I am reworking a Four Star 60 that was crashed by another man and am considering going with the samllest engine possible. What is the smallest engine that will lift this plane off a grass runway. Yes, that is right I want the smallest engine that will lift it of the ground on grass. Believe it or not this can be a challengine and rewarding direction to take. I Wonder if the Super Tiger 34 would haul it up? It doesn't matter what engine you recomend as long as it is cheap.

The Evo .455 TPS would lift it if you took off the flywheel and used something like an APC 11x7. The Master Airscrew 11x7 doesn't work as well. It's cheap too. It may fly the 4* pretty well if it is built right.

The cheapest sport engines in general are the .40's Go smaller or larger, more expensive.

If you want a challenge, use a giant size rubber band for power. The free flight guys call it a "engine" don't they?

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Depending upon the height of the grass, even a strong OS .25FX would get it off the ground swinging a light 11x4 prop. But the grass would have to be really short and you might need binoculars to see it takeoff. <G>


Ed Cregger

IMO the ST 34 would "fly" it, but it would be rather boring, and grossly under powered especially if the repairs had added significant weight. Also, you'd probably need to add a bunch of lead to the nose to get it to balance?

But hey...give it a try...if you don't like it that way, it should be easy enough to change it to something more powerful, huh!?
Flying under-powered airplanes is a challenge, and besides, everybody and their brother is over-powering their stuff nowdays...
"Dare to be different"
Let us know how it goes...

You said cheap---------ST40 at 49.00 (you won't get a cheaper engine) 11x5 prop (wood) and 3.5 inch tires...........Wood cause it will spin up faster ,you won't need prop braking.........

I have some 4" inch wheels that I plan on useing and I am thinking if I go so small it won't take off I might go out on a county road and try it on pavement. As far as rubber bands goes I think it is possible that this could be done but I am not going there. I have been shoping on line and like rcdude7 said 40 is about the cheapest new. However I am going to check ebay to see if I can't get one real cheap.

How much does it weigh? Eight pounds is common, even nine, but the 4*60 can come out under 7 if I'm right about my current build. If not overweight, a good .32 - .36 should fly it decently with the right prop--I'm guessing 11x4.

I flew a Senior Falcon on an OS .40 FP and it could do outside loops, but it only weighed 5 1/4 lbs. Still, it took off easily and I'm sure it would have gotten off with a lot more weight. Very similar size and airfoil to the 4*60. I've got a Skylark (smaller but similar) with a .25 FP that weighs 4 lbs and it needs a good 200 feet of runway.

Those "Spirit of St. Louis" takeoffs are a fun challenge! Do tell us what happens...

Jim

I am inclined to believe the airplane will be heavy because (don't laugh) I am useing paneling to build the fuse from the turtle deck forward. The paneling will only add a few more ounces over light ply. I am building cheap so I can have fun. After reading a few post about weight I guess i may use an engine I have which is Super Tiger 51,61. All that lumber will need some power to get up to speed and the grass is pretty tall (crop duster field). Man that wing is big on the 60 so I might want to add a bomb release and take some target practice. OH YEA

I've got a 12lb 4*120 with an old Pre-surpass 120 in it. Great engine and I'd like to put in something else so I've been considering putting one of my stray 91 4 strokes to see if it will fly...

I'll second the Super Tiger 40 at fifty bucks. [sm=thumbup.gif]

You can put it in alot of different planes too.

FBD.

There might be an issue on getting the plane to balance as in another thread on RCU due to coming out tail heavy. It could become an issue - mine has an os91fs with the battery under the fuel tank. May need large amount of additional ballast weight on the front on the 60 size.

Very true, with a 4 Star 60 hang the heaviest chunk of iron you have up front if you don't you'll be adding "dead lead"
My Saito FA 65 weighs more than the new 82 but still need about 6 oz. of lead up front on the 4*60.
Just my 2 cents, but anything less than a strong 50 size like the G51 is looking for problems.
Pete

Why not just put a "normal" size engine (normal for the plane size, that is) there and just throttle back? You could just adjust your throttle EPAs to give you somewhat the behaviour of an underpowered aircraft. When you get bored (and you will ) just crank up the EPA's and have fun.

That way you could have your challenging "on the wing" airtime and the fun of a basic aerobatic aircraft just a couple of servo blips away.

"Scale" take-offs with 25% throttle can be challenging and fun, but barely flying for 30 minutes could make you fall asleep at the controls.

Joseph

I'm planning on using a very tini-tiny [] SAITO 1.00 in my four star....and to save some weight (to help that engine out [>:]), I'll be putting in some lightning holes in the fuse (or wherever I can ) and cut the first set of bays' off the wing. Not to mention, I won't cover the bird....heck that adds weight, doesn't it?! Will be using micro servos, micro Rx, and a 2 ounce tank....

But seriously, I've played around with a 4*40 and was able to fly it (experimentally of course) with an old OS .15 that I had...off pavement...doubt it would do ANYTHING in grass. Put the .46Fx back on and back to normal.

Let us know how what happens with the .40 or the .32 if you go that low.

PEACE!!!

Well I will have to say that I run a Saito .65 on my 4*60 and it flew good. It was not rocket and I had to take the weight out of the tail.. LOL

It was OK.. I think with as good as the thing flys it would go up with a 46 or the new 55

LATER

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Bingo! A great choice, speedster.


Ed Cregger

watch rcu for bargines on 15's, 20's 40's ihave gotten a os 40 for 40 bucks... great engine for the money...

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I have bought quite a few used engines recently. Most of the folks selling used schneurle ported engines (convertible to Diesel) want too much for their used engines. You can find plenty of baffle piston engines for low prices on eBay, but I'm not interested in those engines (not convertible to Diesel).


Ed Cregger

Longflier, you can get a new Super Tiger 40 for $49 and have a warranty.

I guess it depends on your point of view right? I think the smallest engine should be a .91 FX.

Take a look at SK 50 BB real ABC engine for 60$ A good,torquer engine.
http://www.kangkeusa.com/Engines/skengines.htm