Yup ... this guy is British for sure!!! How about a Webra?

If your on that subject, a British company make their own range of two stroke engines, and are surpose to be very good (must be the local engineering).Heres their link

[link=http://www.justengines.co.uk]www.justengines.co.uk[/link]

Check out their J'en .56,superb!

I depends on what version of os engines you get. the la are made for inexperienced modelers that dont need powerful engines. sure the price of the engines is more than others but you get what you pay for. I didn't mean to bad talk saitos. they run good but I think I just got lemons.

LA 40 has to be one of the great engines out there, mine is 5 years old and still runs good, for all of you that just left your trainer and went to the next level, save your LA 40 for a DAZZLER as your 3 or 4 plane by then you will know better how to get the best out of this great engine and ; if you switch to a 46FX 12.5 X3.75 or 12X4 or 11x6 just like I did, your pocket will burned a little bit when you find out the small difference it actually makes and the money you spent.- Now a days my LA 40 is in an old timer!!

MDS is in my black list, I will not buy another one, bad carburator, do not last.

40LA Great Engine for SPAD's Mangnum 91FS Just a Great Running engine. I Have two. OS120 FS another reliable power house. OS 46 FX The best 40 - 46 size. Super Tiger 90 2S Best Bang for the Buck, I have two in planes no problems.

Quixote:

I can't let that stand. Some of you may remember when MDS went to the "Eights," having all engine displacements end in an eight. The engine in the pictured plane was bought just before that, seven years or so back, maybe eight, and it still runs like new. You can't tell me "Bad carb" or "Do not last."

To me, "LA" is just another way to spell "Crap." At least as far as engines are concerned.

Bill.

la crap how does that match up !!!! L=Lot A=Aggravation

FP:

I suppose if you're walking through the feed lot at a meat packing plant you would want to be careful where you stepped, so it could mean Look Around and you can find a lot of the smelly sort of LA crap. Repeating, be careful not to step in it.

Haw.

Bill.

Wow. So much hate over the LA. I personally think this engine meets or exceeds in it's design. I have 4 LAs a few GPs and one or two FPs. Not much difference it there performance. All OS LA perform well, but perhaps I have been fortunate.

My worst engine would have to be the Meccoa .46. I understand the newer ones are much better, but I had one 5 years ago and the carburator was terrible. High end and low end were good, but the test in engineering is the midrange and that was awlfull!

i would like to add the .46 la engine to the list of "piece of crap engines"
When i first bought it, (my first engine ever, first time flying) it never ran right from the start. it sounded horrible and sickly, it vibrated a lot, (so much that it caused my isolated tank to foam) and it never had any power. it also deadsticked quite often, maybe about 1 out of every two flights, and it would not matter where it was in the throttle range, it would simply die. i was getting really fed up with this engine, and nobody at our field could figure it out. (i never landed this plane and we never had a prop strike) eventually, it managed to vibrate it's own propeller loose, it over revved and died. i am not kidding, it vibrated it loose and it spun free on the shaft. at the time i was into the habbit of checking my prop nut after every flight, so it was not loose and there was no warning. from then on i loathed this engine and vowed never to buy one again. i then sent it back to os who said it was our fault but they would repair it because they were so nice, and sold it on ebay for $20 more than i bought it for in the 1st place. i then turned around and bought a .46 fx and i never looked back. the la engines are much to expensive for what you get out of the deal, and i will never buy another one and i would also strongly urge others to stay away from them as well.

Theres good engines, theres bad engines, everyone has there own opinion about engines.
Dont forget that some engines perform better when they are on an angle too, and some have fuel injection, some dont, fuel injection is a waste of hard earned money if you are just sport flying.
Here is my 2 cents worth though,

Pros.....................Cons
L.A- reliable not as durable
M.D.S- inexpensive dont run half the time
FX seriese- more power drain your tanks

As you can see engine have there goods and thee bads, just like anythnig else that is on the market.

Jim

take a look at the post just above you. do you call my la engine reliable?

Has anyone had much experience with the Evolution Engines? My Brother has the .46NT on an Ugly Stick, and man I have sure been impressed with it. I havn't been around to many other Flyers who use this engine on much except for an occasional new RTF Hangar 9 Trainer that shows up at the field. I am here to tell you though that it pulls that .60 size ugly stick around like it was a .40 size. It idles well, and the transition from idle to full throttle is great. I know this is a "bad engine" discussion, but I was just curious if there have been many people that have had a bad experience with the EVO Engine? It sure seems like a winner to me. There is surely someone out there who can say that this engine is crap!

I've done side-by-side tach tests with the EVO .46, an OS .46 FX, a TT .46 Pro & an OS .46 AX -- all about the same output, give or take 50 rpm. Make your choice. Price may be a big consideration here & the FX would be the loser on price, but a new FX could be hard to find now.

I have only seen the Evo 46 on a trainer once, was a Phoenix Classic trainer and the engine was running very well and had speed and torque. Impressive enough.

i like the evos. they are so much like the .46 fx too.

Latest RCReport has a review of the Evo 40 and 46NT engines. They also referred to their earlier review of the Evo TPS. Conclusion of the review? The TPS is the best of the lot. Priced the same as the Evo 40, and more powerful than the Evo 46NT. What's more, the TPS comes with a prop, spinner, and glow plug. All for the same price as the Evo 40. Can't beat the deal.

Bill.

O.S. .46 LA is a great little engine. Ran fine right out of the box and the idle just kept getting better. Removed the muffler baffle and run 15% nitro. Works great in my Avistar and all my SPADS. Cheap, easy to tune, will keep running for a long time!

Such a good discussion going here I hate to see it get buried down the list! I am still very interested to know what is the absolute worst engines you can buy!

The O.S LA is getting a pretty bad rap on here by some, but from my experience of owning one I just can't see this as the worst engine. Sure maybe a TT GP 42 might be a little better buy for the money for this engine type and class, but I don't don't believe that the LA's are that bad if used for the right application. Mine runs like a champ! Its not a real powerhouse, but it has been dependable. It hasn't cost me a Plane yet due to a deadstick, so that has to count for something in my eyes. The only issue I could believe about this engine is an issue of cost, but other than that I can't see to much bad in one of these engines. Just about all O.S engines are a tad overpriced in my book, but generally they have a pretty good rep and can afford to be a bit higher in price because of demand. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I just don't see the LA as an engine to avoid at all cost!

Unfortunately, I started the LA criticism in post #4 and things have wandered around a bit. As I said there, it isn't a bad engine & as ckangeroo has noted, the LA runs just fine. The problem is that it just isn't worth the price, since there are equal or better engines in the same market segment at significantly lower cost -- hence it should be avoided.

I'm sorry I started it -- the topic got hijacked by the LA issue. Let's beat on something else for a change.

Take your choice. From what we have read here practically every manufacturer has made bad engines. On the other hand, each engine damned by some has been staunchly defended by others.

If conclusions are to be drawn from all this it would seem that:

A. No manufacturer is immune from producing an occasional unsatisfactory product.

B. It is important that the engine be properly matched to it's intended usage and the skills/preferences of the owner and,

C. Some of the less well known engines are real gems and bargans to boot.

jess

Ill send you my engine and see if doesnt run well, and reliably

Proving once again, any manufacturer can make some good ones and a few bad ones.

jess

Quadra 200 . They don't make as much horsepower on 90% nitro as the Herbrandson 196 does. It only makes about 46 horsepower and only spins a 24X21.55 prop at 12,365 rpm's . Spend the $961more and get an extra 157 rpm's to make it 6.33 mph faster! You won't regret it!