4-stroke recommendation

[Rich too]

Hi Jon,

Lasers have been held in high regard since I was a kid over 35 years ago - well done, on such a sterling job, and for such a great contribution here on the forum - other vendors take note.

I am amazed that you ARE Laser engines. Is it not possible to get some help? Given that the demand is there for the engines? I must admit the lead times would put me off buying one. And whilst the support is great from you now, who takes over if you are not around?

Not being negative, just my honest thoughts. But again, well done, I wish more UK suppliers had your attitude and customer service.

[Pete Carpenter]

"Lasers have been held in high regard since I was a kid over 35 years ago - well done, on such a sterling job, and for such a great contribution here on the forum - other vendors take note."

Well said Rich. As well as everyone's recommendations and advice in this thread, and also the known reputation of the Laser, it's Jon's honest replies, help and thoughts here that have helped seal the deal as far as I'm concerned - I'd much rather hand over my hard earned cash to someone like Jon, and help support a great UK business at the same time.

Jon, one more question then I'll leave you alone (for now at least!) - is there a long wait on the 100, or just the 120? As I said earlier, I'm in no rush but it would help to know.

[Jon H]

Hi Rich

Its unlikely i will be getting any support any time soon. I would dearly love some more money too so i can finally move out. With property prices as they are in this area im pretty stuffed in that regard.

As for what happens when i am not here....nothing. Even when on holiday i have to take time out to answer emails which is not something i am very happy about. When i return i find a pile of scraps of paper with phone numbers scrawled on them so i can call everyone back. That is something that needs to change as its a rubbish way of doing things.

I am trying to change things here, but am often hit with 'we have done it like this for 30 years' as a response when i try to change something. Dragging my boss to wings and wheels this year (our first show since 1999) opened his eyes to just how much the hobby has changed so fingers crossed things will change soon.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Well i'll probably get stomped again but i'll have a go

Can only speak on what i see and experience...we've umpteen sport/scale/aerobats/3D models being flown with 4 strokes at our club, Laser included, yep lecky/petrol is popular as well but they're serious contenders so you would expect no different.

Old lad with his Tiggie/Cub ? yep he might look a bit boring to newcomers, but you soon learn there's a degree of skill being used even though it's not beating the sky up.

Power ? yes it's a consideration but not at the expense of reliability, word soon gets around on the iffy brands

Peoples understanding of models/engines ? for me it's no different than it's ever been, the folk interested in them learn to build/fly/use engines just as we did when we set out modelflying. Nothings changed other than the choice of powerplant has leveled off.

For me too much is made of the art of using glow engines, yep some lads are better than others at tuning, but if you follow basic good practice you should get good reliable use...as applies to lecky or petrol, building, flying.

For me the market for 4 strokes will always be there, people love em but competition has upped their game as well.

John

Edited By john stones 1 on 02/11/2016 10:17:51

[Jon H]

As it happens John im with you for the most part.

I agree that many newcomers will eventually broaden their horizons to appreciate a moth/cub/stampe or whatever, but unfortunately that can take some years to come about if at all and by then they could have aligned themselves with another brand or (heaven forbid) gone all electric!

Understanding of engine/systems/aerodynamics is falling in modelling. Perhaps not in your club but in general i think its more of an issue than it was. Some of the newcomers we have had hardly even know which end of the screwdriver they need to hold and their mechanical understanding is really low especially in a practical sense. I have seen the same here at work when guys are unable to make a simple modification to their ARTF in order to make it fit together.

It makes sense as these guys likely grew up not building models, and now they dont have to build them those skills are not something they pick up. The same is true of engines. Way back when young modellers had mopeds or small bikes and 1cc diesels in their models tinkering with engines was second nature. These days its all computers.

I do agree though that tuning engines is portrayed at a black art as it is not that hard. The trick is correct diagnosis of the fault and then taking the appropriate corrective action and that is where many go wrong. Mistaking an overheated engine for a lean one is a prime example.

Power...yes you are right, unreliable gear will eventually come a cropper, but people have to buy it first and find out. So from my point of view, performance and price make folk buy it, reliability makes them buy another one.

Given that most model engines are reliable these days our reliability is not quite the selling point it was. Clearly i still think we are a cut above the rest in this regard, but as you say the competition have upped their game so the difference is not what it was.

[Jon H]

Pete, i just noticed i didnt answer your question about lead times.

The 100 should be available for Christmas (i hope) but the 120 could even be in to February as a worst case.

[David Davis]

Pete, second hand Lasers appear on eBay from time to time. I have bought several. Some have required attention, but one, an 80, was brand new. So a second hand engine may be an option for you , if you need an engine more quickly than Jon is able to supply one currently.

So far I have been lucky requiring only piston rings and main bearings. I have been able to get the bearings from an engineering supply shop and if Jon did not have the spare piston rings because the engine was so old, I was able to source first rate replacements from a guy who trades as "Swarfe Monkey" on EBay..

Are you going to start a thread featuring models with Laser engines Jon? If so I've got one of my old Acrowot before I ran over it with the car!

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Martin McIntosh]

I must echo those thoughts about `new` unskilled modellers. Many seem to think that because of what they have read somewhere that an i/c these days needs to be petrol. I don`t know or really care if they have started to fiddle with the carb. settings, (most will run fine straight out of the box) but do they understand the importance of fuel filtering? I have now seen very many which just suddenly stop, usually just after take off and for no apparent reason.

Glow newcomers also seem to have no idea how to set up the slow running which is normally a simple matter. I no longer offer to assist unless asked to because it would no doubt be `my fault` if their motor subsequently failed.

[Jon H]

Hi David

We can start one if you like. There is an old thread on there called the laser appreciation society and they could go on there??

As for piston rings, that is part of the reason i am so far behind. 3 defective batches of material from 2 different suppliers. What we think has happened is that some legislation somewhere has changed the spec of the material and made it no good for our rings. Unfortunately its taken nearly 2 months to sort out and hardly any engines were produced during that time as they failed their test run's.

Most would not have noticed the issues, but i noticed and it wasnt right so had to be sorted