All I ask is that they produce reasonable power, reliably, for a reasonable period of time. Nothing matters after that. Where I have problems is when people buy an engine that either won't start, won't run well enough to pull a plane that fits the engine size, wears out in a week, or physically breaks under normal use in a month or two. That's where a customer gets screwed. If the engine doesn't match any of the biggies in appearence or brute strength, who cares. It only has to work the way it's supposed to.

Many of those looking for the less expensive engines probably simply can't afford the better ones. I understand the point all to well. What hurts is when they have to buy an engine again after a very short period of time because the first one failed for one reason or another. Bearings, cranks, pistons, rings, cylinders, carbs, ignitions, mounting lugs, I've seen them all and none of them should fail in the first 4 to 6 months of casual use when installed and used correctly. Many of those same people don't yet know how to work with gasser components and getting one that won't start or that has severe interference issues doesn't do them any favors either. It's all about making it work for the modeler in a manner than can be enjoyable, not frustrating.

It's not a good deal when you have to buy it two or three times or it's back and forth to a dealer for repairs several times. Worse is when there's no customer support structure in place to take care of issues, which has happened all too often.

Can most agree with that?