Moonpie

My 80 diesel has been very much airborne, more so next year as it took me a while to source all the fuel ingredients. Amyl Nitrate / Nitrite being the tricky one. In the end I found some in one of Camden Towns diverse and specialist interest shops. Its used to power my Majestic Major vintage plane and its pretty much perfect for bimbling this plane about at 3rd throttle with power in reserve to gain height swiftly if desired. Has to be said, its really convenient to use. I can rock up at the flying field / aunts farm in Shropshire / mates field in Dorset, band the wings on, fuel up, choke it twice to draw fuel up to the carb and generally within 3-5 flicks the Laser 80D has burst into life. No glow sticks or starter motors and 12v batteries. Just the plane, a can of fuel and the tranny. I cant remember the tank size but generally I can get half a good half hour out of it with more than enough in reserve should one be unable to let this plane land itself first or even fifth time round. But then I'm not really gunning this thing round the sky, but its not babied either.

Cheers for that. Ha ha no I wasn't going to go the WD40 or gate oil route. What is that Dutch or German description but item location in Amersham! Not cricket really, a Laser Diesel is for life, not just for Christmas. Or profiteering. I'd like to think that a potential bidder might research back to the Laser website to better inform themselves. Aeromodellers are generally inquisitive folk and not in the habit of being ripped off. Is the 100 diesel still an option? I'm thinking I'll need to own one after Christmas is out the way. No idea what for yet, I tend to make this hobby up as I go along.

I have a laser 80 diesel which has now had about 3.5 hours on it in a vintage plane. Its by far the most interesting engine I have and others love to gawp at it😀 Anyhow, my question is about oiling it up for the winter. Can't see why this would be any different from most other engines but I thought I'd check. I was going to use some model technics after run oil as I was given some, via the breather nipple on the back plate. Normally I use 2 stroke oil or gear oil. But I was thinking that generally this engine would suffer less internal corrosion given that there is no nitro in the fuel mix or water absorbing methanol. Oh and probably as its a Laser and uses top drawer materials etc. This is the first Laser I have owned and has to be said its a masterpiece in engineering. Normally my 4 bangers are OS and Saitos, and they are great but the OS's are now silly money and Saito spares are a real chore to source. Edited By Moonpie on 12/12/2016 10:35:59

Diesel??? There, I said it, the dirty oily word. Totally understand it will most likely never happen again being a very, very niche thing. Doesn't stop me from wanting one so bad it actually hurts a little bit though. Have seen a what I think was a 75 size Laser diesel in a Vintage plane at a St Albans event few years back. Was cooler than the cool side of the pillow.

Excellent Stevo, love my cats, very therapeutic. But they get the hump with me when I run an engine up in the garden! I have a few 2 stroke glows, but never got round to using one in anger in a plane. Diesels I have, no throttle on most of them, so it's flat out till the juice runs out. Is it a dead stick landing still if the flight plan includes the full expectation that the motor will cut, rather than unexpectedly? About five years ago I went a bit crazy on ebay and bought loads of 1950s diesels. They are good fun to mess about with. Most have sub piston induction so do not respond well to throttles. I have an Indian Mills that's fine with a throttle, and a DC Wildcat that throttles brilliantly. One of my dads friends gave me two Enya's. A .29 and a .35, I should use them over winter really as they are plain bearing and won't have to fret so much over ball races and oil. I beefed up the wings on my J60 by extending and staggering the bracing either side of the wing spars. Seems ok, I've thrown it about a fair bit when I didn't know any better. Don't anymore, it's just not seemly. Got an Acro Wot for that. Back to the OS and SC 30 four strokes, I seem to remember that the SC looked like it had ball races holding the cam and worm gear, whereas I know for a fact the OS had bronze bushes for the cam bearings. If this is the case then the SC defo has one design advantage.

This engine was my first four stroke, so I am fond of it. In 2006 when I purchased it, think it was £120. I've had my money out of it. It's tollerated a lot of abuse as I fumbled my way round four strokes and rc flying in general, mostly in a Junior 60. It's had many many hours of running. I will stock up on some spares while I can. I did have a look at an SC version a few years back at the model shop, but the fit and finish on it was nothing like the OS. But it was only £95. I can see that these little engines are quite niche, and electric has filled this gap, are probably cheaper, easier, less noise and mess. Most planes at the club are pretty big and petrol powered. Only a few of the smaller ones like Wot 4's etc are glow powered and usually 2 stroke. Everything else is electric which is cool. I just have a real soft spot for any IC engine be it in my car, outboards or RC planes. I reckon as I approach my 40s , I am gradually turning into some weird eccentric type with my small glow FS engines, and a few diesels. I like cats too! Hope Saito keep going with their smaller range. I had better make the most of their availability.

Just checking through Just Engines spares section for a valve spring to replace a broken one on my mostly knackered OS30 FS and thought I'd check how much a complete new motor is out of curiosity, and it indicates that it's discontinued! And the little motor is showing on O.S. Web page in their discontinued line. Bit of a shame really, Saito still doing their 30 size and guess the SC and ASP version of the 30FS is that much cheaper. Still, I am gutted that the choice is narrowing for the little IC engines.

Well there was one constructive thing on my post, pre moderation or deletion. I was one of the few willing to take a punt that the OP was genuine and offer some kind of encouragement. Rather than shoot him down over some perceived lack of experience, noise, danger, loss of every flying site known to the uk flyer, would it not have been better to have been a bit less damning and patronising. That is a knee jerk reaction if ever I saw it. Read back though the majority of the posts. Pretty negative, no escaping the fact. Call me naive, go to town, I have been called far worse. But if there was even a chance he was genuine and he has been shouted down on here then I think that is pretty tragic. I was merely optimistic and enthusiastic that someone with the inclination has a go at this pulse jet scene. End of the day, if the man has said pulse jet in his possession he is most likely going to crack on with strapping it to something anyway, so no amount of bitching on here will stop him.

1st Post, so go easy! I taught myself with a Ben Buckle Hep Cat almost 2 years ago which is a Vintage jobbie. With an old Indian Mills 1.3 with a carb. Pranged it a few times in the first effort before getting in the air then just adjusted its heading. Gradually got better at it. It / I had a few heavy landings, but was pretty tough, though heavy as covered in solatex. Still have it now, still flys, same motor, had to strengthen the longerons after one particular hard touch down! But it would fly itself until it got high enough that I could fiddle with it. Then moved onto a Junior 60, this was a bit more lively (in relative terms) with a 30 fourstroke. Vintage got me on the r/c ladder. But what work for me might not be everyones bag.