nitro vs electric vs gasser at 90 size?

[maxtremis]

Hi all,

I know this has been discussed a thousand times but heres my situation; I've currently have a Gaui X5 & trex 550 but really feel the need for something bigger. I keep going back and fourth on this one.

Does a 90 size electric really make financial sense for a sport flyer? lets say I want about 3 hours flying up the field, to really practise general sport flying, no hard 3d. I'm thinking it has to be nitro due to the lipo costs and charging times of a leccy....... I'm also considering a gasser because I never got on well with nitros when I was younger with RC cars. Maybe a gasser would be easier to set up? any advice welcome.

thx

Happy new year

[Andy from Sandy]

It is possible to run a gasser lean and have the engine seize up just like a nitro.

[Ade_Law]

Having been up and down the sizing myself, nobody "needs" a big model.

The sweet spot for sport flying used to be 50size nitro.

Now I think the size might be around 550mm/600mm

The jump up from there is massive. It takes 2 batteries from a 550 size to power a 700 and the spares are a step up too.

Same goes for nitro and petrol.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[JoeBailey]

Gassers are big, heavy, and unless you match a tuned engine with a tuned pipe they are down on power over a 90 nitro. No club in the uk would be daft enough to let you run a gasser on a tuned pipe. (Think low flying chain saw)

That said they are cheap to run and if you like slow smooth 3d they are awesome. The weight makes them sit like a rock in wind and you will still be flying when most have packed up due to wind.

Tuning is pretty good but there's less room for error in a lean run. Pipes and parts are hard to get hold of here in the uk so it's US or Japan for bits.

What gasser are you thinking of?

[3dx]

Ade is spot on,,,would add that a 600 nitro makes perfect sense as its big enough to cope with the British weather,spares are easily available-depending what model you go for ,and modern nitro engines are a bit easier to live with !!,,

[hedge]

It's a tough one if you plan to progress to 3D with this new model then I would discount the gasser, it can be done but it takes more skill and the engine needs to be tuned very well. Then it's just about upfront vs ongoing costs, both nitro and leccy on low head speeds will give you long +7 min flight times - nitro will be marginally longer but both are OK. Then by the sounds of it you had a bad time with Nitro so perhaps you stick with what you know and share packs with your 550?

[maxtremis]

Gassers are big, heavy, and unless you match a tuned engine with a tuned pipe they are down on power over a 90 nitro. No club in the uk would be daft enough to let you run a gasser on a tuned pipe. (Think low flying chain saw)

That said they are cheap to run and if you like slow smooth 3d they are awesome. The weight makes them sit like a rock in wind and you will still be flying when most have packed up due to wind.

Tuning is pretty good but there's less room for error in a lean run. Pipes and parts are hard to get hold of here in the uk so it's US or Japan for bits.

What gasser are you thinking of?

I didn't have any particular Gasser in mind, but the Benzine acrobat did interest me due to its size but price puts me off.

[maxtremis]

Ade laws comments are interesting, maybe I should be considering a trex 600n.. this could share some spares with my trex 550.

[KevDavies]

If your going 90 size, it has to be nitro really as the best balance.

Electric flight times are pathetic, yet the power is mind boggling
Gasser flight times are amazeballs, yet the noise is horrid

Nitro strikes a right balance between flight time and power. My Rappy 90 will get 9-10 mins per tank of reasonable 3d and sport flying. Yeah I can bog the head, but thats just me being crap with the collective.

And repair costs for the airframe arent much more than the costs for a 600 size, its the blades that are significantly more expensive.

If you can afford a 90 I say get one, they are such a joy to fly. Do you need a 90......... No, but will you enjoy a 90.......most definately yes

[maxtremis]

thanks for the advice, I've added trex 600n to my list and starting to rule out the gasser, I agree the noise isn't nice. Now to think about which FBL 90 nitros to consider.

[heathy]

Skookum 540 as it has 2 banks of gyros, should your vibes go mental then the other set of gyros kick in,

[Ade_Law]

A clarification,

Let's deal with e vrs n first.

Electric,

quiet, more suitable places to fly crap load of power,

Big initial outlay especially if you want to go out for the day and do 10flights, short flight times.

Nitro is basically the opposite of the above.

But if you do generally go to a nitro friendly field for a days flying nitros flight time and ease of fillups defo awesome.

If you are on any kind of budget limit stay well clear of 90s

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[trillian]

Just to add, in terms of nitro tuning/fiddling/reliability in my experience the OS50 Hyper is very reliable, easy to tune and trouble free. Also, nitro airframes can often be found super cheap 2nd hand. I recently got a pristine (and I mean spotless, like new) Knight 3D airframe for 75 quid and I have seen OS50 Hypers going around 50/60 ish, just make sure the piston, ring and liner are in good shape.

I love the way .90s fly for the presence in the air and the sheer mass but .90 engines can be a bit more tricky and obviously they burn a lot more fuel.

[pgkevet]

In ruth I don; agree tha gassers are that noisy unless you fly the stock zenoah can - and few do. Yes there's noise but it's a different pitch to nitro and the sound doesn't carry the same. No argument about weight but very very capable of sports flying. It takes concentration/collecive management to do balletic tick-tocks though. My 3D max engine runs about 15mins on a 12oz tank; the lower powered un-modded PUH231 I used to have could run a good 35mins+ on 16oz but I needed a tea and fag break well before that.
The bigger issue and why I fly my gasser less is the sheer mass on impact in any crash makes them a tad dramatic and pricey and apar from the trex conversions the parts costs and availability can be a chore to cope with too.
For all that the spectraG is an awesome looking bird - most of the pure gassers are - huge huge presence in the air and on the ground and stick a flight pack genny on-board and thay have to be the utmost in simplicity to take to a field...bird, tx and can of fuel and a couple of spanners to check nothing loosens.

[ChrisB]

I went electric only 2 years ago and would never go back to Nitro personally but they make perfect sense as do gassers.

Also agree 550 to 600 is sweet spot i think my Logo 600SX is my best all round model i currently have but i do have three 700 Electrics in my fleet and that size always wins for grin factor.

Electric does need investment for all day flying but i have high powered chargers,PSUs and a Honda EU10i genny so i can fly as much as i like any given day.

Every model size and power source has its plus and minus points in the end.