand, but to me it's just part of the price you pay to get the engine you want. I wish the situation was different. I can't figure out why these companies don't ramp up production if they have the demand.....but with that said, you mentioned you own a BME and Brison and unless you hit the timing just right you had to wait for these motors. Why didn't you use a Zenoah G-45 or G-62 in these cases?

As far as comparing the G-62 to these other high-end motors, it is of good quality, great reliability, but as far as smoothness and power, my experience is that it's not in the same league with the other mentioned motors. A Taurus 3.2 pulls the same numbers on the same prop as a G-62, a ZDZ 60 pulls a full prop size bigger at the same RPM as the G-62. The power just isn't close, so in my view, it's a pretty easy choice if you can afford one of the specialty high-end motors, and your application needs the most power/weight, then one of the specialty high-end motors is the only way to go, even if they cost more and you have to wait for them.