I flew my F-18C with wing drop tanks and wing tip missles fitted with a 30 lb thrust turbine and it offered plenty of thrust for me.... More power is always nice to have but the penalty is having to carry a higher fuel load/weight which generally mean shorter flights as well. 27-30 lb thrust is a good match for most of the popular 1/8 scale F-18C bugs in my opinion.

Cheers- Marty