How to Buy an Engine for Model Aircraft

Radio-controlled model airplanes allow the flying enthusiast to take the controls of nearly any airplane imaginable. The heart of a solid, performing scale-model aircraft is a good engine.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Model Engine Supplies And Accessories
• NiCad Rechargeable Batteries
• Jewelers Screwdriver Sets
• Needle-nose Pliers
• Nut Drivers
• Pliers
• R/C Model Engines
• How-to Video On R/C Airplanes

1. Concentrate on buying a basic engine if you're a beginning radio-control modeler.
2. Base your choice of engine on the requirements of your specific model airplane.
3. Know your scale-model airplane's dimensions, weight and prospective performance.
4. Realize that electric motors are generally used in the smallest of flying models, whereas full-size gasoline motors can generate sufficient power to propel larger, high-performance scale aircraft.
5. Be aware that most beginning modelers choose glow-plug engines in which a methanol-mixture fuel is fired by a preheated platinum coil. Glow-plug engines are simpler, lighter and require less maintenance.
6. Understand that glow-plug engines come in either 2- or 4-cycle. A 2-cycle engine is less complicated and has fewer moving parts. A 4-cycle engine is heavier and requires more maintenance.
7. Be aware that most modelers look at electric aircraft engines as useful only under certain circumstances.
8. Remember that using an electric engine means you also must account for the weight of the batteries that provide the energy.
9. Check out a miniature gasoline engine - similar to a motor that might power your weed eater or hedge trimmer - as your piloting skills increase sufficiently to allow you to engage in high-speed and aerobatic maneuvers.

Tips & Warnings

• Introducing a youngster to radio-controlled flying models can help develop hand-eye coordination as well as mechanical skills.
• Always mount a propeller designed for the engine in use, and use the fuel mixture specified by the engine manufacturer.
• Use fuel filters and air filters to increase engine life.
• Run an engine dry after you're finished flying for the day by disconnecting the fuel line, and then send oil through the engine.
• Operating a model airplane engine requires great care. The engines run at high revolutions per minute, which means the propeller spins at a rate sufficient to cause serious injury.
• Care is necessary as well because model airplane engines run at very high temperatures.
• Check your propeller for damage before starting a model airplane engine. An unbalanced or damaged propeller could harm the engine or could fracture, with the flying debris injuring bystanders.