Bekra so far

[Steve]

From my experience, Bekra definitely contains something that is darn way close to castor oil then. There's something in it which feels just like castor oil when you rub it between your fingers and there's something in it that covers your heli in thick goo, quite unlike fully synthetic oiled fuels. It certainly appears and feels like castor oil to me. But, whatever it is, there's only a very small amount of it in the mix.

Coptamix (what I'm using now and have been for a year or so) on the other hand feels like and oils the heli just like all the other fully synthetic fuels out there.

By the way, there's nothing wrong with castor oil in fuel. It actually goes an awfully long way to protect your engine, prevent corrosion and give you warning before it's too late when something isn't right. The other side of the coin is that it creates carbon deposits both inside and outside the engine which can be a pain to get rid of.

Back in Mark's nitro days he did of course use Bekra 16% as has been well documented. My club mate bought one of Mark's old competition helis a couple of years ago (I actually picked it up from your home Pete) and the airframe was covered in a typically-castor sticky residue. I'm not complaining, the heli is great - it's just an observation.

[millerman]

i have only used optifuel uptill the weekend and now im trying rapicon
deffo a different residue on the heli slightly thicker than opti i also noticed that opti use 20% oil were rapicon use 23% what is bekra's oil content %? as i think this is the part of the diffrence between rusty bearing and non rusty bearing

[pchristy]

Bekra actually contains a blend of oils. One of the disadvantages of synthetic compared to castor is that synthetic oils only work over a fairly narrow temperature range. In the early days this lead to synthetics getting a bad reputation, as they weren't as tolerant of lean runs!

The main lubricant in Bekra is the usual Klotz, but it also contains a couple of high temperature oils that give some protection against lean runs. I don't know the details as I'm not a chemical expert, but I can tell you that the ultimate high temperature oil smells like burning rubber when it starts to break down!

If ever you smell that whilst flying, land quickly, as your engine is about to melt down!!!!!

And don't ask how I know this!

[raptorheli2]

interesting thread folks but some feedback for MT.

i walked over to their fuel stand at 3DC and the guy at the stand couldn't be bothered to get out of his chair to acknowledge me or the other couple of people that were curious about the "new" range of MT fuels (coptamix). compare this to optifuel that was everywhere it does tell a story.

like optifuel or not andy has put a lot of money into this hobby with sponsored pilots/events etc-MT seem not to be doing this (correct me if i'm wrong) so they are probably missing out on quite a lot of the market they could have. they have the best distribution in the UK as every model shop will have an account with them i would think but seem not to be taking advantage of it.

get some people sponsored to fly the fuel, get the name out there again and i'm sure they could capture a more substantial chunk of the heli fuel market.

i use optifuel myself now and have no complaints other than the price, i can't say it uses bearings more than it should-very happy.

cheers

[Nick B]

Agreed,some great replies here,thank you all very much for the input

Another observation is the engine is deffo harder to turn over on the first flight of the day and i guess its another sign of more/thicker oil in the engine from its last run last time out

[Nick B]

Swapped out the rear in the 55 last night after finishing off my old fuel and replaced,it wasnt too bad after doing 4 gallons but im sure the Death Rattle wasnt far away.I fired it up on the bekra and again i had to have the throttle trim right up....once it fired it would not run till i leaned of the idle just off stock setting.I let it run for qaurter of a tank and the burnt fuel in the tray under the pipe was nice and gooey

Managed to burn 4 gallons through the 700 so far,i looked in behind the back plate and its looking gooooood

Will report back on the os55 once i have put a few gallons through

[waveydavey]

Just fitted an OS55 and it is running on Rapicon 20% so I will happily do a side by side comparison if you want Nick.

