I am just in the process of finishing a cessna 177 from arc modelfly and
I was going to power it with an OS 61 FX or a G 75 Super Tiger. I will probably
put floats on this plane and the extra power of the Super Tiger will come
in handy. I know OS makes a good engine but I know little about the Super Tiger.
I would like to know what you think. thanks lou.

OS is obviously a good quality engine that you cannot go wrong with. I've owned a few and they are great. I also have a Super Tigre G-45 with a Macs muffler in my Sig SE and it is the best engine I have ever owned. It idles perfect, transitions well and turns some excellent RPM's. After every flight, someone comes up to take a look and ask about the engine. I've heard about others having bad luck with Super Tigres but my experience has been great. It did require alot more breaking in thatn any OS I've owned though.

G'day Lou,
This is my opinion ONLY, but if you want a motor that has good power, good transition, good idle, & is very reliable once run in, go for an OS.
An OS 61FX or 91FX, is very hard to beat.
Remember, you get what you pay for.

The muffler system on the Super Tiger is another reason why I
am thinking of going with this engine as the plane is made of ABS
plactic I will be able to angle the muffler away from the plane better.

os makes good engines but they are over priced,i think most of the name brand engines are as good if not better.i own several of each engine and cant say much bad about them they all have something that is unique about them

O.S.!.......I heard that the "Super Tigre" is not built by the same mfg. that they used to be built by. O.S. is very reliable by my exp.Use a deflector by Dur-Bro.That's just my opinion.[sm=72_72.gif]

G'day Mate,
The ST mufflers are huge, get an OS, & just get a Bisson Pitts style muffler, & run it at 90 Degrees from upright, muffler out the bottom,
Overpriced or not I still believe in getting what I pay for.
And that is not a Chinese ST.

I'm no O.S. fanboi, but I echo alan0899's opinion if I had to choose between those two. Notably the bit about good power, good transition, good idle. With O.S. .61FX you can have it all.

In the age of the "46 with the power of a 60" and "53, ..or 55 ...the power of a 60 in 46 case" advertising, it doesn't help the image that 60's are also an unfashionable capacity to own and fly right now. Plus the O.S. 61FX suffers from FX association with the woes which beleagured both its sibling .46 (peeling liner) and .91 (bubbles in remote fuel feed) plus an poor image of not being a constantly proclaimed a ".61 powerhouse" in the long since its release not interested magazine reviews or in promotional advertising as O.S. minimises focus on the ABN FX series as they are gradually superseded by the AX and ABL. Flown many examples of the .61FX and own two myself. The 61FX is particularly robust, very reliable and produces mountains more real punch than a .46 despite the implication the meagre .2ps spec. claimed peak power differential would suggest.

OS is one of the best most reliable engines you will find the break in to flight time is hard to beat

Thanks Mate,
It's not often that someone agrees with me.

Alan's right. I have both the OS 61 SF and the Super Tigre 75. I put he ST 75 on because I needed to change one of the main bearings on the OS so I put the ST 75 as a temp installation. About a week after I installed it, I heard a strange ringing sound while the plane was passing by. I landed and checked to see what the noise was. Well, the baffle inside the muffler came apart and was rattling around in there. I called ST and asked about it and they immediately sent me a replacement. Three flights later, the ringing came back, another bad muffler. I replaced it with a tuned pipe and that was that. But, I would quite a bit of wetness on the side of the plane, on the opposite side of the muffler. Turns out that the needle valve assembly on the carb was leaking fuel. Just enough to make a mess. The engine was strong and ran well, but these combinations of problems never happened with my OS.

I tried the Evolution 100 which was a disaster in waiting, and finally went back to OS. I now have about 9 OS engines in various sizes from 46 (three of them), a 50, a 61, 90, and three 1.20 AX's.

As Alan said, stick with OS. You can't go wrong.. you DO get what you paid for. $275 for a 1.20 AX with muffler and extension? I think it's right there in the competitive market, especially considering what you get.. power and reliability, easy starts, no complaints from me!! (I know..you are looking at the 61 but this is just an example of pricing. I got my 61 used and, after the bearing change, runs strong as ever).

