I just got back from the BARCS flying field in Richmond, California a couple hours ago. I was flying my RTF Avistar with the OS 40LA when another flyer showed up with an Avistar with an OS52 Surpass four stroker. It was quite an eye opener to see the difference in the performance of the two planes. While the top speeds of the two planes were fairly similar the four stroker had much, much better acceleration.

This totally blew my preconceptions about the 4c vs. 2c thang. I realize that the 40 LA is not a true sport motor and a 40FX would probably be significantly faster but the Surpass seemed to have half again as much low end and mid-range grunt. To top it off, if there was any significant difference in weight between the two planes I couldn't see it in the flying characteristics. Actually, the solid mid-range really helped the 4c pull out of stalls and loops much more effortlessly and gracefully.

Anyway, I'm a novice flyer and now I beginning to see why people like the four strokers so much:

1. Stump yanking low end
2. Solid mid-range
3. A really nice sound

....My two cents worth.

Big Mike