OS vs. Magnum vs. Saito vs. all the others

by Tim
(Chalfont, PA)

I'm looking for a .70 four stroke for my Super Sportster 40 MK II. Does anyone have an unbiased list (or a link to a list) of pros and cons to each of the major brands of four stroke radio control airplane engines?

There is lots and ots of info available out there on each company's web site. But how about some real practical gouge from the guys who use these engines!

Thanks

Comments for
OS vs. Magnum vs. Saito vs. all the others

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Personal Preference and Cost
by: rcdude07

It boils down to what can you afford and personal preference. I've been using a Saito .91 four stroke for 10 years now, no issues. Purrs like a kitten.

Saito vs. The rest
by: TexasFlyBoy13

Being an industrial engine builder by trade, I can tell you that there is nothing on the market that compares to Saito. First off, you get what you pay for, and there really is a reason for it. When your running engines at 10,000 RPM and up, you can bet that the longivity of your engine is going to depend on the quality of materials that its made of. The best materials and quality machining simply cost more.

Saito also has two design characteristics that really stand out to me. One is the cylinder and head are cast together as one unit. You can use and abuse it, get it hot, shock cool it and your still not going to blow a head gasket because there's not one.

Second is the cam set up. There are no worm gears here. The cam runs parallel to the crank driven by straight tooth gears just like on full scale engines.

Saito RC airplane engines initially are costly, but in long run has proven to be less costly than the rest.

I have several, and I've never worn one out. I really believe that if you take care of a Saito it will likely out last you. I've tried some of the competitors engines and they didn't make it through the season.

So I guess at the risk of sounding biased, I'm sold on Saito.

Laser 1, Satio 2, OS, 3, ASP/Magnum 4
by: MIchael from Oz

G'day

I have owned and still own all the above. I mostly have Saitos but I have most recently bought Lasers (from England).

Saito. Well built, last forever (for me anyway), plenty of power, light, easy to tune and run well when badly tuned, run well on 10% nitro and brilliantly on more. An excellent choice.

Laser. Rolls Royce of four strokes. Beautiful build quality, superb idle straight out of the box, run happily with no nitro, very easy to handle, plenty of power for scale models, rock steady reliability. Superb engines.

OS. Beautiful build quality, not quite so long lived as Saito but pretty good, easy to run, enough power, new Alpha series are very clean but complex and expensive.

Sanye - Magnum and ASP. Cheap. Run well but really need castor in the oil mix initially at least. Plenty of power. Quality a bit mixed. One of mine has a leaking head. Value for money but not totally straight forward.

For your application I would go for a Saito 72 or a Laser 70 or 80. The Saito will be lighter, the Laser will be easier to live with and won't need nitro but will benefit from 10%.

Have fun choosing.

Thanks for the gouge!
by: Tim

Thanks for all of your input.... I decided on Saito and a .70 Saito is on its way to me via UPS right now!

Excellent choice.
by: Michael from Oz

G'day again.

The Saito 72 is an excellent engine. Mine is currently in a modified Kadet Senior and is more than powerful enough.

If you have bought one of the most recent ones, it will have a metal backplate. Earlier 72s and 82s had a fibre reinforced plastic backplate which caused some people headaches as the carby to head pipe would vibrate and cause premature wear of the O ring in the head leading to lnlet air leaks and poor running.

If you go get one with plastic parts, you can replace them with the parts from the latest model.

Enjoy your Saito. I have been running one today (a FA-62).

Cheers

Mike in Oz

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