ORIGINAL: Aerozona
Mine came with a 18oz tank, new DA-50R, Lawnboy Ashless oil mix 32:1 "break in" ...On my maiden flight I set my timer to 10 minutes and thought that would be a safe place to start. I took her up, did a nice trim-out and was flying great. About 9min. and 8 sec. into the flight the engine sputtered twice and died...dead stick! I thought the engine or ignition may have malfunctioned. Being the maiden flight I had kept plenty of altitude and kept my flying to stright up and down over the runway and turning around at each end. I brought her down no problems and got her into the pit area for a look see. Took the canopy off and what did I find?...a bone dry empty tank!
Did 6 more flights that day at 8min each and checked the tank after every flight...the 8min flight left the plane with virtual fumes on the bottom of the tank each time! I called Kevin Deitrich, talked to him for about 15 min, went and got a nice 32oz tank and the rest is history. I now do 15 to 20 min flights with plenty left in reserve if needed! I fly IMAC pattern so the little extra weight is really nothing to me. [8D]
You can clearly see the BIG diff in tanks!
I'm in the same camp, 18oz just isn't enough for me. My gas comsumption was far greater during break-in than it is now, thankfully had a bigger tank or would have experienced the same. Plus I like knowing there is plenty of reserve if needed. Fly mostly IMAC pattern as well, but it has no problem w/3D either. My plane is well under 17lbs, (16.4 or 16.6 dry), so weight isn't an issue.