Merlin 160 or Jet Cat 160

[andywynn]

Hi All,
I am looking at getting my first one for a Comp ARF Eurofighter i am building. I was originally going to get a Jet Cat, but i have been told to get the Merlin 160 instead as (in the opinion of the guy ) they were better.
Has anybody had experience of these. What are they like regarding spool up time, reliability, servicing turn round compared with the Jet Cat?

Thanks in advance for your help on this

Andy

[Vince Raia]

Hi Andy, just seen your post, so don't know whether you have bought a turbine yet?

If it were me, I would consider either of these turbines, the Jetcat 160sx is an excellent engine but so is the Merlin, and a lot of jet jocks now using this turbine are singing it's praises, not sure on the price differences as I don't know the cost of the Merlin. I have friends who have the Merlin 90 and swear by them for reliability, also they are lighter than a Jetcat.
I know if I had the chance to buy a Merlin I would not hesitate.

HTH,

Vince.

[andywynn]

Hi Andy, just seen your post, so don't know whether you have bought a turbine yet?

If it were me, I would consider either of these turbines, the Jetcat 160sx is an excellent engine but so is the Merlin, and a lot of jet jocks now using this turbine are singing it's praises, not sure on the price differences as I don't know the cost of the Merlin. I have friends who have the Merlin 90 and swear by them for reliability, also they are lighter than a Jetcat.
I know if I had the chance to buy a Merlin I would not hesitate.

HTH,

Vince.

Hi Vince, no not got the turbine yet, having to do stuff around the house to keep air traffic control happy. will be early next year when i get it, in time for next season ( hopefully!!!!!!!) Having looked at the feed back back, the extra power you get out of the Merlin and the fact its £300 cheaper than a Jet Cat, unless something drastic happens it will be a Merlin Till then Spit and Mustang for this year and patios and paint brushes

Andy

[PHIL ATHERTON 2400]

Come on now Andy you know what has to happen first before your jet see's a turbine!!!

[andywynn]

Come on now Andy you know what has to happen first before your jet see's a turbine!!!

Hahaha ! Already got a small pilot for my Extra

[Vince Raia]

Thanks for the feedback on the Merlin Andy, I must say I agree with your thinking, 300 quid is a considerable saving and go towards other bits for the jet

Keep us up to date when you do get your jet, and perhaps a build thread?

Regards,
Vince.

[Ken Bones]

Looking at getting my first turbine in the near future as well.
So what to get,Merlin or Jet Cat 160 ish?

Bonzey

[David Brown]

Hi Ken what about the Wren 160 pro or the new 180 which has just been launched on offer at £2500, their British you know (where have I heard that before).

Dave

[Ken Bones]

Yeah. they all seem about the same price wise ( give or take a few of £££).
What about reliability, servicing costs, fuel consumption, ease of operation etc,?

Bonzey

[David Brown]

I personally can't complain about reliability, and have had great service and support at the end of the phone. I believe the service intervals are longer than Jetcat and there are no hefty postage charges abroad, on the back of that fellow club members have had great service from Jetcat. For operation they are all Kero start now so much the same there, and power to fuel consumption are all pretty much on Parr also so I personally am sticking with British companies where possible if the products are of similar quality. Another bonus is Paul at Wren goes to a lot of the shows and is very helpful if you need advice.

Dave

[David Brown]

Ken just noticed there is a Wren 160 on the Bmfa site £1600.00 as new.

Dave

[Ken Bones]

Thanks Dave for the heads up on the Wren. Not quite ready to go buying, waiting for the customer to pay me for the kidney!

Ken

[andywynn]

Hi Ken,
Been flying mine now for about 4 months and love it I ended up getting a Jet Central Rhino for my Eurosport ( Came at the right price ) Engine has been a doddle to get use to and tweak the settings. I had an issue with the starter motor a few weeks ago, i spoke with Rob Rowbothom ( Jet Central UK rep) i gave him the serial number of my engine on the monday on the wednesday a new one FOC arrived from Mexico !!! Not bad when you consider the engine is 4 years old and is second hand to me. ( Life time warrenty you see. ) I can only speak as i find, but i'll certainly be looking at getting another Jet Central motor after i win tonights euro millions

Cheers

Andy

[Ken Bones]

Thanks Andy for that info. There seem to be so many choices when it comes to what brand to go for and it would seem no one has a bad word to say about any of them.
Good luck with the numbers tonight mate!

Ken.

[wayne owen]

hi guys
well if you ask me its got too be jetcat, ive had 2x120 and 2x 160sx still got the 160sx and shortly going for a 180rx , never have no trouble never ever flame out unless you done something wrong, service is second to none, and very fair on priceing, if you want a good deal on jetcat i would strongly recommend jeff at Zjet , on the other hand my mates bought a wren and service or parts he has told me he has had a hell of a time trying to get things sorted and they are in this country, so its the same oldthing want quality buy german if i had one once of trouble or miss treatment i can saftly say i would not by jetcat period, just my thoughts guys,
happy landings

[Gary Boardman]

From personal use I would avoid the Jetcat 160. Had one for 2 years now (been flying it for just over a year) ECU failed after 2 days due to cr@p soldering and the starter failed after only 17 hours of running. The upside? Great service from Motors and Rotors.

As for my experience of Wren (3 of their smaller 54 size engines) no issues and great service.

[Dave Wilshere]

Just remember, if you take every single turbine manufacturer in the worlds output and add it together, you probably still don't get to JetCat's
On a fair scale, I can assure you JetCat's are reliable, if you go to any jet meeting they out number all the others...for good reason and nothing to do with "sheep" or price.
The P-160 has not been available for around a year, the 180 took over and although its recently had an update, I'd say there is probably not another manufacturer who could afford to do free updates on the 400+ turbines affected!

There is not a poor turbine on the market now, but they all have merits and fails, but I'm free to sell a large choice of turbines and I've stuck to JetCat for 13 years and heading for 500 turbines sold...