Thanks Sandal for the explanation...that makes perfect sense. My plan now is that I would like to buy an engine that will stay on the plane and not be moved to another plane. I want it to be ready to fly if say, for example, I want to introduce a friend into flying later on down the road who doesn't have a trainer. (without having to reassemble the engine and electronics)

Economy is important to me so the OS .40 LA sounds very attractively priced, but on the other hand I've read lots of negative reviews and comments on RCU regarding this particular engine. I want the engine to hold up for awhile so maybe I need to spend a little more and get a BB motor instead of sleeve bearing.

As far as size and power are concerned, I don't want a plane so docile its boring after getting the hang of flying down a little bit. So I'd like to get as powerful an engine as is feasible. In other words, I want to be able to be a LITTLE sporty but not be so powerful its beyond the capabilities of the airframe and rip the firewall off if I "put the hammer down". Having never flown I don't have any idea how a .40 vs a .46 would feel!

auto5man