Model Fuel prices !!!!@

[Rocker]

Just got a shock .Went to buy some 10% model fuel and the prices are ridiculous. They want £35 for 5 liters. No way am I paying that 

[Ron Gray]

You don’t have to, SMC

[Rich too]

I agree, that’s disgusting. How is it justified?

[Jon H]

The low oil laser fuel more or less doubled in price over a year which was very disappointing. I did my best to question it but clearly had little impact. 

 

As Ron suggests, SMC are likely to be my go to from now on. I plan to order some of the low oil laser fuel and hope to give it my stamp of approval for whatever that is worth. 

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I have removed a post which bordered on libel and was unpleasant in tone. Deliberate provocation is against the forum code of conduct and will not be tolerated.

 

Update: After some discussion, we’ve decided that several posts discussing the merits or otherwise of a particular fuel had no relevance to the discussion of the price of model fuel.  These have been removed. 

Edited July 20, 2024 by Martin Harris - Moderator

[kevin b]

Slightly off topic, but I am becoming more and more disenchanted with this forum due to the large number of whinging threads.

When are people going to accept that everything gets more expensive all the time ?

That's how western economies work (and always have done).

The question is are prices relative ?

 I ask this question.

If you compare your quality of life with that of your grandparents at your age are you better, or worse off than they were ?

Was your grandfather able to afford to go out and buy 5 litres of fuel for his weekends model flying (ok a gallon then) ?

 

Life is too short to spend what little we have left complaining.

Edited July 21, 2024 by J D 8 - Moderator
unnecessary comment

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

Even Worse in France, they even put another tax on it, as Kevin says out of context, I hava an Aprilia RSV4r, around 10 litres to 100 klm,

and my Jag 13 to 14 to 100 klm, they are like my fuel guzzling Saito 120 and Rossi 90, they put a smile on my face that you can't put a price on that.

[leccyflyer]

Even worse with diesel fuel - around £20 for ONE litre. Thankfully you don't tend to use much of it, compared to glow engines, mostly due to the smaller capacity of the majority of diesels in use.

[GaryW]

Its like any hobby where there is usually some form of financial outlay ,, myself I have 2 ponds ,, 1 with goldfsh the other being a koi pond which anyone that keeps koi know there can be quite a price tag to keeping koi speacially when that time comes when you need to use koi & pond treatments some of which can be rather pricey including buying the koi in the first place.... but in any hobby, it's going to cost money, personally yes ok i dont tend to worry about the cost of a gallon of fuel or the price of glow plugs these day compared to say a few years ago and I dont think £30 price bracket for a gallon of fuel excessive .. while there are cheaper fuels out there but I choose to use which fuel my models seem to be happy running on just as i choose to drive a ny-on 2 ton big SUV car burning its way through 42-46 mpg worth of petrol for the 60 mile round trip 2 - 3 times a week to go and have a fly I cud let the wife spend the money it costs me just to go to the flying field every week bit seeing as my latest model being the Nexa Spitfire is costing my around the £700 all in why shud she have all the fun.......

 

As rc modellers / flyers many of us are quick enough to chuck money at expensive models but then moan about the price of a gallon of glow fuel or how much the wife spends on shoes or make-up,, now I cant say I have an expensive wife but she can be just as bad at spending money as I am with rc flying so I can't complain there..........  But when you sit up the field with your favourite models even with the price of fuels if say the most expensive glow fue or diesel was the only fuel available and there was no other cheaper fuel options we wud still pay for the fuels we use to spend an enjoying day or weekend at the club field ,, either that or spend the day at home dreading what chore the wife was going to find for you to do next..... in my case its the weekend YAYYY I'm going flying I'll be home when I get here.. BYE!!.....

[Ron Gray]

9 hours ago, kevin b said:

 

When are people going to accept that everything gets more expensive all the time ?

I think you’re missing the point, prices go up, yes we all have to accept that but when they nearly double in price in a year? Interesting that complaining about the cost of fuel made a retailer double check and realise that a mistake had been made so reduced the price and made refunds to those who had been overcharged. Also it made a search for alternatives and prompted a previous supplier to gear up and now provide fuel at a more realistic price.

 

So stop banging on about whinging when legitimate concerns result in actions that benefit our sport / hobby.

[Jason Channing]

I use some of the SMC fuels, However SMC do use a cheaper oil and cant really compare to more modern oils. Having asked Justin if he would use Klotz in the future it was something he looked into however that would have pushed his prices up somewhat. ML70 works but there are far better( and worse) oils out there.

[Brian Cooper]

The best glow fuel in the world costs less than £20 for 5 litres with 5% nitro.

And less than £22 with 10% nitro. 👍

 

It is still cheaper than buying a fistful of Lipos. 

 

By comparison, petrol is cheap. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Frank Skilbeck]

Flying gliders is cheaper still,.......😁

[Shaun Walsh]

"A fist full of lipos"

A little known film by Clint Eastwood. 

