Gas engine choices

[lancegeist]

Still debating what engine I'd like to run in a 29% Ultimate. I've never flown with a G-62 but I'll swear by them, many-a-plane I've seen with these and never any problems. My concern is that I've been out of the loop for awhile and see that most giant sporties are flying with da-50's and 3w's. Haven't found much info as to why these are the preferred engines nowadays....can anyone enlighten me as to why these engines are chosen so frequently? Thx!

[JimC-MD]

Power and weight sum up a good portion of the equation. Stronger and lighter than engines from an earlier age. From a personal perspective on the brand I went with, the service from DA is phenomenal. Questions readily answered, service promptly performed and at reasonable prices. I am sure 3W service is also excellent though I do not yet own one of them.

[yakwrecker]

Jim pretty much summed it up. But the only thing i can add is that the 2 stoke technology itself has improved such as porting and compression ratios to give the very most power from a certain displacement. not even going to get into exhaust technology. speaking of which did anyone else see the canister that was cut in half at the RSC booth at toledo. lots of welds and chambers.

[lancegeist]

Thanks for your info gents, I'd assumed that power-to-weight (along with improved technology) would've been why. I've been away from the sport for quite some time and haven't kept up with the many changes! All aside though, are Zenoah's still as reliable as they've been in the past? I'm attempting to budget where I can but will spend the money on a DA if the Zenoah brand isn't what it used to be.

[Dangerous Dan]

I'ld Strongly say a BME 50 they are light strong and Bullet Proof, not sure if they still make them

[Neogenesis]

It's not that the quality of the Zenoah has decreased....but others have advanced beyond what zenoah is still running. They are now playing catch up. It wasn't until recently that they started running electronic ignitions.....and there stills seems to be a weight factor involved....but I have not done the homework to prove this. So don't kill me if I'm wrong there.



Neo

[analog_boy]

and they just plane look cooler

[Tired Old Man]

Another perspective.

The reason for the popularity of the DA and 3W line is nothing more than pure advertising and public exposure provided via super stars using free engines in contests that they would have won using a weedie conversion. The company that can spend the largest advertising dollar and maximize public exposure gets the sales volume.

Truthfully there are stronger enges and near the same or less weights that perform better that don't require excellent service. If an engine nevers breaks or is manufactured correctly to begin with, service is a non issue.

The G-62 is still an excellent engine, especially after the lightening and ignition conversions pperformed by RC Ignitions. The weight penalty between the G-62 lite and the DA in an actual ready to run format, is not that much, and much closer together than if the G-62 remained in it's stock, made for industrial applications" form.

Taurus TS 52 is another that actually out performs the two noted in your post in the 50cc class. The 3W 55 does about equal the Taurus. The Taurus is easily the smoothest running single I've had my hands on, with superb carb performance. Great customer service and will bend over backwards to please the customer.

Brellelli 60. A class act engine easily comparable to both the DA and 3w for quite a bit less dough. Superior mid range and easy tuning. Great customer service if it's ever needed.

Brison 3.2. Equals the DA 50 at only about a 2 to 4 ounce weight difference, ready to fly. Superior mid range and easy tuning.

ZDZ 50. Great engine, in the same power class as the DA and 3W.

BME is another with superb customer service, high power output, light weight, and great reliability.

DA customer service is absolutely great. They practiced hard at it.

3W---toss a coin.

There's a couple more, but I don't have any hands on with them to provide accurate background. What's common with all the "other" engines I noted? They are all excellent in performance, generally light in weight, have great customer service, and are less expensive than the two engines noted originally. None of them spend mega bucks in advertising dollars.

Essentially determine how much weight you need up front to make it balance and go with the one that fits the weight and the needed power output. Determine what fits the budget. There's waaaaay too much advertising hype that's gone into the decision process of many, drastically effecting the judgement/comparison process.

As I said, a different perspective.

[Mokken]

	Quote: Originally Posted by silversurfer
	Another perspective. The reason for the popularity of the DA and 3W line is nothing more than pure advertising and public exposure provided via super stars using free engines in contests that they would have won using a weedie conversion. The company that can spend the largest advertising dollar and maximize public exposure gets the sales volume.

That goes for anything we purchase.

[Tired Old Man]

Agreed.

My point was that the reason so many go with the two most popular brands has much less to do with "superior" performance than it does with hype. With some of the engines noted in my post, the actual title of "superior" truthfully applies to an engine other than the more popular ones.

[JimC-MD]

Yet another perspective,

Competitors are constantly looking for the next little edge to help propel them over the top. If it were all hype it would likely not last year to year. If an engine routinely "required service" for failures that were not induced, the word in todays media environment would spread very quickly.

There are many considerations to take into account when purchasing an engine of this class. You are buying a product that has the potential to stay with you through many years and multiple planes, if taken care of. This means that you may want to outfit or equip the engine in different configurations. The more popular options have many more choices readily available from multiple vendors. (Read exhaust, spinners, etc) Kind of like wanting to pimp out a Honda Civic vs a Hyundai. Over time it may change, but in the current reality it is something to consider.

There are lots of choices out there and that is a good thing. In the end, it is up to you to do the heavy lifting and dig into information to find the best choice for YOU.

I have never been one of the "sheeple" and do not follow the herd just because. Heck, I am one of the Guinea Pigs that just got a Dietrich that some have Pooh poohed as having no track record etc. etc. etc. I am willing to try new things. I was running Saito engines when most people in my area thought all engines has two letter names.

If there is real, objective, scientific testing available for the items I am looking for, I am always willing to look it over in my decision making process. Otherwise I read everything with a skeptical eye.

The sad truth is we tend to see lots of hype and it has many sources. Some is from manufacturers and some is from enthusiastic users and still more is spin from people that may have been unhappy with a competing product in the past. Hard to cypher the truth out without good, solid data and the question in mind........ "Does that matter to ME?"

[lancegeist]

Gents, I attended the RDRC Spring Fly-In today, and I sadly watched two beautiful birds fall prey to gravity - from sputtering DA's. A 50% Edge pancaked inverted while attempting to come into hover around 10 ft, pilot surged throttle to transition from inverted harrier to hover and a nasty sputter from the big DA-100 ended its flying days. The other was a (I assume) 30% or bigger Ultimate bipe, waterfalling down to about 100 ft, pilot ended maneuver 90deg nose-down at idle, began to recover and DA-50 quit, resulting in a left-wing-low stall that cartwheeled the plane on impact - again, destroyed. Overheard him saying later that 'it just started running rough prior to crash'. I didn't count, but there must've been at least 20 giant sporties, I was looking for and noticed only two running G-62's. In perspective, I'll follow trends that appeal to me....however, after seeing this today I believe I'll stay with the tried-and-true Zenoah for my upcoming bird...a nice plane is only nice in one piece