I've recently gotten into pattern and as not to break the bank I decided to get the Great Planes Sequence 1.20. I don't have problems with setup with the servos etc, but I am having a problem on the power plant. I'm mostly used to gas/nitro powered planes, and I have only dabbled shortly into electric. This plane has the option of going both ways.

My concern with going with the OS 120AX is my intermediate knowledge of engines. I've done pretty well at tuning and managing engines, but I've never owned them for the long haul like I plan on with this plane. Basically I'm concerned about the reliability in the long run.

As for electric, my concern is the price. The motor, ESC, and battery together are more than the OS engine. As I've spoken with guys at the airfield, they have many batteries and will puff a battery enough that they are buying new batteries every year. Basically, my concern here is cost. I know that they are reliable as long as you set them up properly.

I'm curious about everyone else's experiences and what you have knowledge wise to impart to a humble intermediate pilot.

You have to factor in the cost of glow fuel against that of batterys.

Plus, electric has more torque and can turn a larger prop.

Have you thought about a ys 4 stroke?

One question i asked before jumping into pattern, what do people around me fly? Most near me use electric, so i followed suit. Plenty of local folks to ask questions to and have discussions.

Tony

You won't get flight times going electric, get a Saito or an OS engine, the YS is not a beginners engine and are way overrated and heavy.

i would strongly suggest a YS engine... not sure why people think they are heavy and over rated... the world championships speak for themselves... the ys engines are so reliable probably the most reliable in glow you will ever get.. my dad won the NATS in F3A with a YS140 and still 10 years later that engine starts right up and just like gas there is very little if any tuning once the needles are set. they cost a little more but you will benefit greatly in the long run! they are getting ready to release a 1.95 so you should be able to snag a great deal on the 1.85 or the 1.85CDI....

Originally Posted by sweetplane

You won't get flight times going electric, get a Saito or an OS engine, the YS is not a beginners engine and are way overrated and heavy.

This statement is inaccurate in every way.

Electrics get plenty of flight time to practice a pattern sequence.

YS engines, especially the newest versions are absolute beasts. and are very easy to setup and run. The YS 1.75FZ would be a nice choice for this airplane on low nitro fuel.

Neither OS, nor Saito makes a comparable 4-stroke engine for this application in either power or weight.. the biggest OS makes is a 1.20, and the Saito 1.80 doesn't come close to the power of the YS.

Originally Posted by Shaker

This statement is inaccurate in every way.

Electrics get plenty of flight time to practice a pattern sequence.

YS engines, especially the newest versions are absolute beasts. and are very easy to setup and run. The YS 1.75FZ would be a nice choice for this airplane on low nitro fuel.

Neither OS, nor Saito makes a comparable 4-stroke engine for this application in either power or weight.. the biggest OS makes is a 1.20, and the Saito 1.80 doesn't come close to the power of the YS.

thank you... i thought i was crazy and not reading something correctly... just because someone had a bad experience with something doesn't make them over rated.... i can tell you for sure the YS 1.85CDI will out power a DA50... however it is more than double the price lol

Everyone makes good points.......


I still fly both a YS 170 and F3A electric 2 meter air frame. I have done the cost comparison over the years and about the same. The difference is the level of maintenance between the two power plants. The YS will require a bit more preventative maintenance and the electric will be far less.

Electric in my opinion is more user friendly but a bit more prep. time involved with batteries. The YS is fill the tank and fly, less down time versus charging. You need to decide what fits your current flying habits, time available, etc.

I take 4 flight packs to the field and start charging packs between flights and I only fly about 6 -8 practice rounds. The YS 170 I fly it when I don't feel like dragging all the charging gear to the field, generator, etc.

I think a YS 1.75 is a bit much for that plane. If your a beginner, keep it simple and the experience will be better. Progressively work into more complex setups as you evolve in pattern.

The YS 185 CDI is a BEAST and YS makes glow power, no other 4 stroke or glow two stroke can match. I've never had a problem with any of my YS engines over the years. I've never had any major issues with electric other than batteries getting old and used up. I also ran OS 140RX/160 on a pipe in my pattern planes when I started in 2006 and they work flawlessly. The 140 isn't produced anymore.

Bill

Hello all.

I don't think this is a YS 140 size plane, but more of a YS110 or now 115 size.

It might be an OS 150 size, but YS are just so much more powerful.

