whats the deal with saito 4 stoke engines,why r they so pircey compared to the others,are they really worth the extra price, sure they got flashy gold valve covers!!, but there specs are no diffrent than magnum, os. or thunder tigers 4 strokes,infact some of the other engines seem to have more features than the saito's,i have used and fly with nothing but 4 stroke engines, mainly os and magnum, can some
1 convince me to buy a saito , be sides them cool gold vavle covers and black painted engine.
I have a Saito .72. Very reliable, lots of power, not the GK version. It's very close in price to the OS .70 II, is much lighter, and though I do not own the OS, by all accounts the Saito is significantly more powerful. Saito's are known for being light, powerful, and reliable. They are not as fuel efficient, the power has to come from somewhere. There are also SO MANY of them to fill any possible niche. I own a YS .63, and while it is more powerful, it's a complicated brat of an engine with it's pump system that fouls up if you look at it wrong. The Saitos are powerful while retaining as much simplicity in operation and admustment as you can with a 4c. I like my Saito a great deal, and my next 4c will be a Saito. I hear great things about the OS 4c btw.
I also own a Saito, it is a FA50 it is beutifull I must say. see here:
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plane 5, or even here:
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I tried for the first time to start it up last nite, but I could not manage it. I have no experiance at all starting 4stroke types, since this is my first one, i got it for free including the fuselage, from my father since he got so many, he said it is me that is lame, and that engine is the most easy to start.. so tomorrow I will visit him so he can prove who is lame or not hehe..
I have no problems starting 2 strokes by the way :-)
Why do you need convincing? Go out to your field and talk to the guys who regularly fly 4-strokes and ask them what they like. I fly Santo, OS, Laser, & Enya 4-strokes -- all are good. I prefer the basic engines without pumps, etc. If I need more power, I get it through more displacement. I don't care for something snarley.
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Did you flip it backwards? That is the easiest way to start a 4 stroke. Flip it agaist the compression stoke and it pops back and runs like a charm. I rarely have to flip mine more than twice.
Damn, can you say all that in one breath? The Saito engines you describe are the "Golden Knight" series of engines and the extra $20 is for the black and gold color. A standard Saito is comparable in price to an OS and sometimes cost less. Saito engines are pretty much the top of the line for 4 stroke glow engines. The best running engine I own, however, is a Magnum .91 4 stroke. As they say in the car commercials, Your Mileage May Vary.
I have three Saitos (180, 91 and 72) and all have given me outstanding service. If you check around the 'net I think you'll find that the price difference between OS and Saitos to be small. I have played around with a LOT of other peoples four strokes at the field and have found Saito's to be the most consistent and user friendly, ONCE FULLY BROKEN IN. Saitos are no harder to break in than any other FS, but they do take more running time to settle down and develop full power. Saitos run very rich in the mid-range and need the idle mix set as lean as possible without flaming out at low speed. It takes about 1 HR of running time before the engine will take the final idle mixture and you can set the valve lash. After that, I rarely have to touch main needle and I haven't touched the idle mixtures since I broke them in. I check the valve lash once a season. In five years of flying them I have NEVER had a Saito flame out in the air. I can't say that of the OS I have flown. YS engines have superb power, but at times the fuel pump/regulator system can be a real nightmare.
Saitos biggest problem was with the mufflers- the endbell of the muffler with the exhaust nipple would blow out. They have been shipping them with a new muffler design and they seem to work just fine.
What ever engine you get, take the time to break the engine as per the instructions and do it on a test stand, not on the plane. I've helped many people at different fields with "bad" four stroke engines. In every case the owner put a brand new engine on the plane to "fly in" and couldn't understand why the engine wouldn't "lean in right". After an hour or so of proper break in those "bad" engines ran just fine.
Two points of reference. The black and gold engines are the "Golden Knight" engines where you get to pay $10 to $40 for LOOKS! The second note is that in every case where I have compared Saito's against the same size O.S. the Saito turned a bigger prop faster than the same prop on the O.S. However in many cases the O.S. would turn a smaller prop faster.
Example the Saito 50 and O.S. 48 Surpass. The O.S. would turn a 12X6 at about 7200 and the Saito would turn the exact same prop over 9000. The .56 I am using now turns a 12X7 just over 8400 on 10% nitro. I have seen over
9K RPM with more nitro and peaking it more carefully, but I beat the air up pretty well so I run a little richer than many.
Other than those notes, you will have to convince yourself if you want power and reliability or power and high priced fuel and 'fiddly stuff' that comes with it.
What you will find with the Saito is a high quality engine that once broken in will be a reliable performer. I have four. (.65, .80 .91, 1.5) The golden knight engine is an option. I have had two. They don't run any different that the plain finished ones. They are on par with OS as far as price and put out LOTS of power.
We have had guys in our club use TT and Magnums with mixed results, they usually go back to OS or Saito. IMHO the Saito engine is worth every penny; You Get What You Pay For. Bill
It seems that more often than not, we pay to dollar for absolute junk. My only gripe with most all of the engine manufacturers, Saito included, is in the cost of spare parts. They feel that since you bought their engine, they will cash in when you need anything for it. The old K&B's were the only engines that the spare parts prices weren't a total rip off.
Mark You are right on on your break-in assestments. (My 1.5 would empty a 16oz tank in 10 minutes before it was fully broken in) One of the guys in our group had a .91 that gave him nothing but fits. He fought it for about two months, finally gave up and bought a new one. I offered to buy the old engine from him, we agreed at $50.00. (Can never have too many spare parts) I looked the engine over carefully, it had typical good Saito compression, bearings tight and while it had lots of use, it still looked OK. When removing the carb, I noticed that the intake manifold was real loose. I replaced the O-rings, added a little silicone sealer and put it on my SE5-A. Runs great. He was absolutely flabbergasted, for a while I wouldn't tell him what I had found, I finally fessed up, and offered to sell it back to him. Bill
I have owned both Saito and OS four-strokes, and break them in according to the manufacturer's instructions. I have not had a pumped OS. I find that Saito takes more adjusting "out of the box" than OS, but both perform very well and give excellent service.
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