I'm not bashing O.S. They make the most reliable motor on the market in my opinion, 2 stoke anyways. Perhaps I should have re-titled this, "beware of your motor because things might be loose from the factory and you will loose compression and your motor might blow up." Some good points are made here and I thank you for your input.
ORIGINAL: ajcoholic
O.S. still makes one of the finest model aircraft engines available - based on all around ease of use/performance/tuning ability/reliability/etc. Are there other engines that run as well? Yes, but a lot of them are also lacking in some dept.
Guys who claim O.S. isnt as good as it used to be - give me a break. I have owned and run 30 to 40 O.S. engines in my now 25+ years in the hobby (along with many other brands to compare to) going back to the baffled iron/steel OS MAx line, and even a few older than that.
WHat exactly are they not as good as? I think, based on all the O.S. engines I have bought, run and flown over the years that today's engines are much superior than what I was buying as a kid.
Today, I can take any off the shelf O.S. engine, break it in in less than an hour, and go flying and be rewarded with a strong running, reasonably quiet engine that runs the same, steady way EVERY time I go flying. So what more do you want for a factory made engine? Their fits are precise, parts quality second to none.
For the record, I dont have a favourite brand and I run a whole lot of other engines I like as much or more. But, they are excellent engines and that fact cannot be argued with any common sense.
I see the same bashing for all my 8 years on here, of O.S. but no one really has anything definite to say. And the ones who know do complain, what are you basing that on? How many O.S. engines have you run and how many other brands?
Anyhow, to the OP - sometimes, mechanical things get loose. I have had back plates loosen, carbs come off or throttle barrels come out in flight. I have had head bolts loosen up as well on more than one occasion and once had a whole cylinder come loose on a gasser.
If we, as modelers, run internal combustion engines, it is OUR responsibility to check that fasteners are tight, and if you cant do that you should learn. Using an Allen wrench is not a difficult thing to do. Do you not check your engine mount bolts from time to time? Or your muffler bolts? Its the same thing.
Regards,
AJC