[Nick B]

Yeah,good idea,Dave

Will try my hardest to log my flights as i have 2 heli's running on it now,i use the whole main tank leaving header full 9/10 times....will put up my needle settings to once i get out and fly it

[wayne123]

interesting thread folks but some feedback for MT.

i walked over to their fuel stand at 3DC and the guy at the stand couldn't be bothered to get out of his chair to acknowledge me or the other couple of people that were curious about the "new" range of MT fuels (coptamix). compare this to optifuel that was everywhere it does tell a story.

like optifuel or not andy has put a lot of money into this hobby with sponsored pilots/events etc-MT seem not to be doing this (correct me if i'm wrong) so they are probably missing out on quite a lot of the market they could have. they have the best distribution in the UK as every model shop will have an account with them i would think but seem not to be taking advantage of it.

get some people sponsored to fly the fuel, get the name out there again and i'm sure they could capture a more substantial chunk of the heli fuel market.

i use optifuel myself now and have no complaints other than the price, i can't say it uses bearings more than it should-very happy.

cheers

I was in a model shop that is local to me and sponsorship from fuel suppliers was one thing we talked about, it turns out that if MT decide to sponsor you they will not provide fuel to you for free you have to buy it at trade price.
How true this is I don't know and to be honest the only time I used coptormix I had some problems, so I use Rotor rage 20% nitro and I have had no problems and I'm now on my 5th gallon

[Steve]

interesting thread folks but some feedback for MT.

i walked over to their fuel stand at 3DC and the guy at the stand couldn't be bothered to get out of his chair to acknowledge me or the other couple of people that were curious about the "new" range of MT fuels (coptamix). compare this to optifuel that was everywhere it does tell a story.

like optifuel or not andy has put a lot of money into this hobby with sponsored pilots/events etc-MT seem not to be doing this (correct me if i'm wrong) so they are probably missing out on quite a lot of the market they could have. they have the best distribution in the UK as every model shop will have an account with them i would think but seem not to be taking advantage of it.

get some people sponsored to fly the fuel, get the name out there again and i'm sure they could capture a more substantial chunk of the heli fuel market.

i use optifuel myself now and have no complaints other than the price, i can't say it uses bearings more than it should-very happy.

cheers

Can't believe this thread has popped back up on the board today of all days.

I met the chap who came to the show to sell MT fuels just this morning to stock up on my usual supplies at a great price. Now baring in mind he doesn't really know me at all and I'm just another punter, he specifically asked me if I went to the competition and if I knew who had been reporting his lack of enthusiasm or interest online.

I naturally said "No", as was the case, and then I came home to find this thread which I had forgotten all about. Now he might not be the most eloquent of people in the world, but he is decent, honest, reliable and trustworthy in my opinion, and furthermore your opinions of him as a person is not a reflection of the quality of the product.

I could not respond to his comments as I was (until now) unaware of who had said what online, when and where, nor did I go to the competition, but I did listen and in his defence it sounds like he was somewhat overwhelmed by Optifuel's presence at the event.

Of course all is fair in love and war and business marketing and every company must do what it feels is necessary to stay within the limits of the law and to edge ahead of their competitors, but his (not mine) lasting impression of the event was that people were coming to him to discuss fuels with a pre-conceived prejudice about MT, and that Optifuel were the Good and the Great of RC heli fuel because they were giving it away for free left right and centre.

I stress again, I am passing on my interpretation of his words, and these are not necessarily my opinions, but every story has two sides. It seems to me that the feedback reports on the MT fuel I've read here are more good than bad, and I am an MT fuel user myself and think it's just fine - right fuel at the right price.

Let the product do the talking and view it (and others of course) with an open mind.

[waveydavey]

A very nice chap in my opinion, offered to loan me a hammer for my tent when I couldn't find mine.

[Nick B]

Snuck a tank in before it got dark,quick tune up and a quick spanky,it feels just as powerful with slightly less smoke

[alex]

Bekra 10 is still doing me fine and I'm not complaining at £16 a gallon

It gives more than enough poke with my flybarless 700 set up for my level of flying.

[chris jones2.4]

im using the same as alex, if you got a well set up engine and model, its fine

[alex]

Agreed,some great replies here,thank you all very much for the input

Another observation is the engine is deffo harder to turn over on the first flight of the day and i guess its another sign of more/thicker oil in the engine from its last run last time out

I do agree with that- my engine is a PITA first flight of the day, though I reckon that is just mine as Chris's seems fine.