Engine Question...
 

Hey guys,
I am a newbie at this and I just bought myself a cousair warbird (62 inch. wing span)... I havent picked up an engine for it yet, and it recommends a .60-.80 cu in. 2c engine or a .91-1.2 cu in. 4c engine. I have my eye on this used (but like-new condition) Saito FA-120 4 stroke engine that I can get for about $150 and I wanted some opionions about what you guys think about it... Or any other engines/ sizes that you might recommend. any advantages/ disadvantages of my choice in enigine?
thats guys for the input...

-J-

RE: Engine Question...
 

Saito is a good engine, But I dont recomend this plane for a newb. PLZ get a trainer first.

RE: Engine Question...
 

Yeah I plan on building it and getting it all working but learning on a cheap trainer plane before I fly my baby... I just fell in love with it at first sight and had to buy it... The guy I bought if from told me the same thing... To learn from a trainer...
Thanks for the input...

RE: Engine Question...
 

Be wary of used 4 strokes. If you know the guy your buying it from or have the ablility to return it after you've had it checked out then go ahead. I'll buy a used 2 stroke, but not a used 4 stroke unless I know it's history.

RE: Engine Question...
 

I am sure many others will come after me and elaborate on this. But I can tell you that if this is your first airplane you will crash your corsair on your first flight, unless you have help. First thing to do is find a model club and an instructer. The instructer will most likely have a favorate trainer plane. You should buy a good trainer plane (I like the nexstar, just take off the AFS) and learn to fly it first with the instructer. Then get a good second plane (Such as the Sig Four-Star). And then after getting comfortable on it, if you are a natural, like myself:D, you may be able to move to the corsair. If you are not really good I would get a third plane, then fly the corsair as a fourth plane.
Karter

EDIT: gosh in the time it took me to type my post two other people posted. I agree with kwigen, be wary of used four strokes. And they are harder for newbs to run (I would know, I am one) So start with other planes and move to the corsair. Who knows? maybe you will be able to do four stokes good by the time you fly the corsair.

RE: Engine Question...
 

I actually dont know him personally but I am told it works fine... but what is there to be wary of buying a used 4 strokes... unlike a 2 stroke... are 2 stroke more die hard engines? longer lasting... tougher...?

-j-

RE: Engine Question...
 

Four strokes basically have more parts that can be damaged by neglect or misuse.

RE: Engine Question...
 

Well considering that the engine I am looking at buying is a Used Satio 1.20 4 stroke and it would be pretty doubtful that I could return it... then would you recommend me buying a Super Tigre G-90 for about the same price... or perhaps a O.S. FS 91, 4 Stroke Surpass for about $40 more.

--

RE: Engine Question...
 

Personally I recommend that you put the Corsair aside (and out of mind) right now. Don't even think about assembling it until you've done the same on a few more basic planes first. You will learn things assembling a trainer and something like a Sig 4 Star that will be a great help when faced with the typically more vague instructions you get with a warbird. If you do assemble it now, there's also going to be the constant temptation to try flying it before you're ready. This usually leads to extreme disappointment when your new plane ends up in little pieces.

Focus on finding a trainer and learning to fly it. Then start thinking about a second plane and see how you do on that one. By the time you're flying your second plane well, begin thinking about the Corsair again. However, depending on how you do with the 4 Star (or whatever plane you choose as your second), you may need one more before you move up to the Corsair.

Having said all this, ONE thing related to the Corsair that you might think about now is to choose a larger than normal trainer (.60 size) and engine (something that would fit the Corsair). Then you can eventually move the engine from the trainer to the Corsair.

RE: Engine Question...
 

saito's are excellent motors,if they have been ran hot or run too high a nitro content they are bad for the valve spring keepers coming apart also the cam gears chip.i imagine though that most 4 stroke motors if abused will have similar problems.i have repaired a few saito's for friends with those problems i menthioned.i would look for bluing around the head.that isnt a bad price for one of these if it is in fair condition.

RE: Engine Question...
 

I'm with Piper on this one (Again, Chuck, what's going on here?). Put the Corsair on the shelf and find something to put together first, that is easier to build and fly. Most all the folks responding here have told you the same basic thing, this should tell you something!

The bent wing bird is a beauty; but, as the saying goes, you need to walk before you can run. Get going in the hobby from starting at the beginning, if you can get a bunch of flying in this year and over the next years, progressing up the ladder of trainer, advanced trainer, etc., the Corsair will be there for you, when you know you are ready for it. It's not just a more difficult airplane to fly, scale airplanes take more time and effort to build and detail.

RE: Engine Question...
 

Must be a full moon! ;)

RE: Engine Question...
 

What the other guys said on the motor. There are just a lot more parts to wear in a 4 stroke. I've bought a couple of used motors but only for combat or trainer planes. Keep this in mind when you find a used motor. If it is as good as the seller says it is why is he selling it. RC'ers are notorious pack rats. We will store the only recognizable piece from our last crash on the oft chance we may need it in the next ____ years.(fill in any number) :)

RE: Engine Question...
 

Hi!
I agree with Piper!
Put that WW 2 bird away and fly trainers/sport airplanes for a few years (3-5) before even thinking of a WW 2 fighter!
Learn to build first so that you learn more how airplanes are constructed and learn how to build light! And choosing the correct building techniques and how to choose the right accessories...there are a lot of "not that suitable gadgets" around tht newbies think they must have.;)

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

RE: Engine Question...
 

How's your finances? A nice 4-stroke is certainly the engine of choice for the Corsair & by all means buy one -- a new one, rather than risk a used one.