The YS 140 motor would probably be too much power and I don't think they are made any more so your now looking at a YS 175 or 185 ( which replaced the 140)

I now fly electric in this size (110) and it's just great. The cost of the batteries is quite high, but there again so is YS glow fuel.

Take a look at the Electric setup that AJ Aircraft has for their 2m Acuity. That should be a great powerplant for this as well and it will not break the bank. The motors run great and you get the customer service of the Jesky family which is a +

http://www.aj-aircraft.com/Power-by-...12S_p_258.html

Also, a lot of guy are using hobby king 10s packs with great success and they also tend to be pretty reasonable. Sometimes their 5s packs are an even better deal. Look at something like the Zippy compact 5000.

I've long since given up on glow engines (the overall economics of fuel/battery flipped) but if I were to do one today the YS, in whatever size you actually need, is literally the only engine I would consider.

I had 4 Zippy 5s 25C compact 5000 for practice packs, all 4 expired with high cell counts around 50 flights (I fly FAI, so the F-program is a bit hard on 5000's). However, my competition packs are F3A Unlimited 5100/35C/ 5S packs and I have over 100 flights on those with the IR range still in the 1.8 range. Kevin is correct the zippy packs, they can serve you well if you take care of them and lightly cycle the pack a few times before regular use. That will normalize your IR (internal resistance) and the packs will last longer and resist puffing as-long- as you don't over fly them. AJ Aircraft has some great electric combinations for a great price as expressed above.

If you decide on glow, go with the OS 120AX , good engine, reliable and fuel efficient for a glow engine. That's just my opinion.. The YS 115 will fly it well too!

Hello
With ref to Zippy packs, I think it's a bit of a lottery as to what you get. I had 4x Zippy ( 5000mah 4s) go bad very soon after purchase, and of course being supplied from Hobbyking you can go whistle for any refund or replacement.
I've also got smaller 2800 4s Zippys which are a couple of years old and fine.

My best cheap 5000 4s batteries are the Rhinos, again from Hobbyking.

In this size plane, I'm using a Hacker motor and 2x 5000mah 4S packs in series.
Works a treat and I get a good 11 mins of sport flying.

I've run YS motors and they are just lovely, but I find them just a little more effort than a good electric setup. The main thing if considering electric is to get a good charger and power supply. I charge 6x 5000 4s packs at a time with a Revolectrix cell pro charger and two Dell computer PSUs providing the juice.

The last two sentences are very important and the same chargers I use, if that helps.

I ran Rhino 4900 5S in 2008, heavy but they did the job.

Originally Posted by rodders

Hello
With ref to Zippy packs, I think it's a bit of a lottery as to what you get. I had 4x Zippy ( 5000mah 4s) go bad very soon after purchase, and of course being supplied from Hobbyking you can go whistle for any refund or replacement.
I've also got smaller 2800 4s Zippys which are a couple of years old and fine.

My best cheap 5000 4s batteries are the Rhinos, again from Hobbyking.

In this size plane, I'm using a Hacker motor and 2x 5000mah 4S packs in series.
Works a treat and I get a good 11 mins of sport flying.

I've run YS motors and they are just lovely, but I find them just a little more effort than a good electric setup. The main thing if considering electric is to get a good charger and power supply. I charge 6x 5000 4s packs at a time with a Revolectrix cell pro charger and two Dell computer PSUs providing the juice.

I am no glow tuning guru, so I find my OS120AX to be quite easy to tune thankfully. As others have noted, the YS 4strokes are powerful beasts, and are a bit thirsty as well. I've been surprised at the economy of my 120AX, but that is more mixed 3D, whereas pattern would be using a lot more throttle--YMMV


I've always wanted a big YS, but tuning/maintenance scares me away. I actually think they're better if you fly them more often--I think a lot of the issues stem from infrequent use and gumming/hardening up of the various pump works...An FZ175 would be the ticket on my 8.5lb 65" profile

I guess there is no time like the present to start getting into and used to electric. I will say that at my local airfield we have one pattern gentleman that runs nitro and knows it well. He has two other guys doing the same under him. There are quite a few others that are doing electric. I already have a good charger (iCharger 306B) that I use for the electric foamies and quads that I fly.

Do you think I should go as big as 10S on this? They had it setup with a 6S and the FlyingGiants.com review used the same, but a fellow pattern pilot at the field said he preferred the 8S setup that he was running. Long story short, I'm inexperienced with electric setups and I'm looking for advice on motor brands that are dependable, ESCs that are dependable, and batteries that are dependable. Thank you everyone for your input!