Interesting post. It would seem that this has been a fairly common thing for as far back as I can remember in the hobby..not just with engines either.

Some clubs were "Strictly K&B"....some strictly Enya....etc, et al.

There's a thousand angles to view it from, but I really believe the popularity of one product over another in a particular group stems from people's tendency to purchase the same brands of items others are having success with. Herd mentality, but it winds up being self perpetuating with each successive generation of modelers in a group buying what the guy before him recommended, etc.

We did the same thing. If Dad was a "Chevy Man"....you likely were as well. Why do teenagers love Hondas? Because the OTHER teenagers love them. So on and so forth.

Local availabilty of a particular brand doesn't hurt either, and here...Great Planes (OS) and Horizon (Saito) have done a swell job in making their products highly accessible. Mail-order is fine, but from what I see....the vast majority of guys would rather buy something they can have right now-today! Go to the hobby shop and you're greeted with OS & Saito. It's no mystery what they'll walk out with. Two key elements have been met: 1) I saw this item work really well, and 2) It's for sale right in front of me.

At least from what I've seen in a good many years in a variety of locales...OS is far and away the dominant (most commonly seen) 2C engine. It's a bit of a toss-up with the 4Cs, but I'd probably give the nod to the Saito...just because they have a larger assortment of displacements to choose from.

Tomorrow? when some new guy stops by the field and sees the OS & Saitos merrily flying around...he'll be buying one too.

The cycle repeats.