If the manufacture is from Japan, I can understand why the product would be more costly than from China. In Japan, one is paying the Japanese labor rate, which is considerably higher. Also, the US money value has eroded in comparison to other 1st world nations.

Does this mean I buy OS? Of course not, I must remain within budget, too. There is one plus to OS though, that is parts are readily available.

Given that electric power plants, ESC's and batteries have dropped considerably in price, the smaller engines of half-A's to .15's have for the most part evaporated from the major hobby houses, except for Cox International, NV Engines and a few others.

The Small 1/2A glow engines were never a big seller, OS still has the .10 and .15 in the LA series and the .25AX. Other then a few of the House of Balsa planes I only used the smaller .15s in planes like the Gentle Lady or Butterfly. I still have a few .25s from a clubs racing series. I agree, sense the advent of good batteries there is even a smaller call for the little glow engines.
Higher wages in Japan is a reason for the higher costs but you also have to think about the quality of the machining, metallurgy of the castings and steel. Japan makes the finest steel in the world and little things like that bring up the price.
I haven't bought OS in years due to the cost but I still pick up there four strokes used and rebuild them for my own use. I do like having quality products. Because I almost never use two strokes these days I have had very fine service from the cheaper products from China. I just won't recommend them to anyone new to the hobby.

Except that when you need to buy O.S. parts, their costs are about that of a whole new engine.

If you have to replace a cylinder and liner, you may as well purchase a whole TT engine instead.

brhinaz,
If you are lookinf for a good cheap engine your best bet is Thunder Tiger Pro engines. They cost less than the OS engines and are alot easier to get going out of the box. I'm not saying OS is a bad engine but they do cost more and can be abit more contankerous if you know what I mean lol.

Basically IMO parts costs have always been that way more or less. Besides, what better excuse for a new engine than when the old is worn out?

+1 Very good engines and often better then the OS. In one racing class the engines used were the PRO line .46 and they smoked the OS. Ran great right out of the box. As for ease of operation they were just as easy. I just gave away my last one last year. If I needed a new .46 I would pick one up without thinking about it.

+2

Yup. Good engines. I wish they would come out with more sizes.

hello all, just wondering who makes the glow engines for tower hobbies, what is everyones experience with them.  i know o.s. is or has usually been the bench mark for glow engines, but they are usually twice as much as everyone elses.  ie. ( evolution / tower hobbies / super tigers )  looking for a good replacement to put into my <font color="#000000">hobbico</font> hobby star .60 trainer and make it much more of an advanced trainer   thinking about the .75 sizes ?

thanks again for all the upcoming info, help




thanks all for the info so far.  2nd question.   if im looking for something equivilant the to the o.s. .75 for my 60 size trainer,  what should i look for.  is thunder tigers my best bet if i dont want to pay the o.s. price. ?

Fox makes a 74. If you trade in an old engine (any brand, working or not) they will sell the 74 to you for half their list price, which makes it a good deal. The new Fox carb is problem free. Only down side is that their stock muffler is on the loud side. If you have a sound limit at your field like I do then you may need to rig up a better muffler. www.foxmanufacturing.com Their website is not great, call them for details. They are very helpful.

If you are not totally preferable to go in with either a Tower Hobbies engine, or a Super Tigre, or Thunder Tiger, would you consider a Kangke? They have awesome prices and their engines are well built. I bought a engine from this place over a year ago and I have to confess that I have not had a opportunity to finish my project to mount my engine that i bought from them but they are worth considering. This same company use to sell what use to be called Tiger Shark engines that had a very limited production run if i remember correctly.

http://www.kangkeusa.com/indexo.htm

hello again.  i recently received a response from a member who suggested i go to <font color="#00265e">http://www.kangkeusa.com/indexo.htm</font>  and check out there engines.  i defenitely like the range of sized engines they have, but being somewhat of a begginer, not really familiar with the names of sk or the other brand jba.  both engines in the .75 to 1.00 size range are very well priced.  does anyone have any experience with them. ?  from what iv seen on the net and youtube, jba is possibly a china or korean built engine, not sure where sk is built.  with both of there prices being aproximately the same which company would you guys go with.  and is there an american company out there that possibly makes an affordable glow engine ?  again, thanks so much for everyones help.  iv been learning some good info
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Yes... Fox is made in the US. And with a trade-in they are very competitive in price.

List price on the .74 is $230.  Half of that is still up there compared to say a Magnum / ASP .90.  Come on, $230!  I think most of the recent motors are OK.  Most of them are CNC made and are to close tolerances, compared to even 10 years ago.  Most of the motors aren't perfect but perform well for what they are designed for.  The chinese motors were kind of variable quality 20 years ago, but so were Thunder Tigers and even OS 35 years ago.

How's it going everyone?

Been working on my new hobby website at:

http://www.craftandhobbysupply.com

It's still a work in progress but I feel it's reached the point to go live.

Several products including ARF planes, SK and JBA engines are populated and ready to go!
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