Engine help for a noobie
 

Greetings,

I flew quite a bit of R/C about 10 years ago, and have recently gotten back into it with flying my old trainers- I'm pretty confident on those. I have a couple .40 engines laying around, but want to build a .25 size SPAD (the Debut or Dogfighter off www.spadtothebone.com) to get into combat.

I need to get a .25, but want to keep it as cheap as possible. I know the .25FX would probably be my best bet, but the GMS .25 ball bearing looks might enticing.

Does anybody have any experience with these engines? I basically want to try it out and learn combat on something cheap and disposable if I don't like it or crash a lot (which I'm anticipating...). If I enjoy it, I'll get more into it at which time I'll buy the good equipment, but I can't see spending an extra $30 right now when I probably won't be going up against anyone but my buddy for the time being (he's looking to try it out too). Plus, I want to keep it as cheap as possible for my first one.

Would a GMS get me by for a beginner's engine? OS LA .25? Thunder Tiger? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
-Pat-

RE: Engine help for a noobie
 

Pat.............AH YES.......the frugal bug has bitten us all lately and there is nothing wrong with that. Like you, when I decided to try my hand at combat I went with price, and purchased the GMS.. I have to say that they are some GREAT little engines.........BUT......I did find that in order to get the RPM that I needed I had to go to a smaller prop to get it to rev up...........and there is nothing wrong with that...........HOWEVER......... the combat bug hit my club when my buddies got a look at the speed, the affordability of the birds, and of course the FUN FACTOR, and guess what??? Out come the OS FX 25's........and they blew right by me like I was 3d ing in a Rat Race!!!!:(

Your basic question applies to all aspects of our hobby. New guys want to get stared in RC, and they go out a purchase a standard Four Channel system..............it dosen't take long before they realize that the 6 Channel, multiple bird, computer system, that was $75.00 more..would have been the better purchase!!!! [:@] Happens all the time.

My advise is........Buy the OSFX25.......spend the extra bucks....TRUST ME...it will pay off for you this summer!!!!

Oh.....by the way.........if you want to get the most out that OS.......purchase a Maxs Tuned muffler for that beast, and use Master Airscrew 8x4 props!!!! GREAT COMBINATION!!!!:D

RE: Engine help for a noobie
 

The OS FX, Irvine, Norvel, and Webra engines are all noticeably more powerful than the GMS, TT, and OS LA engines. If everyone else has a GMS, you'll be fine, but if anyone has a more powerful engine, you'll find out that the difference is actually pretty large.

The Magnum .28 acutally isn't bad on power and can be had with out a lot of money. I still run 3 of these in my B class planes, on mousse cans. The Mag .25 is heavy and underpowered though (in the same class as the GMS for example), don't buy it. The Mag .28 needs carb work to stay reliable, and isn't legal in the various scale combat classes, so if you want to try a scale class later, it's not a good choice.

By "Macs Muffler", do you mean the curved black single part one? That's actually not a tuned muffler, and doesn't improve performance very much over a stock muffler. It's nothing like what you get with a mousse can or Ultrathrust.

Anyway, the best beginner's combat engine is still the OS FX, hands down. Solid power and very reliable. If you are good with engines, there are other options, but if you don't think of yourself as an "engine guy" get the OS.

RE: Engine help for a noobie
 

Pat,

If you are looking to save a few bucks, do what I do and buy used. I almost never buy new RC stuff, and have yet to get burnt on any purchase. Here on RC Universe you can get some really good deals in the marketplace. I like to look throught the sellers forum activity and see if he really knows what he is talking about. I have picked up several engines that are in fantastic shape for about half of the new price. One thing good is that the engines have already been broken in and needle valves set, etc.

If you look for a couple of weeks in the marketplace (and maybe even at the other auction site) you can probably find a motor in good shape with a pipe for around $50. Just be sure to talk with the seller, they are generally a lot of help and you can really get an idea if he knows what he is talking about and the state of the motor.

I am in the process of buying a Norvell .25 with a pipe and the seller and I have been emailing back and forth a lot. He has taught me a few things about motors and how to really get the most out of the one he wants to sell. The price he is selling the motor for is really not worth all the time he has spent sending pics, answering questions etc. So its really a great deal all the way around.

RE: Engine help for a noobie
 

In the UK all people flying 25s are switching to Irvines. Why they will blow past the OS 25 FX.

I fly MVVS 20s on the black mini pipe and am usually the fastest kid on the block but A good Irvine is keeping up RATS!

RE: Engine help for a noobie
 

The Norvel Big Mig is a good choice ( alot will argue with me though) if you want inexpensive. Don't put a pipe on it or try to get the last few RPM's out of it and it will run fine, start easy, and last for quite a while. Run 3 or 4 tanks thru it before you toss it into the air and it should be fine. I've got 4 of them and have not had the problems that have been reported because, I think, I use the stock muffler and tune it slightly conservatively. Yes, the FX for $30 more is a better engine but the Norvel is close.

Just my opinion,

JESTER

RE: Engine help for a noobie
 

j.duncker,

What kind of exhaust setup are guys using there on the Irvine's and OS's? Stock mufflers, or something tuned? The stock OS muffler is real power killer, you can pick up a ton of extra power with a mousse can or other tuned exhaust. I'm not familiar with the Irvine's stock muffler, all the Irvines I've flown against had mousse cans or Ultrathrust tuned mufflers. They were powerful, but nothing the OS on mousse can couldn't keep up with.

The Webra on mousse can, however, blows the Irvine and OS out of the water. If you put a carb with a bigger throat on the OS FX, you get more power as well, if you look at the OS carb, it actually has a very small throat compared to many of the others.