[Don Fry]

1 hour ago, GaryW said:

Its like any hobby where there is usually some form of financial outlay ,, myself I have 2 ponds ,, 1 with goldfsh the other being a koi pond which anyone that keeps koi know there can be quite a price tag to keeping koi speacially when that time comes when you need to use koi & pond treatments some of which can be rather pricey including buying the koi in the first place.... but in any hobby, it's going to cost money, personally yes ok i dont tend to worry about the cost of a gallon of fuel or the price of glow plugs these day compared to say a few years ago and I dont think £30 price bracket for a gallon of fuel excessive .. while there are cheaper fuels out there but I choose to use which fuel my models seem to be happy running on just as i choose to drive a ny-on 2 ton big SUV car burning its way through 42-46 mpg worth of petrol for the 60 mile round trip 2 - 3 times a week to go and have a fly I cud let the wife spend the money it costs me just to go to the flying field every week bit seeing as my latest model being the Nexa Spitfire is costing my around the £700 all in why shud she have all the fun.......

 

As rc modellers / flyers many of us are quick enough to chuck money at expensive models but then moan about the price of a gallon of glow fuel or how much the wife spends on shoes or make-up,, now I cant say I have an expensive wife but she can be just as bad at spending money as I am with rc flying so I can't complain there..........  But when you sit up the field with your favourite models even with the price of fuels if say the most expensive glow fue or diesel was the only fuel available and there was no other cheaper fuel options we wud still pay for the fuels we use to spend an enjoying day or weekend at the club field ,, either that or spend the day at home dreading what chore the wife was going to find for you to do next..... in my case its the weekend YAYYY I'm going flying I'll be home when I get here.. BYE!!.....

Mind Koi ponds are also useful, have you ever tried Sichwan crispy fried carp, pwooah!!!

[Rocker]

I have been using Optifuel Optimix 12%..Use to cost £26 for 5 liters ,now it is  £35 for 5 liters.After reading this thread I now realise ,if you want a decent top fuel you are going to have to pay for it .Make me wonder if the cheaper fuel has cheaper oil etc in it  hence it is cheaper to buy 

Or are the more expensive companies just making bigger profits 

I have to cough up and pay the £35 and hope I have a good quality fuel 🤨

[Robin Colbourne]

2 hours ago, Shaun Walsh said:

"A fist full of lipos"

A little known film by Clint Eastwood. 

Scary stuff!!!  It makes those Westerns in which they carried around bottles of nitroglyerine in cotton wool-lined boxes seem pretty tame.

[Robin Colbourne]

With regard to the fuel prices, in addition to the scarce or non-availability of some components, and increasing cost of others, plus the ever increasing cost and effort of complying with the health and safety requirements of fuel handling, spread across a diminishing number of users is no doubt playing a part.

Edited July 21, 2024 by Robin Colbourne

[RottenRow]

32 minutes ago, Rocker said:

Or are the more expensive companies just making bigger profits 

There might be a degree of that involved, but it’s also worth bearing in mind:

 

Model Technics / Optifuel is supplied in 5 litre containers, which is roughly 10% more than the gallon that some other suppliers’ containers hold.

 

With Southern Modelcraft and presumably Weston UK you are buying directly from the manufacturer. With Model Technics / Optifuel you are buying from a retailer (which could be your local model shop if you have one). The retailer needs to make a profit, and he is supplied by a wholesaler / distributor (Perkins in this case) who will also be making a profit. Plus there are costs of transportation involved, at least one extra stage.

 

Also as has already been pointed out, different ingredients (lubricating oil specifically) used by different manufacturers, and even the same manufacturer in its different mixes, will make a further difference to the price.

 

I’m sure no-one relishes any increase in price, at least having more than one or two possible suppliers should help keep a little bit of competitiveness in the prices.

 

Brian.

[Mike T]

I've been using Southern Modelcraft fuel for 25+ years on the recommendation of the late Paul Landells, owner of Just Engines.  It's never given me the slightest cause for concern.  Their prices have gone up, but only very modestly as far as I can see.  A few years ago, a gallon (i.e. 4.55L) of 5% was about £17 - it's now about £20.  Quite reasonable.  The price of MT has gone up quite steeply, but if you want more exotic oil mixes, then it looks like that's the price you pay (literally).  ML70 is just fine for me.

 

That said, it seems the prices of all modelling goods have increased exponentially over the last 5 years or so.  The pandemic certainly had an effect, but so did other factors, that we can't discuss here (which is probably for the best...)

[Jon H]

If you can do it without poisoning or blowing yourself up you could mix your own for a bargain price with  Methanol on ebay

 

You can kiss goodbye to any engine warranty though

[Tim Flyer]

Interesting Jon . For 19L of high purity minimum 99.95% US made drag racing methanol  it’s about £75 with collection at Santa Pod. 
https://santapodshop.com/products/vp-racing-fuels-m1?_pos=2&_sid=8b814a3c7&_ss=r

[Tim Flyer]

Ps I won’t be mixing my own fuel though 😉

[Frank Skilbeck]

I have a club mate who races motorbikes, he can get methanol at around £8 per gallon, I've used it to dilute fuel with a high oil content. No problems so far and all my engines are well out of warrenty. 

[Jason Channing]

For those that want Optifuel I am a distributor based in Jersey but have some fuel in stock close to Duxford. (most of the popular ones)

PM for prices (If your looking for a website there is none as one is not required on an island With only one flying club.)