Howard Tomlin

yes mine made the noise from new as well. there is also a definite dead spot at TDC where I can turn the crankshaft a little either way this was also present from new, does this indicate an out of tolerance little/big end?   The carb screws on mine have also stripped their threads which has lead to the carb screw holes ovalling due to it rattling in its mount. A poor design really, the alloy is soooo soft that if you give it any the mounting screws any sort of torque it pulls the threads out.  I might get in touch with galaxy about a new carb, although I also wonder if JE would do a better replacement made of harder alloy that would work ok????.

Galaxy models is where I got my gaskets for the sc from.

I tried the hot iron and kitchen towel trick and it got a little oil out of the wood - but to be fair I dont think there was much in there in the first place as the staining is very light and it was only the crankcase oil outlet for one flight. So its not like it was the exhaust spraying oil all over it.  The solar film has stuck to the wood and I will keep an eye on it for structural degradation.

please include me in the draw

The ridiculously over powered goldberg ultimate which I fly (my avatar) has decided to shed some of its fuselage coveriing in flight ( well I did say it was over powered)  in doing so, the exposed area has been contaminated with some oil - I mopped as much as I could with kitchen towel but I think its going  to be a little tricky to get solarfilm to stick to the area.  The affected area has oil staining but is dry to the touch, I remember hearing that the application of talc to the oil stained area would help, is this true and if not what else might help??  Appreciate any tips you may have on this.

Its very very good this new version - much better than the 1. versions. The planes behave as you would expect, they have taken out the flick rolling when pulling in full elevator in power dives and they have made the responses more life like too.  The models "float on" quite a bit more which is better than the first version but i think this needs to be turned down a bit. All in all a great package and whats more its a free upgrade too! If you havent bought a copy, it is probably time you did, its only £80 and you can fly day or night with people from all over the world!.  Phoenix rocks!

another tip is to pinch the fuel line when running the engine after flying until the engine stops, this way you lessen the amount of unburnt fuel left in the engine ( or so saito say.)

When the Phoenix 2.0 beta version comes out this will be an AMAZING package:- Clicky:- http://www.phoenix-sim.com/news.htm

When the 2.0 beta version comes out this will be an AMAZING package:- Clicky:- http://www.phoenix-sim.com/news.htm

thats very promising!  I await the update, was that on their website or was that sent to you on an email?

Back on track..... the problem i have with phoenix is its wierd inclination to flick roll if you yank in a load of up elevator - even in full power dives.  This is something which I cannot replicate in flight - only if insufficient airspeed is available, and thats not the situation in a full power dive.  To make matters worse some models on phoenix do it only in normal flight ( ie. they dont do it when inverted). I have contacted phoenix about this but they said that they were happy with the flight characteristics of their sim and that they were not going to investigate it. Furthermore they said that I should tweak the wing rocking settings to adjust it out - so they know how to make it better but dont want to issue a fix for it.  Dont get me wrongm I use phoenix every ( literally) day, but if i had a chance to do it all again i would be testing the sim before i bought it to make sure i was happy with it.  The other problem with phoenix is that it seems to be a predomnantly heli sim, the new models which have been issued are great but the majority are helis.  So to recap, if you are a fixed wing flyer who likes ultra realistic flight characteristics this may not be for you.

the problem i have with phoenix is its wierd inclination to flick roll if you yank in a load of up elevator - even in full power dives.  This is something which I cannot replicate in flight - only if insufficient airspeed is available, and thats not the situation in a full power dive.  To make matters worse some models on phoenix do it only in normal flight ( ie. they dont do it when inverted). I have contacted phoenix about this but they said that they were happy with the flight characteristics of their sim and that they were not going to investigate it. Furthermore they said that I should tweak the wing rocking settings to adjust it out - so they know how to make it better but dont want to issue a fix for it.  Dont get me wrongm I use phoenix every ( literally) day, but if i had a chance to do it all again i would be testing the sim before i bought it to make sure i was happy with it.  The other problem with phoenix is that it seems to be a predomnantly heli sim, the new models which have been issued are great but the majority are helis.  So to recap, if you are a fixed wing flyer who likes ultra realistic flight characteristics this may not be for you.

