ORIGINAL: Ed_Moorman

Jeremy,

My flying buddy and I have built and flown 25 twins and a triple in the past 5 years or so (he builds and I fly). We have tried OS, Magnum, GMS, Thunder Tiger, Fox and maybe a couple of others. We ended up flying nearly all OS.

We found that the biggest thing with multi-engine is engine reliability. And believe me, engine reliability on a single does not transfer to a multi. We had 4 GMS .32s and never could keep both running much more than half the time. I never had one quit on a single engine plane, but on a twin, they were terrible. The same goes for Magnum. The .28s were especially bad on a multi. I don't know what it is, but put 2 engines on the same plane and things start happening. Maybe it's fuel foaming, but whatever it is, some engines are worse that others in a twin.

Also, the smaller engines do worst than the larger ones. The .46 size is more reliable than the .25 size. I had GMS .47s in 2 twins. Good engine in a single. Just not 95% reliable in a twin. I bought 4 OS .46AXs and just flew and flew, no problem.

After trying Magnum .28s and GMS .32s in 3 planes, I gave up. OS .25FXs run perfect. Mine are now on a modified to a twin, Diamond Dust delta. They have Jett tuned mufflers. It goes like all get out and is totally reliable.

Don't knock the LA engines too much. Yes, they are lower power, but they do keep running. We have used OS .40LA, .46LA and .65LA in twins. The 2 LA .40s were in a swept wing canard. A fellow club member just had to have it, so we sold it, but we never had an engine failure.

If you don't think the .25LAs will be enough for your C-130, try the .46LA. They weigh only an ounce and a half more than the .25FX and actually weigh a couple of tenths of an ounce less than the .25 or .32 AX!!! We used to say that the OS .40FP was the best .25 engine made. The LA .40 or .46 will pull a .25 sized plane nicely at a lower cost and no more weight than a ball bearing .32.