Delivered a LOT of newspapers to buy my first "real" r/c engine...a Fox .25 (no muffler) in 1977. Kids don't read instructions so mine ran like garbage. That's OK...I have a bunch of NIB ones now...we'll try again at some point.

Fox .36 R/C. Another that succumbed to the teenager 'I don't need instructions" syndrome. Wound up trading it off for something less memorable. I have more....we'll try again with this model too sometime.

Fox .40 "B" frame. YOU try and hand start one of these buggers at -20F OAT. You'll come away with about 3 functioning fingers on both hands combined. Power out the Wazzoo when it did run.

McCoy .35 Series 21 R/C. Bought NIB at a swap meet in Gaylord, Michigan in the late '70s. Ran like a dream. Many, many happy flights with that motor.

HB .40PDP. Circa 1981. Dream boat right out of the box...
Heavy as a tank, but ran flawlessly.

HB .50 (later "PDP'd" at Drapers R/C in CT) Ran real good until I crashed the bejeezus out of it.

OS .46SF (ring). Wonderful motor. Hundreds and Hundreds of flights. No trouble ever. Sold it like an idiot.

OS.61SF (ring). Equally satisfying engine. Not as powerful as I'd have liked, but dependable in the extreme.

OS 1.20 FS. A real pig. Got rid of it quick.

ST G34. Cute little motor. Spent a while figuring out that the "low speed needle set at the factory" was actually screwed down shut. Once we were past that...it was a jewel.

ST G4500. I really need to run that someday!

OS .70. I have 3 dating all the way back to the first introduction of the Surpass series. The perfect 4C IMO. One of OS's best engines, and perhaps my favorite thus far.

K&B .20/.28/.65 Sportsters. Super motors. Underated big time.

Another host of Fox .40's (TN/EZ/BB/BSH)....Love 'em to death.

ASP .61 (early version). I can't believe they were allowed to sell these things. Useless as supplied. Horrid carburetor...more leaks than an old tuna boat. Threw it in a box.

MVVS .61. Power out the *****. Idles like a watch. Fussy with the old design carb, but....I got over it.

Saito .56. Jury's still out on this one.

Plus...there's been a whole bunch of others intermingled in there.

I buy engines because I LIKE THEM. I don't care what anyone else thinks. I have bad spot for "clones" and thus stay away as best I can. It's a philosophical thing with me. I've had plenty of successes...and just as many failures, but I've enjoyed every minute of it all.

Kinda strange this hobby is... I can create a time line of my life with model engines.

Wouldn't have it any other way!



'Race