🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec23.080739.2559@inland.com> bloom@inland.com writes:
|
|Gee, doesn't your throttle go both ways?  This is the first time I've 
|ever heard anyone complain about having too much power.  

Model engines usually do not have a separate midrange mixture control,
and are often somewhat ragged in the lower 1/3 of the operating range.
It is MUCH easier to tune an engine for the top 1/2.  

Also, when teaching students to take off, I find it much easier and
safer if there is a *medium* amount of power.  (Takeoffs should ALWAYS
be done at full throttle).  Too little power, of course, and climbing 
is difficult.  But too much climb is bad, too, because students are 
rarely very sensitive to airspeed, and can stall easily.  If you
make them keep the climb gradual, they either get flying WAY too
fast to be that low, or they have to deal with the throttle control
when they are concentrating on just flying the airplane.  Likewise,
landing training consist of repeated approaches in the pattern, but
instead of flaring for landing, advancing the throttle (to full, again
because it is easy to find) for the go-around.  Again you have the
problem of either too much climb or too high an airspeed.

So there definitely ARE problems associated with too much power in
a trainer.  I have gone so far as to use a computer radio to limit
the throttle response on a student's trainer (if they are having a
problem due to overpower), but many instructors may not think of
that.

So, there indeed are problems with having too much power.  A 40FP is
ample power for training on a 40-trainer.  The 46 may or may not be
too much power.  It mostly depends on how heavy your plane comes out.

|The only 
|valid reasons to choose the FP are lower cost and lighter weight (not 
|really an issue for a .40 size trainer).  

Lower maintenance.  Less effect from dirt.

IMO, the cost issue is overriding.  The BB motor will not gain him
anything, as he doesn't NEED the extra power that can be had.

If you think that a .40 sized trainer cannot take off without a
high-powered .46 in the nose, well, I would guess that you DON'T
pay much attention to weight. :-)

|The analogy about the 
|Lamborgini is not the best:  More like trying to learn to drive in a 
|Chevy Caprice with automatic transmission and V8, if it had a 4 cylinder 
|engine it would be no easier to drive and might not make it up the first 
|really big hill.

Except that a 40FP is ample power for a .40-sized trainer.  And the
analogy is also apt with regard to the cost issue.

Again, I suggest that the student talk to his instructor about the
question.  There are a lot of opinions, here, and the only one he
should really be relying on is his instructor's.

			Dave Svoboda, Palatine, IL