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Where are the 50cc engines?


Chris Berry
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A clubmate rang me today asking for my thoughts on what engine he should put in a new plane he's getting. He wants to put a 40cc FS petrol engine in the model and asked me which one i'd recommend.

That got me thinking and searching the internet. There don't seem to be many 40-60cc single cylinder FS petrol engines about. A 50cc FS single would go down a storm I reckon but we're pretty much stuck with 2S engines.

Am I alone in thinking that we need a decent 50cc single cylinder four stroke petrol engine to be released?

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More to the point for many of us, where are the engines under .40ci (6.55cc)?

For decades, engines in the .15 to .40ci (2.5cc to 6.5cc) were the cornerstone of club flying! Nowadays, aside from classified ads and ebay, these engines are just about extinct! PAW still produce diesels in this class, but where are the glows? How are people meant to learn how to master ic engines without the "beginners / club" size motors?

Or am I just being a sad old - er - person? indecision

--

Pete

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Posted by Peter Christy on 02/11/2019 16:59:49:

More to the point for many of us, where are the engines under .40ci (6.55cc)?

For decades, engines in the .15 to .40ci (2.5cc to 6.5cc) were the cornerstone of club flying! Nowadays, aside from classified ads and ebay, these engines are just about extinct! PAW still produce diesels in this class, but where are the glows? How are people meant to learn how to master ic engines without the "beginners / club" size motors?

Or am I just being a sad old - er - person? indecision

--

Pete

OS still sell a 0.15, a 0.35 and a 0.46.....

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The problem with a 50cc Four Stroke engine would be that it would not have the power of a 50cc two stroke and would struggle with an airframe designed for 50cc models. For this popular size of model, you would probably need about a 70cc minimum four stroke (twin?).

I see the 38cc / 40cc FS as being suitable for a 30cc airframe, which is hopefully what your friend is looking for.

Weight is always going to be an issue with 4 stroke engines.

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Posted by Jason-I on 02/11/2019 17:09:58:

OS still sell a 0.15, a 0.35 and a 0.46.....

Perhaps I should have said affordable sub-.40 size engines! Over £100 for a .15? Really? And has anyone (other than Just Engines) actually got any in stock?

Even in Japan, that 15 is over £70! So I say again, where are the small affordable engines?

--

Pete

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Posted by Peter Christy on 03/11/2019 09:34:01:
Posted by Jason-I on 02/11/2019 17:09:58:

OS still sell a 0.15, a 0.35 and a 0.46.....

Perhaps I should have said affordable sub-.40 size engines! Over £100 for a .15? Really? And has anyone (other than Just Engines) actually got any in stock?

Even in Japan, that 15 is over £70! So I say again, where are the small affordable engines?

--

Pete

Pete, Its simple economics. Thanks to cheap, powerful and quiet electric motors, the demand for glow engines is a tiny percentage of what it was. Development, tooling and production costs have to be recouped over a much smaller number of engines than in the past, so the unit price to the consumer goes up, further reducing the demand. There are plenty of new and nearly new engines on ebay etc. for less than the manufacturers can make them for, so only the niche engines will find a market.
That Mills .75 in Tom Sharp's posting cost a weeks wages when it was new. Even OS prices of £100 for a .15LA is actually a bargain, its just that we've been spoilt in recent years!

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I thought OS had stopped producing all 2 stroke glow motors along with SC/ASP.

I am not sure what the status is on OF FS engines, I believe that the smaller motors have been dropped as well.

Basically, everyone (nearly) is going electric..

Very sad indeed if that is the case.

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Posted by Martyn K on 04/11/2019 16:52:53:

I thought OS had stopped producing all 2 stroke glow motors along with SC/ASP.

I am not sure what the status is on OF FS engines, I believe that the smaller motors have been dropped as well.

Basically, everyone (nearly) is going electric..

Very sad indeed if that is the case.

Ripmax and Just Engines both list OS two stroke engines. Whether that is current production or just old stock, I have no idea. Every Enya I clicked on on Steve Webb Models was shown as 'out of stock'.

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