Hi Pearl,

My PC9 takes plenty of time to get off the ground with the 72 FS at the front, as I said before when we put the plane together we had a Magnum 52FS in the front and the plane flew but that is all it would do, if you tried to do a loop or roll it would fall out of the move. We then moved on to a Thunder Tiger 54FS and that was marginally better. We only fitted the 72 because we are trying to get our Gold Wings and the plane needed some authority and the previously mentioned motors just didn't do it. I too like planes to fly in a scale like manner and I can assure you the the PC 9 is not a plane to fly slowly with, if you want to do that sort of thing the a Great Planes PT19 will do the job, mine flies very nicely with a 48 OS FS up front. It is a putt putt type aircraft that just flies nice and slowly and is impressive in the sky. I am not by any means a speed merchant, my planes include a P26 Peashooter, a Taylorcraft (both with 120 FS motors) a Phoenix Tiger 60 and a Black Horse T28D Trojan(both with 90FS motors). My son flies Pylon racers I don't . They are way to fast and noisy for me. I have several scale planes in the cupboard. So speed is not what I am all about. The general consensus in this forum appears to be that the PC9 will not fly with a 40LA motor up front and I would think that the fuel problem has as much to do with the engine as anything else. The engines I have fitted have all worked just fine in the inverted position, there was never a fuel related problem and the tank sits exactly where it was designed to sit with no alterations. The props used were all within normal ranges and the 72 FS does not do allow the plane to hang on the prop or anything like that.

I have seen a PC9 fly, we have a RAAF team here called the Roulettes that have these planes, they do not fly slowly so you may have the wrong idea about flying a PC9 in a scale like manner, they are fast, they are manouverable, just the shape of them should tell you that, they will loop and roll and do all moves, they fly in formation and are a wonderfull aircraft. Rather than waste a plane like that with a motor like the LA40 post it to me and I will put the right motor into it and fly it like it is meant to be flown. Just for the record I have been flying for around 10 years, so I am not new at this. The PC 9 is not meant to fly at warp speed but it needs to be pulled around at a speed somewhat faster than a snail crawling across concrete or it will just stall and fall out of the sky. You have inspired me to take my spare PC9 out of the cupboard and build it. It to will have a Saito 72 in the nose and will fly beautifully unlike yours which I see ending up as a mass of toothpicks in a big plastic bag simply because 20 years of experience doesn't seem to have taught you a great deal. You can not fly planes that are designed to fly relatively quickly at slow speeds. Without the fast flow of air over the wings they will not stay in the sky for very long. That is why fighter jets with small wings need to move very quickly, to keep airflowing over the wings and create lift

Thats my opinion and in a democracy I am entitled to have that opinion.