Hi Rich,

As I said in the write-up, this is not a petrol conversion. It is a CDI conversion, but I'm still running glow fuel.

The YS170CDI and the YS170 CDI conversion kit engines also still run glow fuel, not petrol. This is to keep the performance at the same level - power would be reduced by converting to petrol and, lets face it, you don't go to the trouble of running a YS unless you need the power.

Unfortunately, the YS170 CDI conversion kit is around 175 pounds (200+ USD) and needs some machining to make it fit a YS160.


You may ask why convert to CDI but still run glow fuel? For me, from my YS experiences, two reasons:

: smoother tickover, easily at 1700rpm, and gorgeous mid-range
: fuel consumption somewhere around 60% to 75% of glow ignition flying F3A pattern schedules (this is because the engine can be leaned out, particularly in the mid-range, without detonation). I have gone from burning 21oz in a 10m flight to burning around 16oz for the same flight.

Top-end power is unaffected, neither better nor worse.

Hope this clarifies things. Obviously no need to change o-rings etc since still running glow fuel.

A