I bought some planes from a guy getting out and one of the planes has a super tiger 61 on it. I have never owned or seen one of these our club is Quite small. What I'm wondering is if they are a good engine seems kind of bulky and the muffler is huge. Should I leave it on there or get rid of it. I fired it up and I must say it seems to run really nice!

Er, I think you answered your own question. But anyway stick with it. It's amoung the best.

I used to buy 'em until Great Planes sent the mfg. to China. I think their great, but for new engines, My personal favorite now is YS.

Thanks,

Paul

There are more than one series of the .61 SuperTigre and there is not a bad one. I own several and started as a sceptic for some of the same reasons you mention. As you look at the 2 stroke cycle engines the performers are using a higher muffler volume in general. Look at the mousse cans and Mac's and the TH mufflers that are popular on O.S. etc. and you will see the silimarity in that big ST. muffler. While you can't argue the fact that you can have a higher displacement and more power for the same weight (sort of the curse of the .60 sized engines) the ST is an awesome performer, easy to tune, and they can last a very long time if cared for properly. Enjoy your new plane, Cliff

The Supertigers where probably the most popular in this area untll they became unavailable because of the factory move. There are a lot of them still around at the flying field. They still are not very plentiful in the stores. As far as I can tell, (Or rather as I hear it), the Chinese ones are the same in every respect as the Italian ones. The Chinese ones so far have been somewhat hybred Italian - Chinese. As time goes on, they will be all Chinese. I have only 10 left. I traded a couple of them to one of the guys on this thread.

Enjoy,

Jim

Super Tigre is an independent Italian manufacturer. I doubt they'd take too kindly to one of their foreign agents telling them how to run their business

As I understand it, it was a business decision by Garafoli to move production out of Italy because their labour costs were getting too high. I also believe that Garafoli himself went to China to oversee the setting up to ensure that the new engines would be at least as good as what had been made in Italy. After all, he still owns the company.

Wonder how it is going to taste ? Spaghetti sauce on rice!! Just a business decision, the old saying "If you can't beat em , join em"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>big max 1935>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hi,

Down and Big Max. I hope your right about Supertigre; I was dead set sure on Great Planes having bought out SuperTigre before this happened, in fact this was verified by dozens of posts attesting that they did. If not, what evidence do you know of that Garafoli still owns the company.

Paul

Common sense is the only evidence I have & have not seen mention of them selling in any of the magazines. Why would they want the headache of owning them when they have the exclusive distributorship for North America. If they were to own one it would be OS. What's yours? MAX H.

Basically the same as Big Max except when it was first announced there was much talk about the Italian labour market and how Garafoli was going to China. I think the story got twisted after a while because Tower/GP do such a good job about not mentioning they're only importers that most guys think they own all these different companies. But the Chinese Tigres have been available in England for quite some time, you'd suspect that if Tower really owned them then they'd have them first

Sometimes a big importer will commission the factory to make engines with their own brand name. So the factory simply alters the crankcase mould to read TH instead of CS/ASP/Magnum/whatever or in the case of Super Tigre it was changed to read Como. You can even have it done yourself if you want but I believe it's a minimum batch of 1000 engines or so. Imagine having a Big Max 46?

I consider there to be something very conservative about Great planes/Hobbico's inventory practices. Aparently someone has bestowed the "JUST IN TIME" inventory control system for their warehouses? I beleive they are only ordering a 1000 at a time and due to lead times, work order cycle times, and the great distance to China, Hobbico doesn't have much to sell in the way of Supertigers. The "ECONOMIC ORDER QUANTITY" should be re- evaluated? If you aint got em, you caint sell em. By now, Supertiger should be well represented in this country? It's been three years this august since the factory move. All I see is Magnum, MDS, Saito and Thunder Tiger moving in to increase their market share in this country?

Jim

The $18 to $24 cost of a gallon of glow fuel has caused a general migration toward gas engines. I won't be surprised if major manufacturers of glow engine get on the band wagon soon and start offering small gas engines. The massive success of RCS 140 is the proof that this market exists and will be exploited soon. I personally love my gas engines and I don't think ever go back to glow engines again. I just got tired of feeding and cleaning them. Why they moved the factory to China ? may be because they were not selling, as many engines as they use to. my LHS had a shelf full of Supertigres who had to sell them at fire prices to get rid of them. so may be it was a cost cutting measure to compete with the likes of MDS.

Common guys , all I need is for you all to order 998 more BIG MAX 46's. Sold one for my wife . Mothers days coming you know. Just think you to can have a collectors item! Still debating the color , pink or lime green? My E-mail is waiting!!
Really>>>>>>>>>>>BIG MAX 1935>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"The $18 to $24 cost of a gallon of glow fuel has caused a general migration toward gas engines"


Somebody is getting royally screwed if they are paying this kind of price for glow fuel!

Premium brands of 15% glow fuel are common at the local hobby shops in this area at $11.99 or $12.99 per gallon.

Steve you are lucky, out here Hobby USA sells fuel for $17.99, and I have seen it at some LHS for as high as $24.99. Clubs sell their fuel for $14.99. These are prices for %15 fuel. Do we get screwed? yes, do we like it? no

Hi,

Theres a huge warehouse leased by Hobbico here in Reno, and hardly anything I order comes from it. It doesnt make much sense, but its their decision.

Paul

If the hobby shops order a certain amount (4 or more cases) they can get it truck freight & therefore no HAZMAT fee( $20.00 per case). Big item! Truck freight is much cheaper than the different colored little trucks! Also any freight or shipped item is 100% deductible expense item for tax purposes, no doubt some charge you for it & then still charge it off. The higher the nitro the higher the price, always use the lowest you feel you can get by with. Who needs to use 30% to just poke a few holes in the sky!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>big max 1935>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I live in Ohio and it's a direct shot to my house from Champlain but they half the time send it to me from Reno and it takes two weeks to get here.

Jim

I have had several orders that are split between Reno and Champaign. I live near Salt Lake, Utah and the Champaign parcel is always a day or two quicker... go figure.

Take care, Cliff

Foxx,
Don't know if they sell there products in your area, but someone should be able to order. Try http://www.vpracingfuels.com . They can sell methanol, nitro, and even castor oil to mix your own.

Sport_pilot have you ever bought from the link, if so can you give me some idea of min. quantity and price. Thanks

I know this has nothing to do with Super Tigre, but since we're talking about shipping...I bought an exhaust system for my truck which is manufactured 20 miles from my house here in SoCal. Well, it took 2 weeks to arrive because it had to go to Georgia first, then back to SoCal. Go figure. I could of had it 30 min. after I ordered it if I was able to pick it up myself.

Foxx,
I considered buying fuel from the local VP dealer here in the Atlanta area. If you buy a 30 gallon drum, methanol was reasonable. Don't remember the price but it was less tan $3.00 a gallon. Nitro was about $30 for just one gallon. I don't think you can buy from the website, but maybe calling the western division they can tell you who to buy it from. I didn' t do it because it would take me several years to use that much and didn't feel comfortable storing a 30 gallon drum in the basement.