Eindecker_pilot

Looking to power a 1/4 scale Sopwith Pup. I've narrowed down my choices to a Zenoah G26 or a 25cc Homelite conversion. Never bought a gas engine for a plane before, so here's some newbie questions I've got.

The Homelite conversion is $100 less than the Zenoah. The G26 supposedly has better performance? What is that $100 buying me really on the Zenoah?

The Sopwith Pup won't be doing any 3D obviously, so all I'm really after is a low idle, smooth transition, and reliable power at the top end. I don't need a rocket.

Is there any reason to stay away from conversions? If not, why would anyone pay the extra bucks for a Zenoah? Less vibration?

What about that spark plug... Are there key features that a gas engine must have to prevent radio noise or interference? Is that where conversions fall short?

thanks in advance,
Greg

shenion

I have seen the Sopwith with a 25cc Homey. Very marginal performance (too scale.) A better carb and muffler than stock would probably be good.

The G26 would definitely be better.

As far as conversions, use a resistor plug and as long as nothing is loose you should not have interference.

If you keep the RX and servos as far as possible from the engine, you should be fine with interference (use nyrod for throttle.)

Tmoth4

My Feedback: (1)

The 25cc Homelite conversions are nice running engines, easy to start, but a little on the heavy side, which is good for something like a short-nosed bipe. I have one on a 14# WACO bipe and it flies it great. I did my own conversion and put the bigger carb on from Carrprecision. It takes some work to convert it yourself. If you buy one already converted it will probably have the bigger carb on already. It will fly something like a BUSA Pup just fine. A fellow club member has one in his BUSA Pup and it flies it nice. His plane is about 12#.
The G26 will definitely have more power. I have Zenoahs in 4 sizes and they are all nice engines.

Jim