Raideron,

Well, you did it, pal. You got me to buy a Katana V2 from OMP, yesterday. They raised the gd price from the net ad by 10 bucks. I can't understand how a profile fuse can be more expensive than a UCD .46, $149, or a Hangar 9 Twist, 99 bucks. I ordered a new SuperTigre .51 for it. Let's keep in touch on how it flies. Mine won't be here and ready for two weeks or so, I suspect.

By the way, my Saito 82a, beloved engine on my Twist, crapped out for the SECOND time. There's about a .003 thousandths movement in the drive shaft when I grab the prop. It starts easily and flies well, no flameouts or backfires, ever. This engine I bought in August, flew for about 500 minutes flying time, then noticed a strange buzz in the air. On the ground, turning the prop, it sounded ugly, messed up. Prop was balanced well. I returned it October 10, and Saito rebuilt it. It was in the air again by the end of that month. It ran very well after the rebuild, then I got that movement in the bearings. Anyone else have a problem with the 82a Saito?

Evidently the Twist forum mentioned folks having problems with the Saito .82a. I suspect they had a bad production run on their bearings--or I just got a lemon. I'll let you know how they respond, but I suspect there's something essentially wrong with the alignment (head, piston, drive shaft, bearing) in the engine I bought. I never even gave that 82a a rough landing! and there is NO reason why those bearings should have failed.

I DETEST down time on my birds because of EXPENSIVE engines failing for no good reason. If you CRASH a bird, that's one thing, but $279 bucks for an engine that fails after 500 minutes of flight is NOT a good investment.

I'm pissed, but 'nough said. I'm going back to 2 strokes. I won't accept anything less than a new engine from Horizon/Saito service center.

Jack