I heard that DA had to quit selling 3W because they wouldn't give them parts because they wanted an east coast distributor (Aircraft International). Like you said, it is all a matter of opinion. Wouldn't it be boring if EVERYONE flew the same thing?

PS- Your comment on RCTeens (Staudonkey) was pretty funny. I liek that, even though I like Staudachers.

Dave Johnson: In 1992, I decided to start a side business, Desert Aircraft, to import, market and service the 3W motors.

It was a back yard company and profits were slim to none for the first few years. My other business carried Desert Aircraft during this time. Bryan Gillmore transferred from the old business to Desert Aircraft early on where we put his mechanical skills to immediate use. All profits from motor sales went to marketing and buying larger quantities of motors. Eventually, it became obvious that I needed to focus 100% of my efforts on one business or the other. I decide to close my original business and concentrate my time and efforts on Desert Aircraft.

During our partnership with 3W over the next 6 years, 3W engines became the giant scale engine of choice. Like many partnerships, we started to have different ideas as to how things should be done. Among other things, I didn't care for the direction things were going. In April of 1998 we reached the end and left 3W.

Rather than leave the motor business and all of our knowledge behind, we decided to develop our own line of high performance engines. We knew the market well, and knew what we liked, and didn't like, with the other motors on the market. We felt we could make the best motor and set out to do it, with the ultimate goal of our motor powering a winning plane at the Tournament of Champions.

I enlisted the help of Dave von Linsowe to help draft and engineer the DA150. Seven months later, Jason Shulman flew the first prototype on the Tuesday following the 1998 TOC.


Thanks but I think it was Adam that called his plane the Staundonkey first. It is pretty funny though.

Chris 540.....

Yup its all opinion
I have heard of DA's giving out in a torque roll .
It happened to I think Blaine Austin i think a while ago , and he flys with DA engines , you also have to take into consideration that some people don't take very good care of their engine's , like running bad fuel and not checking them every once and a while .
I think about 15% or more of all engine failures DA , 3W , and all others related are caused by people who don't take care of them .

Or people running coolpower in them..... lol

I think its just poor care , then again every once in a while engines go out on the pros, so its not always poor care .

3W's 100, the current model and the new 106 weigh exactly the same as DA's 100... I had them both on the scale last night... 5lbs.-13ozs. with prop bolts, washer and spark-plugs....

As many have attested to both brands have failures, I have personally experienced it with DA and 3W unilaterally...

There were several DA failures at this year's TOC not including Chip's prototype 4 cyl-200. There was also one 3W failure that I am aware of.

There really is very little difference in these beasts, proper installation, care and handling will reward you. Recognizing when you have a problem is beneficial too....

As far as engine outs while torque rolling goes, its a setup thing. Carb adjustment's, baffling, propeller choice, FUEL SUPPLY and knowing when enough is enough. Ultimately everything mentioned is related to over-heating the engine. These are not engine failures these are pilot/mechanic error's.

Assuming all other things equal, I'd go with DA on customer service alone. Dave & the gang are always very helpful and even though they stay very busy they've always made time to talk when I call. Cactus, on the other hand, seems to always have that "yea, whatever - ok, cya later" attitude and they never quite get orders right. Anyway, that's MHO, I'm sure there's others that'll say right the opposite.

Quote by Acroman330 >

Cough, cough, 3W...

Just kidding. I personally prefer 3W to DA, but that's just me. It's like JR or Futaba, Ford or Chevy, or Carden or Aeroworks. It's all a matter of opinion, and I agree with OUTCAST you should check the specs and find the right engine for you.



DA
JR
FORD
CARDEN



Doug

They say a picture is worth a thousand words! "This is what happens when a borrowed 3W engine quits in a torque roll".That quote is directly from Blaine's site.
Mike

I had an OS and YS quit on me once, that means they are terrible engines!

Well.. I wouldn't "borrow" a big bazooka engine to put on my OWN $$$$$ bird ::bananahea !!! endo of deal

Regards,
Patrick

I once had a mds fail on me several times in a row what does that mean ?

Well, its an MDS!

MDS...3W...they both suck.

Chris, you seem a little opinioniated!!

i have 3w and da and i prefer da 100 %

check on toc guys and count 3w besides DA flyer's


and i think they know how to 3d also check champion engine
is a DA prototype

Have you ever noticed that 3W offers a "TOC"version and a standard version?If you ask Dave Johnson about a "TOC"version,he'll more than likely tell you all his engines are "TOC"quality.He says the engines the TOC guys get are the same as the ones we get.I am not going to argue that point,but so far he has given me no reason to doubt him.
Mike

Well i kind of dought that we get the same as the TOC guys. They are there in a huge competion, and the hobby company's are marketing their products to US. So you know everyone is trying to make their stuff look as good as possible. I hate to say this but i got out of golf to do this hobby and i even if i tried i could'nt get Tiger Woods type clubs......!!!

...

Lemme tell you guys something....you're right about DA TOC motors.....there is something special about them. Well, all but mine and Chips.

DA TOC Pilots get:
A DA-150, that has been test run (in the batch of 20 that is or has been built when they call), put on a packaging table, randomly grabbed off the table, and shipped off. So ask yourself this....did you get one of my TOC motor's....probably so, and here's why...

Jason's 2 TOC motors:
Of the 3 that I had, only 1 was a off the shelf motor...#330 (wanna guess why...LOL). The other 2 motors I had/have this year were.....ready for this......old customers motors! See, my TOC motor's are one of those "special" motors. They were broken-in and run by customers, who then decided they wanted the new look DA 150 and swapped them out for the new case version. So, my TOC motors are, just what everyone else gets (or at least used to before the new lightened case), literally.

Chip's motor:
Well, it was a 2 of a kind. They are NOT production or gonna be production motors, yet (the way it was done for him was only to get him through the TOC). I believe there will be a 4 cylinder 200, but only after it's designed (yeah, Chip's motor wasn't technically designed yet).

So, as for the TOC line of DA motors....you'll have to just buy one from a TOC pilot to get a "TOC'd" DA 150. If you get them to sign it, you'll have the DA TOC Signature Version DA 150...LOL

Hope this helps.....

[QUOTE by Jason] >So, as for the TOC line of DA motors....you'll have to just buy one from a TOC pilot to get a "TOC'd" DA 150. If you get them to sign it, you'll have the DA TOC Signature Version DA 150...LOL [/QUOTE]


Know that whould be cool, the signature version!!


Doug

So what about my mds engine?