ORIGINAL: Evil_Merlin
And it still sounds like an electric.
War birds don't hum or whine, they roar.
You also don't have to get a Saito, which we all know tend to be expensive. Go with a small gasser for $199 or so, and it becomes a LOT cheaper and even better sounding than the Saito.
I know my Moki powered H9 P-51 easily got 15 minute flights and that was with Glow. I usually landed with a little less than 1/4 of a tank when I was up for 15 minutes. If I had gone gas, it would have been a lot longer flights and a lot more gas left in the can.
That being said, the CMP Bf109 is a bit small for me, I build bigger. Electrics just can't do large scale as well as gas can.
If you've heard the H9 1.50 P-51 with an e-flite 160 in it, you might change your mind some. It isnt quiet and it sounds decent. But, not like a glow motor. I never said soemone had to use saito. I specifically stated "or whatever glow/gas motor you want". I used the saito just as a cost comparison since those are well known engines(OS arent that much cheaper if at all....magnums are though).
I also never tried to convince anyone that electrics is BETTER. I described WHY im doing this plane the way I am. I also simply showed that it doesnt cost an arm and a leg to do it. Period.
Sure, some cheaper batts are not up to par, but these Zippy-R packs are very well rated and you can get some bad packs even from the name brand stuff.
As far as a small gasser sounding better then a saito? Not even close. Weed wacker esque 2 stroke gas motors dont sound good at all except at idle. The MOKI 2.10 sounds decent on the ground and with the right exhaust, sounds ok in the air, but still has that high WHINE at high throttle rpms. yes I said whine...same term you used for the electric. 2 strokes cannot sound like a real airplane motor....a 4 stroke can sound closer sure, but still not the same unless using something like a MOKI 150cc to 400cc radial.
Again, im not saying electrics is better, not saying glow or gas is better or even 2 or 4 strokes are better then something else. They all have their uses and some ppl prefer certain aspects of their setup over others. No worries. Use what you want.
As a note, I own considerably more 4 stroke motors then i do electrics in larger planes such as this CMP ME-109. I have only 1 electric converted plane aside from this ME-109. The other 10 or so. 60 size and larger are powered by 4 strokes...and all but one are saito's. Only because I am familar with saito.