Tehrab

Greetings everyone. I am just now getting back into RC flight (Last at the controls and flight was in '99) and have been bringing myself up to speed with the newest innovations. One of the intriguing things to me is the apparent advent of viable electric systems for powering our planes. I've done some researching on this forum but the debate always gets very specific to the application at hand. While that conversation is useful, I thought a more generalized review of the two methodologies was in order so, without further adieu, my pro's & con's list:

Fuel Pro's:
[ul][*] Cheaper initial investment[*] Longer flight times[*] No need to recharge[*] Safety, no turning on the plane and having the prop kick up to 8000rpm because the throttle was maxed
[/ul]Fuel Con's:
[ul][*] Long-term costs of fuel[*] More equipment to pack around (glow plugs, starters, plug batteries, pumps, fuel, etc.)[*] Constant cleaning of oiled up models[*] Irregular tuning due to temperature, humidity, altitude, etc.[*] More complex installation (extra servo, rods, fuel lines, etc.)
[/ul]

Electric Pro's:
[ul][*] Cheaper long-term costs[*] Planes are always clean[*] No engine tuning worries[*] Easier to install and configure[*] Not as much stuff to pack around
[/ul]Electric Con's:
[ul][*] Expensive initial investment[*] Easier to harm one's self with a simple mistake[*] Limited flight times per battery charge[*] Long time-to-charge for batteries
[/ul]

I purposely left off stuff like "glow sounds cooler" as that is more a personal preference issue and I would like to keep this list generally accurate. If this winds up prompting a useful discussion, I will try to keep this top list updated with whatever relevant information comes to the surface. Otherwise, what do you all think or have to add to the mix?

Tehrab