To all those that replied to my “Toy” post…I wasn’t referring to all small planes as being “toys.” Indeed, I’ve seen some very powerful and well performing small models. I even have a small ~30" span plane that does over 300MPH (but it's not electric.) What I was eluding to was the many RTF packages found in the LSH and elsewhere that come with some brushed electric setup with NiMH batteries. Most of these I’ve seen really suck and fall into the “toy” category as far as I’m concerned. But it is not the electric part per se that is at fault, it is the specific setup they choose for that model which sucks.

You can get 1HP+ motors with speed controllers for about $275. This is more $ than just the OS46AX glow engine, but there is other stuff you need with the glow such as tank, lines, servo, glow plugs, etc. At the glow engine will reduce the life of on board equipment such as servos, RX, etc, due to vibration. When all is considered, it think motor vs motor is about a wash, even at this size. The kicker is cost per flight, i.e. battery costs and life vs glow fuel.

Cheers