However --as already noted, there is the issue of learning on something else. Because of their lower cost, flatter learning curve & somewhat greater resistance to crash damage, a 2-stroke is a better choice for your first engine. Unfortunately, with the Corsair a 2-stroke is esthetically not a great choice (wrong sound), so unless that doesn't matter, you are probably going to have to buy two engines.

A big 60-size trainer is a good choice, and a nice 75 - 90 size two stroke is also a good match (if you can keep your thumb away from the throttle). If you are a warbird guy, a big 2-stroke is a quite respectable esthetic match to the V-12 engined fighters like Spit, Mustang, P-39 etc, so it won't be wasted in the future.

RE: Engine Question...
 

Thanks for all the advice guys... And the guy at my local hobbie store told me the same thing you guys are telling me... put the corsair away for now and learn on a trainer... well I am doing just that... I got a trainer in mind a thunder tiger plane with a 40 inch wingspan that I am going to learn to fly on first... Its cheap and comes with everything I need to get it in the air. the impression I am getting is that these birds are harder to fly than I previously thought.

And just letting you know, my corsair is an ARF and I dont really care if the plane doesnt sound the way a real corsair would... Just as long as it flys and has a reliable engine that wont cut out in the air. Did I mention I love speed lol. Also I am looking for something that is low in maintance (that is if i dont crash it)... So I will probably go with the 2 stroke... The thought of having a whole lot more moving parts in the 4 stroke just sounds to me like it's just more problematic... why get a 4 stroke when It could just give me a big headache in the future...

So what do you guys think of my choice of trainer? I'll look into the ones you guys already recommended and check them out too before I jump into buying one...
thanks
-j-

RE: Engine Question...
 

It's good to hear you're making progress. Any chance you can post a link to the trainer? A 40 inch wing span sounds small. When you are thinking about this plane, consider whether the componts will be reusable in your Corsair and other planes. For example, if the trainer only has a 3 channel radio, it will be of little use for future planes. Buying reusable components might seem like it requires more money, but it will actually be less spent in the long run.

RE: Engine Question...
 

Chuck, I'm betting he means its a thunder tiger .40 and not a 40" wingspan....Rog

http://home.comcast.net/~wjrandal/Thunder.htm

RE: Engine Question...
 

That would be much better! :D

RE: Engine Question...
 

My mistake,
the trainer I am thinking about getting is a called a thunder tiger trainer 40 but it has a wingspan of 61 inches.

here is a litte review on it...
http://webpages.charter.net/rcfu/Kit...s/TTTrnr2.html

page with a picture of it...
http://home.comcast.net/~wjrandal/Thunder.htm

and thanks for all the help chuck.

and there is nothing that will be reusuable for my corsair. but I dont mind. If I can manage to learn to fly on this plane without totally recking it then I will keep it together and use it to teach any of my friends that wish to give it a try...

RE: Engine Question...
 

If you dont think the thunder tiger 40 is good for me, what do you think about the Hobbico SuperStar (60" wingspan), Sig Kadett LT 40 (72" wingspan), and the Nexstar Select?

RE: Engine Question...
 

All should be good choices, including the Thunder Tiger. Another one to take a look at is the Tower Trainer. Give me a few minutes, I'll type up some thoughts on choosing ARF versus RTF.

RE: Engine Question...
 

I'll put my plug in here for the LT-40 - I'm training on this bird. Today I greased my 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th landings, and performed three somewhat stable take offs. She flies real easy, and today we had some good wind coming down the runway. She just floated in, and I had to work to keep her DOWN, she likes to fly. You wont be disappointed. There is another student at the field with a NextSTAR and he's ditching it for the LT-40 as well. The LT-40 makes a nice conversion to a tail dragger, something which will be useful for your training towards the Corsair.

RE: Engine Question...
 

Hopefully I won't overwhelm you with choices. The .40 size trainers you listed are all traditional choices. Many of them come in an ARF and an RTF version. With the ARF, you choose the engine, radio, and some other parts and then you assemble the major pieces. With the RTF, the engine, radio, and other pieces have been chosen for you and they are already installed in the plane. The advantage of an RTF is simplicity. You don't need to choose or install the components. The disadvantage I see with an RTF is that you DON'T get to choose the components, and you miss out on the experience of installing them.

For example, the TT 40 RTF version you provided a link to looks like a decent package. It comes with a basic Hitec 4 channel radio and a TT GP-42. These are good quality, economy choices. Since you're looking to fly a warbird sometime in the future, you will probably need at least 5 or 6 channels (retracts and flaps). So, if you want to only buy one radio, the 4 channel won't meet your needs for the future. An option you could consider at this point is to spend a bit more and get a basic 6 channel computer radio, that could be used to fly several planes, and would give you the features you'll need for your next few planes. Futaba, JR, Hitec, and Airtronics all make radios in this range.

The GP-42 is toward the lower range of power for .45 size engines. It's ok for trainers and high wing slow planes. However, it won't be so useful if you eventually decide to move it to something faster. Alternatively, if you go with an ARF and choose one of the ball bearing .45 engines (OS, Thunder Tiger, Super Tigre, Magnum, etc), you'll have an engine that provides more future options.

Sorry to give you more to think about, I think it's worth spending a little considering the options before you move forward.

RE: Engine Question...
 

You're about three planes away from flying that Warbird. Get set up on a good trainer, then graduate to a low wing taildragger, then you may want to think about a more aggressive sport plane. Warbirds were designed to be fast and nimble. Nimble = unstable. If you bought a sport scale Corsair like a Great Planes it could be your third plane, if you bought something more scale like a TopFlight or other, it should be your fourth. The more scale, the more unstable the plane will be.

I have a Corsair as well, and it is hung up until I am ready to fly a more complex bird. I have too many hours into that plane to see it thrown out in two minutes.