ok... maybe i am retarded, but how does holding the plane vertical show me how much fuel is left? The tank is under the nose cowel.

The fuel tank can be seen from the cabin area. It.s not built into the plane. It is installed from the back, not the front.

To know how much fuel you have, go old school.

I now use a manual hand pump specifically for this - and have ditched the electric pump that makes a god awful noise.

When you fuel, count how many turns it takes. One plane I have takes 30ish turns. Once landed after 10 minutes, I defueled and found it took 10 turns to empty. So roughly a 15 minute flight time.

well.. . after a weekend of trying to get this sorted out, I think i have given up. At 50% throttle, with some revs and idles, looks like 14 min is the max i am going to get per tank.

I have pulled the tank and checked the clunk and the seals. No leaks.
I did gain a full 2 mins by leaning out the mix. I am running 3 clicksrich from max rpm.

Any other ideas about why other get 20-25 mins and i get 14?

Try a 11X6 prop. You currently have the pitch for climbing and aerobatics. The 11X6 is more suitable for cruising around.

Running in with these ABC and ABL engines is a lot quicker than most people think.
A GMS 2000 47 is considered run in within 30 min of first running it.
A OS 46 Max AX is run in after the first tank and youhave followed the rich / lean procedure they describe in the manual. thereafter you can fly th motor in.
the fuel consumption wonltchange much from  aftet thatfirst tank till the day it dies if you have the low speed settings correct.
I have seen many people blame deadstick landings on everything from fuel to plugs to atmospheric conditions. true sometimes those are copntributing factors but 9 out of10 times its the low speed settings that too rich. Too rich and the excess fuel takes heat out  of the combustion chamber and the plug just dies.

Check you settings.

Startmotor and progressivley open the throttle to full. now dow the pinch test. The motor should immediately pick up speed before wanting to drop revs and cut out.

Now drop the revs to idle. Pinch the carb feed again the motor should run normally for  around 3-5secs before starting to choke off. release and it should recover revs.
If it is still on high idle after 6secs then you are running it too rich on the low speed needle.

Running the engine rish can also lead to plug and combustion chamber fouling. This leads to higher fuel consumption.

start off with your engine settings.</p>

I know on the 46 AX there is the high speed needle... how do i change the low speed settings?

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I know on the 46 AX there is the high speed needle... how do i change the low speed settings?


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The low speed needle valve is inside of the throttle barrel. It takes a small screwdriver.

The low end setting is probably your culprit. Do you get a lot of residue on the side of your plane? An engine rich on the bottom will blow raw fuel out of the muffler when you gun it from idle of just off idle. It'll also constantly spit fuel when cruising at low throttle settings.

This illustrates the LA series, but the AX is similar, you'll find it on the throttle arm side of the carb recessed in the barrel.

This is one of the reasons I sold all my IC engines and went all electric. To much fiddling. With electric, I plug it in and fly, when I finished flying, I don't have to clean the mess of my airplane.

It seems instant gratification is becoming the pinnacle of all activities. People can't work on their cars, their homes, value higher education, or airplanes it seems more and more. But analyze what drives one to reduce this hobby to "plug and play" may find themselves not enjoying things as fully when it requires patience and discipline. I liked working on my car, and saved a lot of money acquiring those skills. Those sparing themselves the effort to overcome obstacles might extend the practice to their other habits in life. There is a trend that has shifted many to EP, and from scratch / kit building to ARF and RTF. So is it really still a creative hobby, or playing with a flying toy?

Once upon a time, we really enjoyed ALL the facets of this hobby beyond being test pilots of delicate humming aircraft's.
Fiddling IS the hobby for some. It's rewarding to overcome obstacles and learn from them, gaining experience that reflects in thousands of forum posts here to help others, yet another part of the hobby that shouldn't die out. Finding an idle screw and it's function, is hardly reason to abandon glow engines! Today finding an old kit is another activity that precedes the building phase, where "fiddling" with building tools, glues, fillers, and covering materials to achieve a beautiful model I built myself. Fiddling with fuel, props, plugs, tuning, exhaust options, (some even get internal and modify their engines for more performance) are more rewarding practices found in this hobby than RTF EP piloting. Electric certainly is a shortcut from fiddling with glow power. As far as avoiding messy clean up chores after flying, one could fiddle with exhaust extensions or engine position to point exhaust oils away from their model and be just as clean as the delicate humming aircraft's out there.

I wouldn't want to restrict myself from the joy of watching my creation have a beautiful flight, and do so for over a decade without fatigue or failure. EP isn't all gravy, some suffer li-po fires, fry speed controllers, having bulging batteries from overcharging or worse, and pay more for their charger than I do for an engine. To each his own. Maybe if they fiddle with it, they'll get it right?

I have been modeling since 1974. I'm not losing anything, I scratch build 80% of my planes, (Instant Gratification, I don't think So) I also have some ARFs. I still paint my planes. It is just painful for me to kneel on the ground to start & adjust Nitro engines. I took a fall while working on a Motor Grader & totally mess up my back. I'm a Retired( Not By My Own Choice) professional Mechanic. As far as working on my own car, unless you invest the money into the scan tool, you can't figure out whats wrong with it, unless you drive a dinosaur. You can start swapping parts and hope you hit the right part. The days of shade tree mechanic are gone. Just like changing your own oil, it's a lost cause. By the time you buy the parts, find a place to recycle your dirty oil, add in your time, your losing money. Do you check all your fluid levels when you change oil, do you vacuum the car, get a free car wash, and be done in 20 minutes all for 30 bucks. As far as my charger goes, it will charge any battery out there, from Lipos to my car battery. I use it to cycle my transmitter batteries, flight pack batteries, yes I still use them on larger Electrics

If your back is bad, how do you load your car/truck? Don't your EP planes land on the ground like glow engines and need to be picked up?
I have a bad neck and suffer headaches after I look up 15 minutes at my plane. I try to fly bigger planes and at a distance so I can look straight. It doesn't stop me. I start my planes on a table or on the tailgate of my truck, who bends over anymore? Puff, I know you are a seasoned modeler, that name / song dates you! I wasn't trying to insult you. But a sore back is no excuse to give up glow. An airplane stand fixes that instantly. You can switch to combat planes and hand launch them.

