While the ST engines appear to be cheap--you will soon find out that they are not so cheap.

First off--the carbs suck. It's a subject of much debate here on RCU. Guys like me have tried and tried to get the carbs to run right, but to no avail. Others claim to have no problems with the ST carbs. Maybe it's one of those deals where some guys get a decent carb, and others don't.

In any event, you'll most likely want to replace the carb--or risk crashing the plane during a deadstick landing.

Carbs vary in price. You can buy an OS carb for it--and that will set you back about $60. Or Perry makes some carbs that will work too. They are cheaper.

Another thing you need to consider is your fuel tank. Your going to need something in the neighborhood of a 24oz tank to get any flight time out of that engine. These big glow engines are thirsty. Can you afford to fly it? Can you afford all the glow fuel that it's gonna take to fly the plane as often as you'd like? With a 24oz tank--you won't even get 5 flights out of a gallon of glow fuel. Then it's back to the hobby store for another $15 gallon of fuel. How much do you want to fly? How much can you afford to fly?

Another tank issue:
24oz of fuel weighs quite a bit. If you stick the tank up in the front of the plane--your going to notice that weight during the flights. When you take off, the plane will be very nose heavy. And, as you fly around and burn fuel, the plane will become less nose heavy. This changes the pitch characteristics of the plane. You'll be taking up elevator trim out as the tank gets lower and lower. Personally, I don't like messing with trim tabs. I set my planes up to fly with all trims in the middle, and I dial them in to fly that way. Whacking around with your elevator trim because the tank is getitng low--is a pain in the *****.

So--now you want to think about putting that 24oz tank back on the CG. That way, it won't effect how the plane flies. With the tank on the CG--your plane will fly the same at the neginning of the flight as the end of the flight.

How you gonna pull fuel up to the engine when your tank is 12" or 15" behind the firewall? Glow engines don't have pumper carbs like gas engines do. Your going to need a Cline regulator. Those are $60. If you put the tank on the CG--you can't get around it. You will need a Cline regulator--or it won't run right. Not even close.

So--how much do you have invested in this ST engine now?

$180 for the engine
$60 for a new carb
$60 for a Cline

Your up to $300 again.

I'd buy a conversion gas engine before I'd spend $300 on a big glow engine.

Check this out:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=157207

Thats a 46cc gas engine for $300 and it's brand new. It'll fly your plane--NO PROBLEM

Check the classifieds here on RCU. Lots of 35-45cc gas engines in the $300 price range.