I dont know if this helps but my acro went very well with a 12x6" prop running at about 8,000 rpm on a laser 75.  I know you are flying electric but the same principles of prop+ revs = mph speed  If you were to get your leccy motor to provide the same performance then you are on to a winner.  I repaired mine until it had no chance of holding together in the air - it lasted 18 years!!!!!!!  Great plane, I quite miss it to be fair - I have an extra to replace it but the acro was a far more forgiving plane and looked brilliant too.

count me in for the draw, do i have to do anything else ( ie. form filling)

is there a gasket for the head, if so do i need a new one when I remove the head?

its still safer to use the correct manufacturers crystal regardless.  Frequency crystals are not something that anyone should be taking a chance with - too much to lose if it doesnt work and the only time you'll find out is when your radio stops working in the air.

UPDATE!!  I replaced all of the seals on the engine, including the back plate seal (which wasnt fitted in the first place!) and pressure tested the tank, took the plane up the field and it was no different enqine quitting and a few trips into the corn.  So i had a think about what I'd done to the tank and fuel line over the year or so that I've had it and I remembered that I had changed the very thin fuel pick up hose for a thicker fuel line hose as it had a habit of allowing the clunk to get stuck forward. What I hadnt changed was the clunk and after doing some comparitive tests using heavier clunks I realised that the clunk wasnt following the fuel in the tank as the new fuel line was too stiff!!! I raided a spare tank which had a heavier clunk and the same diameter fuel pick up as i had recently installed and hey presto the fault has gone away, no more quitting!!!.  Now all i have to do is monitor how long plugs last for as I havent come to any conclusions about that as yet.

Hi y'all,  My trusty SC52 2 stroke has recently taken a turn for the worst and I am running out of ideas as to what could be the problem. The issue is that it goes through glow plugs about every 4th flight ( i've tried OS F plugs to  firepower F5's etc), they all last the same time!  I've never had an engine which has been so hungry for plugs.  I'm running a 13x4 prop and I always try to run my engines a click or two rich.  ALSO  When the model is in a dive (at idle or 1/4) it has always made the noise of an over- running two stroke motorbike- the sort of "ran dang dang dang" noise.????  Its now taken to spluttering when levelling from a dive unless the engine is kept on a high throttle setting (not what you need in a 3 d model).  I have removed the tank, changed all the tubes in the tank, tried the engine with and without the remote filler, and changed the tube between the needle valve and the carb - its a rear needle version. I was thinking that it might be a carb o-ring, does anyone reckon that might cure the running problems.  As for the glow plug eating tendency then I have little to no idea, I've also tried irvine contest 10 and the other model technics fuel which is a sort of apricot colour (10 %)  At the minute the model stays home until I can find a resolve as its a source of great frustration making frequent trips into the corn field although its honed my dead stick spot landing skills somewhat.

my saito 90 twin has a radial mount - it would be fairly difficult to beam mount a multi-cylinder engine ( except Vee's)

always the same brand as the unit the crystal is going into.

You should be fine, I ran a laser 75 in mine for years and years with a washer behind the mount to sort out the side and down thrust.  Altogether still one of my faves the old acrowot

Success At Last! It made its first flight since the engine swap today with the Laser 90 and a 14x 8 prop. SO. It pulled like a train on 10% nitro,  - great noise too   It literally tore up the sky, well happy. Thanks for your help guys.

Phil,  Thats great news but possibly in the wrong thread?  Hopefully your neighbours are either :- Deaf, At work when you are doing this, A long way from you and your screaming 2 stroke.  

deadstick / david martin 2  I believe the thread was started with the question  "what was the worst that you ever built/flew/bought" The pilot qb20hII was the worst plane I ever built/flew - fact.  It was total crap, hurtled around the sky, tip stallled on landing and had a penchant for cartwheeling - the super sixty which i replaced it with was a far more confidence inspiring plane. Like I say I learnt more in an afternoon with the super 60 than i did in a couple of months with the qb20. It was so bad that rather than pass it on to some poor unfortunate, I burnt it!. Its good to know that you had better experiences with yours though

Al, I dont think anyone was upset with your reference to MDS, if they are as bad as you say they are I'm sure more people are upset with MDS and Ripmax. Personally however I dont run my engines to the vertical, only to about 20 degrees off vertical - just in case the prop lets go, that way i reduce the risk of decapitating my fellow flyers behind me ( and also so I dont drop the model on myself - heaven forbid!)  Not saying you're doing it wrong, just saying what I do  Another thing I see a lot of people doing is tuning their 4 strokes too lean, they tune it like a 2 stroke and then wonder why it runs like a dog ( and sometimes siezes) when it goes lean in the air. Most of these minor faults are as a result of bad habits or not reading the manual!