best motor for ARF oriental

[Chris Belcher]

Got my Brodak ARF Oriental and have two motors i could use: LA46 and Brodak 40. Which is better...for this plane?

[john e. holliday]

I've had the plane and flew it with the Brodak .40.   Was a good combination for me at the time.   Now I have started using the LA .46's with not problems.   I think my Brodak .40 is going on strike for me as it does not want to start or run right.  Guess it is time for a tear down and cleaning.

[Geoff Goodworth]

A Brodak 40 seems pretty happy in my ARF Oriental. Props have been a Bolly Clubman 10.5 x 5 and the APC 10.5 x 4.5.

[Matt Colan]

Got my Brodak ARF Oriental and have two motors i could use: LA46 and Brodak 40. Which is better...for this plane?

A Brodak 40 will fly it, but an LA 46 will bring it to life! My grandfather had a Brodak 40 in his mustang and he had to fly it around 4.9-5.0 lap times. He put an LA 46 in it, and the plane flies much better than it did with the 40 and at a slower speed as well.

We run the LA 46 with a 12.25-4.25 carbon fiber prop turning about 9600RPM with a 40LA size Venturi (Randy Smith told us this and it worked out great!). It's a pretty bulletproof combination for us.

[Chris Belcher]

What about balance issues? Has anyone had to add lead to the tail using the LA46?

[Matt Colan]

What about balance issues? Has anyone had to add lead to the tail using the LA46?

Here are the weights of the 40 and the LA46.

Brodak 40: 8.5 ounces (with muffler)
LA46: 9.3 ounces

You can get lightweight tongue mufflers if you are worried about the balance on the airplane. The airplanes we've had the LA46 in have balanced out fairly well. I had one in my Vector 40 and I needed to add some tail weight to get it to turn more to my liking (part of it was my own fault in putting the plane together).

[Jared Hays]

Mine is powered by a Super Tigre 46

[DanielGelinas]

I would go with the b40. Actually, that's what i did with mine. Used with tongue muffler, did not add tail weight. It flies great!

Try it. If you don!t like it, put the la46 on it. I believe its the exact same mounting pattern!  The b40 you can set about 3/16" further back, which to me is an advantage.

You can't go wrong either way.

Dan