How to pick a turbine?

[straightup]

How did you pick your turbine?

With so many manufactures and different specifications, what are the deciding factors?

Please tell us what you purchased and why?

[JohnVH]

Good reputation.
Good service if needed.

I went Jetcat P80 and have not regretted it once.

[KevinM]

Don't discount the value of LOCAL service and support!

[rcav8tr]

Hi straightup

Picking a turbine is probably one of the most important choices you'll make. You need to look at not only the manufacturer's reputation and service, but also your application. What size of aircraft ar you interested in? Do you want to start small and work your way up? Or start in the mid-range to give you flexibility to go either way. Do you want to go into scale or sport aircraft?

These and other factors will guide your choice. Which ever one you do choose, welcome to the Jet Fraternity.

Ed

[AJCoholic]

I wanted a smaller engine for my first one, and also liked the idea of a kit engine which I myself could service. I chose a Wren MW54 12 pound thrust engine in a kit form, after a few months of reading and internet searching. I am 100% satisfied with my descision, and would buy another in a heartbeat.

That being said, I think today, all the major brands (at least the ones we know and hear of here in North America) seem to be giving trouble free service. I would fee very confident today buying a Simjet, a Jetcat, a TJT or PST, and a few more. Dont forget MErt Moore's engines which have a great rep here in Canada and are very affordable compared to some of the bigger names.

When I do decide to get another some day, it will be a VERY hard choice, only since there are so many and they all seem to be good!

[nony]

I'm repeating what was said above....

-Pick your application
-Consider your future needs (most of us have to make one turbine last through several models..)
-See what is available from the various manufacturers
-Check for user comments ( after separating self inflicted problems, from product problems)
-Give significant weight to having Canadian support available...

I bought mine with my second model in mind-- which dictated a larger turbine. This meant that the trainer would be packing around a lot more weight and fuel, and that the turbine had to be detuned to an appropriate level......however on the up side, the relaxed useage will help the engine live almost forever.......(so far, so good..)

But if someone dumped a pile of cash in my lap today and gave me 24 hours to buy a turbine, I'm not sure what I would pick.....there are a lot of good choices out there.....

[RC_MAN]

Here my take on things.

First see what the local guys are flying and ask them what they think.

I found that I got a better deal doing business with Canadian suppliers

I have bought turbine stuff from Dean Wichman, Merton Moore and Great Northern Models.

Lot of turbine manufactures come and go so ask the community who will service your investmnet if that happens. For me I was lucky since RTI in Florida will still service my RAM turbines.

Good luck and keep us posted

Peter

[Marty C]

Hi Straight up, Re - Which turbine, what and why???
Some of the deciding factors for you that would help narrow your choices to me... should be-

- Your regular flying location and airstrip/field conditions?
- Type/ size of jet models that you prefer and would be flying e.g. sport or
scale?
- Do you plan on attending many U.S. jet events? (as some brand turbines
are not AMA approved) you would need a turbine that is AMA approved for
the U.S. events.
- And of course customer service/support is all imporant especially for the
new turbine flyer and of course your available $$$ budget as
turbines prices do vary...

If you can answer these questions you will then somewhat limit your turbine choice options further...

Cheers-

[straightup]

Hi All,

You've confirmed what I've been thinking - its pretty hard to choose from the great selection of turbines available. I really need to "get out there" and see some in action. A couple of folks have offered to show me examples and I hope to see them before the year's flying season is over.

I'm interested in relatively large scale jets. I have an unfinished df Avonds F15 and df Byron F16. I'm planning to finish these over the winter. My flying skills require some tweaking so I'm taking my time when it comes to purchasing the turbine power.

The minimum thrust that I would be interested in would be 20lbs, but the skies the limit :lol:

I may convert the F15 to turbine power ....we'll see...

Local support is very important.

Flying fields are the biggest challenge in the Toronto area. I need to discuss the viability of flying the jets I'm interested in off these fields.

The manufacturers I'm interested in are all the ones you've listed above. (ie. jetcat, simjet, tjt, moores) * no specific order.