DS.

At my own risk - if you're looking at a 61 size engine, don't overlook the Thunder Tiger GP 61. This is a real bargain powerhouse. I have one on the front of a 7 lbs plane, and with a 13x4 prop, it will drag that plane all over the sky all day long. It starts reliably, idles beautifully, and transition is as smooth as you could ask for. The displacement is actually .65.

Brad

grizwald,
If you're just starting out, you've got a whole lot of different things to learn about. You've also got a lot of things to buy. It's tempting to buy cheap things. Things never change. When I started out 50+ years ago, I bought some McCoy engines. They were half the price of the OSMax's. I've still got my first OSMax. Those McCoys were worn out and thrown away about 50+ years ago. They ran "good enough" while they lasted. And they took some special handling to keep them alive that long. The Max basically taught me to fly because I could concentrate on flying, not handling the engine. I've had to rebuild it, a couple of times. But it was worth doing.

Overpriced? Say what?

In the last couple of weeks, I've maidened two brand new airplanes. Both have had teething problems. I've had to go back into both and reglue stuff and redesign and replace. Ones cowl hold downs are a stupid design. I had to redo that design. One's landing gear setup sucked. I've swapped out parts and redone the setup. The two engines for those two airplanes were brand new. I stuck then on the airplanes and basically forgot 'em. I ran each for a tank on the ground following the breakin proceedures (rich-lean-rich etc), set the needles and flew. And never had to give them a though while sorting out the airplane trims and balance and aerodynamic couples and design weaknesses. I got what I paid for...... in those two engines. I've had to lean out both of their lowspeed needles about 1/8 turn. They both pull like bulls.

The airplanes were overpriced. The engines were cheap for what I paid and what they're doing now and going to do in the future.

I don't think you'll find many who will dispute that the power of both are the same (INHO). AN OS and break down just as easy as any other engine and can run just as crappy as any other engine ifr you can't tune them right. THrow a Pitts muffler on it

Cyclic Hardover... question for you. Are the Pitts style mufflers noiser than stock? Do they provide any added benefit?

I ask because I was thinking that I may switch over to that type of muffler for my current build and want to know if the Pitts will make a noise or performance difference. I am building a Tiger 120 with an OS 1.20 AX. (hell, I am not even sure if the Pitts style is available for that engine or not.. just in the inquiring stage for now.)

Thanks.

DS.

CGRetired,
I'm not sure that there is much of a perfomance difference with a Pitts muffler, but there definitely is a difference in the sound that is produced. The pitts mufflers give a lower "grumbly" sound to the engines that sounds soooooo cool!!!!!! I love the sound of an engine with a pitts muffler. The other advantage is that the mufflers are cleaner when mounted in cowls. Most of the time the pitts mufflers can be mounted inside of the cowl with only the two exhast ports sticking out. This gives a cleaner look as opposed to the stock mufflers that come with most engines.

Hope this helps

Ken

That's true. ST used to be an Italian firm, now they're made in China. Not sure if that's better or worse. I have an ST G-51 that I like very much. Better than the OS LA series but not as well as the "_X" series.

Which is just how it's priced.

I have been in this hobby for a few years now and I have all the equipment I need and then some. I presently fly an eagle II trainer with an OS 40 La on it that runs beautifully. I still have not soloed yet as this pass summer I could hardly fine the time to go out and fly my plane. I find now that it makes more sense to go with an OS engine as it will allow me more customizing options as in the exhaust dept. I just wanted some input on the Super Tiger engines thanks guys. Lou.

OS engines are great, but overpriced. Super Tigre engines are great, as long as the low end is in adjustment. I present you with a third option; Thunder Tiger 61 or 75 2 stroke. These are great engines, look like OS are far less expense. I have all three, OS, Super Tigre and Thunder Tiger. Good Luck.

Hi Ken, and thanks for the info.

