Nigel R Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 I think you're right Chris, I am only keeping stuff I think I am likely to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 I think IC will live on for as long as there's a market, even if that market is entirely second hand. The only issue I see is noise regulation. That said, I don't think electric is always less intrusive than IC. I'd rather 'be disturbed' by the burble of a FS45 than a screaming electric motor, even if the actual dB are the same. There will always be an enthusiast in a garage creating replacement parts, just as there are for various classic cars which are decades out of production. There is no objective 'need' for people to spend weekends tinkering with old cars that need time, money and skill to keep on the road. They do so because a 1973 Cortina Mk3 has character and soul that a 2020 clone will never have. Edited By Matt Carlton on 26/10/2020 14:20:43 Edited By Matt Carlton on 26/10/2020 14:21:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john davidson 1 Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 My love affair with I/C cooled a bit when a full container of glow fuel self siphoned out into the boot of my car, Suppose if it was lipos they cold do more damage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by Peter Christy on 26/10/2020 10:28:22: Electric motors may be convenient, but they have no SOUL! Car manufacturers strive to make their cars as near perfect as possible (OK, and cheaply as possible at the same time! ). Because of that they are BORING! Classic cars are often popular, not because they were particularly good, but because their defects gave them character! IC engines can be cantankerous and rebellious, but they have CHARACTER! I have never heard anyone suggest that an electric motor has character! Yes, I have a few electric models. Some of the fields I fly at are electric only. Electric is convenient for a quick "fix" at a local field. But for enjoyment, give me IC any day! -- Pete IC engines don't have "soul" or "character" they have "characteristics" as do electric motors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by PatMc on 26/10/2020 15:39:57: IC engines don't have "soul" or "character" they have "characteristics" as do electric motors. So are you telling me you've never cursed at a recalcitrant glow or diesel motor? -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perttime Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Cursing at a hobby item is fine. When it isn't working right, it is just another fun feature of the hobby. Your daily driver, on the other hand.... You generally want it to go, when you feel like going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by PatMc on 26/10/2020 15:39:57: IC engines don't have "soul" or "character" they have "characteristics" as do electric motors. CODSWALLOP!!! Having been using non stop engines since 1954 I can tell you that they do have character and anyone who says that they don't has not used very many of the engines of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 The younger modeller who only really know electric models have grown up in a throw-away society and if their electric motors burn out or the bearings wear out they just change the motor for a new one. Us older models on the other hand had to work hard to buy our engines and looked after them . If they were damaged or worn out we would often strip and repair them. I really enjoy rebuilding engines and have tried on a couple of occasions to re- wind an electric motor ,only successful on one of them. The engine rebuilds win hands down when it comes to satisfaction. I can only think of electric motors as similar to my collection of cotton reels although I do enjoy electric power in EDF and a few other of my models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 In the future electric motors will have more value than ic. When they are scrapped and melted down the copper in the electric motors will be worth more than the scrap alloy from i.c ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by Peter Christy on 26/10/2020 16:05:52: Posted by PatMc on 26/10/2020 15:39:57: IC engines don't have "soul" or "character" they have "characteristics" as do electric motors. So are you telling me you've never cursed at a recalcitrant glow or diesel motor? -- Pete Figuratively, yes. Why do you ask ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by Peter Miller on 26/10/2020 18:11:35: Posted by PatMc on 26/10/2020 15:39:57: IC engines don't have "soul" or "character" they have "characteristics" as do electric motors. CODSWALLOP!!! Having been using non stop engines since 1954 I can tell you that they do have character and anyone who says that they don't has not used very many of the engines of the past. Codswallop !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 I have 2 Me 109's both about 65" span a scale electric. and a sport scale i/c with a Saito 125 fs. they both fly well but give me the i/c one anytime for sound and duration, at the moment our field entrance is a quagmire, this is where electric is good, small case with batteries and t/x in one hand model in the other. Just to look at it from another angle in the future will modellers have a yearning for long gone foamies like we fondly look back on Junior and Super Sixty's. At least we can make these models from plans, only problem looming is a shortage of balsa. How about a foam board Black Magic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff2wings Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 (Well l hope people continue to take this thread in the light hearted manner that it's meant and not get to upperty about it, we are all nerds together here ! Well given a choice between this Or this?.... Or maybe this........ No prizes for guessing my preference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by Doc Marten on 26/10/2020 10:00:32: Posted by brokenenglish on 26/10/2020 09:56:09: Posted by kevin b on 26/10/2020 09:44:34: It depends on how electric motors develop in the future and the attitude of "collectors". If you had told a modeller in the early 50's that an ED Bee, or Mills in its box would be worth more than 20 weeks wages in 50 years time they would have told you not to be so stupid. IMO, the question doesn't really concern monetary value or week's wages. I had an ED Bee in the early fifties, and I wanted to keep it, just because it was interesting and great fun, and it's been that way ever since... Precisely. It's not about monetary value, it's about attachment and sentimentality. Sorry. I didn't mean to go off topic, but to some a monetary value of an item can add to its fascination. My point was that just because this generation feels a certain way about something doesn't mean to say that future generations will feel the same. Youngsters today for instance, look at the Harrier "jump jet" in the same light that many of the current aeromodelling generation look at the Sopwith Pup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Posted by jeff2wings on 26/10/2020 20:41:19: (Well l hope people continue to take this thread in the light hearted manner that it's meant and not get to upperty about it, we are all nerds together here ! Well given a choice between this Or this?.... Or maybe this........ No prizes for guessing my preference I totally agree and if that is your collection . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Colbourne Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 Wow! It looks like I set the cat amongst the pigeons. Thanks for all the replies everyone. The consensus is pretty much as I expected, 'engines have soul' and we have a passion for them that never will be to the same extent for an electric motor. It would probably be fair to say we all remember and have fonder memories of our first engine than our first electric motor, even if we did have numerous fuel-filled cuts on our fingers by the time we got the little, errr, 'thing' started. The fact that in many cases it wasn't instant gratification, meant the first successful run meant so much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Summed up perfectly here What's so great about engines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I can understand the appeal of ic motors for collectors and those who enjoy fiddling with them, and they certainly look more interesting. But as someone said earlier, electric is fine if you just want to pull a model around, which is all I want. I've never really got the noise thing in scale models. If my electric Spitfire were powered by a 4-stroke glow, the sound would replicate that of a Merlin to the same degree, that is nothing like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Posted by Nigel R on 27/10/2020 06:20:43: Summed up perfectly here What's so great about engines So very, VERY true!! Every word of it. The ONLY reason that I fly electric powered models now is old age and getting exhausted carrying the extra gear up the hill to the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Posted by Nigel R on 27/10/2020 06:20:43: Summed up perfectly here What's so great about engines Interesting observations. Although its not directly relevant to the 'fascination' question, one thing I've found personally is that I can fly as much or little as I want with a glow engine no matter how much time I've got available, whereas with electric I typically find that either I'm out of batteries, else wind up having a last flight or two of no real purpose or satisfaction except to 'burn' off unwanted amps... or do this at home on the charger for several hours! By comparison, cleaning gunk off an IC model only takes a trice and is - curiously - very satisfying indeed! Edited By Jonathan M on 27/10/2020 08:39:17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Some good points in the video Nigel. I had never thought about why my electric aircraft are all about the same size, it is of course for the simplicity of all being on 3s batt's. My IC aircraft both diesel/glow range from Mills 75 to Laser 150. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Although I haven't flown with glo or diesel engines since my schoolboy control line days in the 1960s, I do generally agree with the comments made here. However, I thought I'd try to respond to the specific questions posed in the original post: "Will the Graupner Speed 400 or 600 ever be discussed with the same affection as a Mills 75 or 1.3?" No, please, no! These 'can' motors were crude, mass produced and not intended for model flying. No surprise then that they were quite unsuited to our needs and are best forgotten. "Will there be an Oliver Tiger of the wiggly amp brigade? " Probably not but there are a few candidates for future electric collectors: Some of the specialist engines produced at the end of the brushed era, such as the Astro Flight range from the USA, had real engineering merit. There were also some very nice gearboxes. These specialist items were expensive and produced for a relatively short period so could well end up being collectors' items at some point. As for the current brushless era, I can't see the generic chinese brushless outrunner finding a place on the collectors' shelves but possibly some of the premium offerings from the likes of Hacker just might? "Will 'brushed motor only' events ever be a thing at Old Warden?" Only in your worst nightmare! "Will rumours of a genuine, still-functioning pack of Sanyo SCR nicads spread like wildfire?" Well, I do have a dozen or more of packs of Sanyo SCR NiCds. . . .. . Trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Howard Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Many years ago, British Railways (or whatever name they were masquerading under at the time) decided to abandon steam in favour of allegedly clean diesel. They are now going for allegedly cleaner electric locos (where will we be getting so much clean leccy from in years to come). Visit a heritage railway and just see what attracts all the attention - good old fashioned steam. Why? Because a steam loco is a living, breathing entity with a mechanical heart beating away. Diesels might have some attraction, but soulless electrics - never in a million years. The same is true for a model aircraft. Having that piston lump beating away on the front brings it to life in a way that no electric motor can ever hope to do. One of our members flies a spitfire with a 52 four-stroke up front. Recently, a female member of the public stopped to watch and commented on how lovely the model sounded. We have never had any glowing comments about electric models. I fly some electric purely for the convenience, but I will always prefer the throb of an I/C motor, especially a four stroke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 I use both, but the electric motor doesn't look nice as this. Don't you agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CARPERFECT Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 How anyone can look at an electric motor, and say O, thats a thing of beauty i will never know. So the answer is NO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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