David Ovenden

I have a B&W photo of a Haeker Tomtit which was supplied to the RCAF in Canada. Can anyone help with identifying the main colour of the plane. It doesn't look to be silver. Could it be yellow? Or green? It's not the same as the fin flashes (red blue or white).It seems hard to belive it could be silver, especially in view of the big contrast between the fuselage colour and the Ali cowling and fuselage step. Thanks for looking.

We should get my Seafury and your Seafire flying at the same time. The 2 Saitos would sound good together.

I just checked the pressure nipple on my OS15LA exhaust. It's a 3.5mm thread.

Nice work Paul. What matt varnish did you use in the end?

1/4 scale cockpit and instruments would be much closer to 1/3.8 than 1/3rd scale items and easier to find too I would have thought.

Looks tidy to me Paul!

I cant see your video. But from your description it could possibly be the prop driver "clicking"against the D shaped drive on the crankshaft. Slight play between the prop driver and crankshaft. Does it still make the noise with a prop fitted and really tightened up?

A Farnborough Pass I think.

Looks very like you have created a very successful manifold Paul. Good effort! That Saito 100 has been transformed!

A quick update. The job has been successfully done now and the model is all cleaned up ready for the new canopy. In the end (as so often is the case with clean-up tasks) I didn't find one easy answer. However, carefully picking at the old glue with a blunt knife blade combined with using fingernails; followed by a clean-up with meths did the trick. All the original film covering is still intact and secure, and I managed not to nick the film or dent the balsa underneath in the process. Jobs a good'un. Thanks for your ideas and input.

Thanks Allan. That's what I've doing, so I'll just keep at it till it's all off!

Replacing a canopy on a film-covered ARTF that was fixed with Camopy Glue. Anyone got tips for removing the old Glue without destroying the film covering. Currently slow unpicking and peeling off seems the only option. Anyone have a better technique?

I don't have the Just Engines knuckle, but I have several Saito engines using 90 degree "elbow" manifolds. Some with the standard muffler and some with flex extensions plus muffler. Most are enclosed in cowlings. None of them have overheating problems. Is your engine really overheating? 4 stroke exhausts always do get pretty hot . Can you try your engine without the knuckle to see if there is actualy a temp difference compared to when it's fitted?

I have got a 12x1.0 tap and a die to suit the Saito 100 exhaust thread if you need them Paul. Also an "anti-vibration" engine mount if you want to try it. Think its a Weston-made one.

Thanks Paul

Yes exactly, which is why it's surprising the 125 doesn't have a spring when other Saito engines do. And my 125 is exhibiting some lack of precision at tickover revs. It seems likely that a barrel spring would help with this.

I think there has only been one version of the Saito 100 and Saito 125 (which are based around the same later style crankcase. Older engines were gradually updated to b type crankcase or phased out. The 45, 50, 56, 72, 65, 80, 91 and 115 all disappeared in Saito's rationalisation plan a few years back now.

Yes, I have the manual and (although the picture is a bit vague) I couldn't see a spring shown. Which begs the question, why do the saito 82, 100, 115, 120 etc all have springs but not the 125? Cost cutting? Surely not. I suppose it must work OK without one. Though mine seems to lack a bit of precision in returning to the same tickl-over rpm, which is why I was investigating the carb. Will give a clean up in the ultrasonic cleaner and retry.

A question to those of you with a Saito 125. Does it have a spring in the carb to push the throttle barrel out as it opens? Obviously there is diagonal slot in the barrel which (with retaining screw in the body) causes the barrel to move in and out and controls the mid/low mixture. But should it have a spring too. My Saito 115 has a spring. But the 125 instruction manual doesn't seem to show one; and on the Macgregor site the photo of the replacement throttle barrel for the125 doesn't show a spring, whereas the photo for the 115 does. So does anyone you know if the 125 should have a barrel spring or not?

Yes, but the Saito 100 has not been updated so there is only one version.There is no a or b model of the Saito 100. Other older models were updated multiple times over the years. The saito 45 for example changed lots of times including crankcase, timing, webbing, carbureter, head design etc. The main difference between a and b models is the camshaft housing, This is well illustarated by the saito 82 . See pics

I don't believe there are A and B versions of the Saito 100. There is for the 82 model and several others too Mostly it was a change in the cam housing design. But the Saito 100 was recent enough to have had the "new design" housing from the start.

Nice work Paul. Amazing that you kept the soldering iron steady with all those Mozzies about!

Watching and interested Paul. Good to see you are fitting decent size wheels and upgrading the retracts. Why do ARTF warbirds always come with tiny non-scale wheels?

I used to own a Suzuki GT380 triple. Fun but smokey.

If the ST carb and needle valve were designed and made in Italy I would have thought it would be a metric thread. But that's just conjecture on my part. From your measurements maybe 2mm x 0.4 pitch??