Several of the flyers at our main field are Pattern. They are very much into noise (or lack thereof). They like things quiet. Their big objection with the larger aircraft is the noise level, playing the prop-swap to try to quiet them down a bit. I am not sure how the Pitts style muffler would be received by these guys.

With the Tiger 120, it's an open engine compartment with fuselage 'cheeks' on either side of the engine. I was thinking of mounting the engine sideways, punching a hole in the cheek for clearance, then running the exhaust out the bottom which would pretty much qualify the Pitts. I will have to look this over a bit more, though, before I finally decide. This build is not going to be a 'stock' arf build. I am making several other mods but most are internal.

Thanks again.

DS.

First off there is a major probem on the Super Tigers that no one has mentioed. The carb barrel has a rough finish that will grab and lock the throttle in one position. This happens with out warning and can happen before the engine has even run 5 tanks of fuel through it. This problem is apparent in the smaller ST engines as well. Not to mention what a pain they are to try to get a relaible run out of them. The "you get what you pay for" doesn't always apply. I have one of the pricy OS 61FX engines and while it runs smooth and reliable, the power is disappointing and only mediocre. The best all around engine I found in the 61/75 range is the Tower Hobbies 75. You get "much More!" than you pay for. The engine is as easy to adjust for smooth running and a low idle as an OS but the engine has scary amounts of power. The muffler that comes with it is noisy but if you are going to put the Pitts on it any way then it shouldn't be a problem. At $95.00 the engine seems too cheap to be a good engine but, it is, a very good engine! I run one in my Stuka 60 because I wanted power and reliability and with this engine I got both.

Didn't mention it 'cause I've never experienced it or heard of others having problems with the barrel. Maybe because I drip Dextron III ATF in as after-run oil it stays slick?

I did have a throttle arm pull off a lightly used Kangke SK-50. Most other problems have been "self inflicted" from dirt naps and such.

How many times have you experienced this problem with the ST carb barrel? Do you have any pictures or correspondence with ST about this problem? It is interesting that you have posted this complaint twice in the last 2 days and nobody else has talked about any similar carb problems with the ST engines.

Jeff

IME&O the increased noise level often associated with fitment of a Pitts style muffler would generally be frowned upon by your typical pattern flyer. The at times noticably increased noise level, is exacerbated when fitted on larger capacity engines. Beauty is in the 'eye', or in ths case ear of the beholder. Unlike Ken, I don't think of the increased NOISE from the lower volume Pitts style mufflers as 'sooooo...cool", and it becomes a major irrititant when it's obviously deafeningly loud to all but the owner blinded in his enthusiasm and attachment who refuses to acknowledge what others are complaining about - because to his ears it simply sounds "more realistic".

The problem has come up several times at our field. I don't have pics because they are not my engines. I wouldn't own one after seeing how miserably they are to get to run properly, never mind the carb jamming problem. A flying buddy bought one to save a few bucks instead of buying OS and had to replace his trainer after one too many deadsticks. He brought the "new" trainer out to our field and I tried to get to adjust the thing for several minutes. I thought it was good so we refilled the tank and took off. In about 40 seconds after the takeoff, the engine died. My buddy has basically left the hobby after 3 years of trying to solo because of his crappy running engine that no one could keep running. One flyer that was experienced brought out a new sport plane that he had just completed building with a new ST 45 on the front. We usually run 5 tanks of fuel through the engines and then fly at our field. About half way through the 4th tank was when his carb barrel froze! He was surprized and POed. I told him about the carb barrel and when he checked, that was where the problem was. I also ran into this problem on a 75 size engine that I bought from World Models. It took me 1/2 hour just to get the barrel out of the throttle body to repair it. It was worth it in this case beacause at least the engine is easy to adjust and has good power. I can draw up a pic of where the problem occours and post it if you like. After 7 or so years in the hobby, I love to see newbys show up with with TT or OS engines on their shiny new trainers and curse under my breath when I see a ST on the nose! [8D]