I have it on very good authority that the jolly ol fat guy will be sliding down the chimney this year with a Dragon Lady 60-90 under his plump little arms. I have a perfectly good OS .60 I could put in it. However that is at the bottom of the suggested engine size range for this model, and well you know how it is, new plane, new motor right?. I've never had a 4-stroke & I really love the sound & look of the Saito. I can get a brand new OS .91FX & Pitts muffler to go with it, or I could get the Saito 125 or 120 all for about the same amount of money. I'd like to give the Saito a try but I'm no engine tuning guru, & I know how easy the OS is to get running smoothe & nice. So what you do? Thanks in advance. Merry Christmas!![sm=tongue.gif]


Mark


P.S. I kinda had the OS .60 earmarked for a Venture 60 kit that I still plan on building when Bruce does another run of kits. He said sometime after the new year.

For gosh sakes... get the 125. We will help you get it going. They are in stock at Tower. (Correction... I ment to say Horizon. Tower doesn't have Saito's. --Jim)

Enjoy,

Jim

Get the Saito. I have a 72 and 82 and LOVE them.

OK, for the tuning part.

All the Saitos I have encountered prefer a MINIMUM of 10% nitro. They seem happiest with a 15% - 20% nitro and will digest 30% nitro with no problems. The instructions say 20% oil. I have had no problems with Powermaster or Byron's (about 17% - 18% oil ).

The Saito should run fairly decent right out of the box. You will definitely need to break the engine in though. For the breakin AND for tuning afterwards you will need a tach. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for breaking and you will be fine. I would not recommend trying to tune the engine by "ear". After about a gallon and 1/2 - 2 gallons of fuel through the engine, or if the power starts dropping off, check your valve clearances and adjust them. It is not hard to do if you know which end of a screw driver to hold and how to use a wrench.

When you are flying the plane (and during breakin also ) remember this - The engine NEEDS to be making "smoke" at all speeds to avoid the possibility of a lean run.

While many people suggest using an all synthetic oil, I prefer and use a castor/synthetic blend. Yes, I get staining on the muffler, however, the peace of mind I get from the castor against a lean run is worth it to me.

Thanks for the info Campy, w8ye, I wasn't even aware that Tower carried the Saito line, all I ever see under their 4-stoke section is OS, YS, & Magnum if I remeber right. Guess I better look again.

I said above I could get them for about the same $$$ I was mistaken, the Saito will be about $100 more than the OS .91FX w/pitts muffler. Thanks again guys.


Mark

Saito is distributed by Horizon Hobbies (not Tower).
EXCAP232

EXCAP, Yes that is what I thought, let me ask you this do you think the OS .91 surpass II would have enough power for this plane? This one is the same price as the OS .91 FX w/ the pitts muffler, If I go 4 stroke I can use the stock muffler. I understand that a 2-stoke revs higher & produces more raw HP, & the 4-stroke has more torque allowing it to swing a larger prop. Do I have that right? And if so will the .91 surpass II be enough? The 4-stroke reccomendation for the Dragon Lady is 80 -120 I believe. I don't need a real stump-puller on this thing as I am still flying my Trainers, just a good strong engine that will pull out of my inevital mistakes as I make the transition to low-wing tail dragger. Please let me know your thoughts on this, if this would work well I could get it for over $100 less than the bigger Saito. Thanks in advance. I only got one shot at this so I wanna make the right choice.


Mark

I'm just speculating here, but with a 66" wing, and judging from your experience, I would say that an OS 91 will fly it in a way that you would be very comfortable with. It won't give you unlimited vertical, but it will fly it very nicely.

An added benefit is that later on, there are TONS of planes that the 91 will fly extremely well, without eating you alive in fuel costs, and most 90 size planes transport easily.

So a lot boils down to - What size planes do you want to be flying 5 years from now, Big 120 size, or medium 90 size?

For crying out loud, if you are considering a .91 sized four stroke, then go with the magnum. Just as much, or more, power as the OS, and for a lot less $$. Regular price for the magnums is 199 dollars at hobbypeople.net, which saves you plenty of money to buy the pitts for it, and your still money ahead of the OS. Sometimes the magnums go on sale. I've seen them several times for 179 dollars, and we (as a family) loaded up on them when they went on sale for 149 dollars once. Never had a lick of trouble out of any of them, and they are easy to tune.

BTW, the .91 sized four stroke will haul this plane around nicely. I would recommend a .91 sized four stroke for any plane up to about 8 lbs. Over that, and you probably need to go bigger. 7.5 is really optimal, IMO.

Ok well I just got off the phone with Global because I couldn't find an all up weight for this thing anywhere. They told me 8 to 9 lbs[:@]


Mark

2slow, point well taken on the price of the magnum. It is $50 cheaper than the OS, I've allways been a big fan of OS engines, & no only what you've just told me about Magnum's. I've never owned owned one but I have some OS engines that were my Dad's that still run like bank robber, & they're all from 20 to 30 years old. The only new up to date one I have is on the NexStar & it runs great too! I'll probably stick with what I know & trust. With the discounts I can get right now I can get the OS for only about $10 to $15 more than the magnum. I need a home for a nice set of graphics that RcKen sent me any way, "powered by OS" lol so that clinches the deal. Thanks for the good advice guys I really appreciate it, I'm still trying to figure out what prop to swing with it.


Mark

I'm haveing the same dilema with engines for the same plane, I'd like to try a 4 stroke for the first time but can't really afford it, 2 strokes are cheaper but don't have the torque like the 4 strokes, any advise would be greatly apreasiated

Hi Glide, You may wanna try the Market-Place here in RCU. I ended up with a NIB Saito 100 for less than I could have bought the OS .91 II Surpass, & only a couple $$ more than the Magnum.
While I was pretty well convinced that the .91s would have been sufficient, I just couldn't pass that deal up. The 100 will have a little more power while sharing the same mounting dimentions of the OS .91, & suppose to weigh about 2oz less. So it might be worth a try sometimes ya get lucky, it happened to me.

If you really think about it, the 4-stroke isn't all that much more money than a 2-stroke unless you go with a really inexpensive brand 2-stroke. With any of the above 4-stroke choices we've been looking at, you can use the stock muffler. Any 2-stroke you choose & you can add on the price of a pitts type muffler to go with it. I know @ Tower Hobbies the OS .91 2-stroke & pitts muffler came out to be just about the same price as the OS .91 II Surpass. So I say go for it & get the one you really want!

By the way, the Dragon Lady is going together very nicely, I can't post any pics right now because someone we tried to help decided they needed the digital cam more than we did. No good deed goes un-punished apparrently. Just waiting for the Saito 100 to arrive so I can start working on mounting it.

Minn, The manual for this plane states that if going with a 120, I might want to change out the motor-mount to an adjustable aluminum mount. Should I probably go that route with the 100 as well? Thanks in advance.


Mark