I have a 2005 F-150 and I do change my oil at a savings, it holds 7 quarts. My kids wash my truck, clean my planes, cut the grass, do the dishes, and fold their own clothes for their cell phone service. I do my own brakes, $25 a set, instead of shelling out $400 and having work done that I didn't need. I do my own work so the stupid Jiffy lubers don't over tighten my drain plug, or forget to oil my filter gasket, or worse, forget to get the old one off the block! I get to see what my truck looks like underneath, catching problem signs early. Pistons are pistons, I can replace them just like a 350 Chevy but with today's oil, I'm expecting 200,000 miles of service or more. Dinosaurs are great cars, but today this truck's sensors tell me where to go to fix the problem. I get it scanned free at Auto Zone. I'm saving money. Everyone knows mechanics mark up their parts ridiculously for more profit, and I love the "shop supply" fees, disposal fees, and $2.50 an extra quart of oil over 5 quarts.

I thought li-po cells needed to be charged with a balancer or balanced charger costing $50-100?

I will say that I have gotten 2 new OS 46ax's this year.  I found both of them to be set very rich on the low end from the factory.  I think you need to lean out your low end and see what happens. 

This engine is a FXi, similar to the AX but mine run a little slower for whatever tuning they omitted from those to the AX, I don't know, it just is slower. The holding of the plane upright is to listen to the engine rpm change when doing so, if it drops in rpm, it's too lean, if it increases it's slightly rich or too rich, and if you don't here any change, it's dead on. You'd want to hear a slight increase in rpm, since unloaded in the sky, the engine is going to lean out a bit more than on the ground. It doesn't do much good moving the plane in other directions, just upright, for this test.
The main needle sets the wide open mixture, the idle screw adjusts idle, midrange, and you notice the transition from idle-mid- to full throttle being sluggish or nearly instant, depending on the low speed setting. Change the low needle, then you must readjust the main needle again, and go back and readjust the idle once more, and again the main needle. Turning the idle screw should be done in small increments, in this case you'll want to turn it clockwise, leaning the mixture.
What prop are you using? When you get a short flight time, are you out of fuel and come in dead sticked, or if you remove the wing, do you still see fuel in the tank? Maybe your clunk is stuck.

I do believe this was the culprit. Afterleaning the low end (gosh that is a hard to get a screw on a nexstar) that engine is running really well. She idles well now for long periods, and is snappy on the uptake. We spent my flight training tonight doing runway lineups.I can now take the plane down the center line of the runway with rudder and alerions. I had told my instructor that i had mostly been flying on alerions and elevator, and he brought the plane down and did something on his trainer box. Next timewe were in the air he told me that he had turned off my alerions and i was flying the plane on rudder and elevator only!! I have to say it was a good wayto force me to use the rudder. Anyway the plane flew for about 20 mins at idle to 1/2 speed, and still had 1/3 of a tank left when we brought her down. So I am really happy now. BTW if anyone has any advise on how to get that nexstar to land, at idle she flows across the runway at about 3 feet and wont drop down hehe. I sure my instructor will tell me what to do when he wants me to land,but gee whiz that plane still has alot lift at idle.

I must admit that getting that engine running right was a pain, but you know what... I bet you the next engine that I purchase I will be able to tune quickly. Its like anything else in life, it is a skill that I can use to help myself and others.

TY to everyone for the comments and assistance in this thread. Your knowledge has helped me, and hopefully I will be about to help someone else.

Glad you got it right.

On the landings, learning to flare is how you bleed off speed for landing. Getting your engine broken in really well so it idles low helps too. If the plane is still too floaty, you can reflex your ailerons up about 1/8 inch to kill some low speed lift. Don't do that unless your instructor says that the plane is too floaty though.

Just be careful to not run it too lean on the low end. If you start burning out glow plugs for no apparent reason then you may have it too lean.

I have a NexStar and I get more minutes through throttle control. Not always running wide open. I use 15% nitro. I always run a little on the rich side to extend the life of the engine, and in hot weather I don't want to run too lean either. My struggle in the beginning was the engine cutting out during flight and it wasn't until one of the more experienced pilots set the low speed setting to correct that. Also, I switched to APC 12.25 x 3.75 after 3 or 4 tanks.

I know a lot of more experienced pilots who are always willling to share their knowledge. Yes, I started with a RTF and an instructor with a buddy box. My instrctor had me take off all the extra features - air brakes and anti stall stuff. But I was flying right away and learning more of the details of flight, repairs and construction as I went along. My instructor would advise me how to do the repairs and help me more if I needed. I didn't feel as bad when I got a few dings and dents in my trainer because it was repairable and replaceable. I would have been a lot more devastated if I spent months building from a kit. Times have changed. So learn to fly first and learn to build later. Being able to have early success means more patience and future successes in the long run.

I fly out of Michigan Signal Seekers field in Westland, MI.

Boy that's true. I always needed a break before I ran out of gas for the first couple of months. Then my endurance increased. The flight instructor would also go over what I would be doing in each flight, always leaving a little time to experiment.