w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Talking with the Saito guy at Horizon in late June, he says that Saito had not actually publicly released the FG-14 at that time because there was some problem they wanted to change and prove out before Saito went into full production. He said that when it appears optimistic for something to go into production that Saito will have preproduction samples around here and there and be talking up the engine as if it is available though it is not actually so. I strongly suspect that the 'bay ads for the FG-14, if you order one, you will have to be patient to actually recieve it.

mike early

you have two of the FG-20? and you have concluded that main issue with that engine is the spark plug? and both of yours run great now, as reliable as a glow Saito?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

My conclusion about the Saito 20 is that many people are buying the engine to get away from glow fuel.

Some have almost no internal combustion engine practical experience

Some are trying to make a 3D engine of it. And with the lessor energy available from gasoline and the extra burden of the carb and ignition, the engine is not a good 3D candidate.

These few people are causing a bad name for the engine while there are many engines out there being enjoyed by the experienced.


The first and second design of the Saito 1/4-32 spark plug were real hit and miss on quality control. I have four of them that seem pretty good. The new Saito 1/4-32 plug with the hex design at the cap end seems to have much better quality control.


Saito on the other hand has commissioned an unusual ignition design with outrageous replacement prices and proprietary parts that no one is familiar with rather than using a standard RCXL type ignition that is easy to trouble shoot and all the gas guys have learned to understand.

Saito, or whoever was responsible, completely dropped the ball on the manual for the gas engines. It seems as though they got a Japanese English major to take an old Saito glow manual and doctor it up for the FG-36 (Saito 220 size) gas engine. When the FG-20 came out, they added the FG-20 size to the front cover. The carbs are completely different on these two engines. Newbies are trying to set up FG-20's to FG-36 settings.

They also had "Saito" carburetors designed by a former Walbro engineer and modeler (Aihara Tamio) which take a little getting used to. They are not Walbro carburetors! Nothing actually wrong with them though. Just different. The FG-20 carburetor will most likely prove to be very viable in the long run with a couple ongoing tweaks.

I have two FG-20's beside me that I bought second hand and they have run very well with the first design plugs. One had been back to Saito three times for problems, but I and the others I let use it had no trouble with the engine. It now has a CH ignition on it though there were no failures of the original Saito ignition. The other engine I have ran for ten hours on the test stand and it had a rocker arm to feeze up that I fixed myself but other than that it had no problems.

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

w8ye, excellent reading. Thank you for the post. Personally, I consider Saito to be top shelf on 4-strokes for simplicity, durability, materials, reliability, and value due to longevity. All we can hope is that all that will translate. They have tried gas / ignition before, but now, it looks like they have a long term commitment to make it work for them and us. Not so sure it wasn't just more of an expensive experiment or a pet project for engineering in years past. I'm confident they will be able to make it as reliable and user friendly as their other lines, albeit still an expensive option.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I remember when OS came out with the LA 40 the forum was filled with bad talk about it and what a dog it was etc.

A few years ago (4) I sold all my old control line stuff from the late 60's early 70's to a guy. The next day he had some out at the field. He put a LA 40 C/L engine on one of the planes and it was very noticable how much more power it had than the early 70's engines.

Now the LA 40 is discontinued and everyone is missing the LA40 era.

It will take everyone a little while to get used to the idea of the gas Saitos.

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

I wonder how much of a power difference it would have made on some of those older designs if we had had the fuel we do now.

BChris

Well, I had the day off and took the Saito 91 to the field for the real test. I had the field to myself and no wind. I ended up making 6 - 12 + minute flights and had zero engine issues. I think it still feels a little warm, but it ran good for all of flights. I want to thank everyone for their assistance. Regarding the filters. I think that was the cause of all of my problems. I'm not sure, but the onboard filter that I was using does not have a direction arrow on it. During the repairs, I think I might have turned it around by mistake and flushed all of the trash thru the engine.

Brad

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Glad you got it sorted out. Your evaluation seems very likely. Funny though, that it made it through a whole flight before it showed up. Anyway, I think we all benefit from things like this. Thank you.

Michaelh

My Feedback: (4)

The only bad thing Ive really seen and heard complaints about with the FG20 was the position of the throttle arm.
Making you run the linkage through the center of the firewall and putting the throttle servo in an awkward spot.

I run a filter on my fuel jug and inline Sullivans which you can back wash very effectively to clean it out.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

You have to run a wire out there with a dog leg offset in it to reach the throttle arm.

Like was done on this plane that originally had a 46FX engine


The only thing about a FG-20 is you cannot run a wire all the way or you will get RF interference.

You have to transition from plastic to wire at a bellcrank alongside the engine mount

Michaelh

My Feedback: (4)

What club do you fly at ?

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Maybe it took one flight for the engine vibration and the change in flow direction to break all the junk loose of the filter and send enough of it into the engine to plug it up. If it had dried up while the wrecked plane sat waiting for repairs, this could be what happened.

We have to be Sherlock Holmes as well!

Jim

AircamperAce

My Feedback: (11)

All good ideas but will a metal detector sense the metal through 5 feet of water?

Ryan

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The sensing head will have to be possibly within a foot of the engine

Rudolph Hart

If there's no huge crocs or allygators in there could he just walk around and feel with his feet,every now and then i take one out of my mouth and do that.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Some are meant for use under water, but most of those are gold detectors.

twostroke

My Feedback: (6)

How does one go about joining club saito. I own three saitos a 56 gk on a GP Piper cherokee and two 30's one on a GP 20 sized piper cub and the other on a lazy tiger soon to be remove cause the plane is a peice of crap.

Patxipt

Photos of my brand new single carb FA-300T, next to my ASP FT160. Bought it on Ebay UK for around half the street price. Swell chap, delivered it to a friend of mine near London, personally.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Good find

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Send me that .30 that you have on the lazy tiger and you're in.

you are member #649

twostroke

My Feedback: (6)

Its even a golden knight!!!!!!..................Dream on...lol

PacificNWSkyPilot

My Feedback: (19)

Hey, it was worth a TRY! I think he's smart enough to let him in, don't you?

Jim

twostroke

My Feedback: (6)

Its alway worth a try!!!!!

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Anybody else wanting #649???

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Anybody else wanting #649???