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Showing results for 'RCV engines'.
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Sadly missed - I never met him but had quite a few conversations by PM as well as interacting with him on various forum threads and felt like I knew him. Lindsay, I think you’re confusing the 58CD with the “walnut whip” RCV 60 - 120 SP engines, which drove their propellers from the rotating cylinder at half engine speed. The 58 and 91 versions had a conventional layout (although with a horizontally split crankcase) driving the propeller from the crankshaft but the cylinder rotated internally to provide the sleeve valves. -
I also have an HP .21vt, less power than a sewing machine, but cracking sound in the air and never stops, not like my *** Rcv, both gone, as ED said, Enya 4c are really good engines 'if' you can get one. Another 'tip' on 4 strokes is to leave the engine on its compression stroke, so that you don't end up with the valves sticking open.
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A friend had one of the RCV CDs in a Puppeteer. It was quite reliable and flew the Puppeteer well enough but I've heard that these engines are not very powerful compared with poppet valve four-strokes and I can't remember what size it was. A Puppeteer would fly very well on an OS 48. I own three HP VT four-strokes which I really ought to sell. These use a disc valve for the intake and exhaust function. They certainly lack power compared with a poppet valve four-stroke.
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When it comes to prop blade efficiency the theoretical best is just a single blade. In fact some indoor rubber duration props do just this with a weight opposite to balance. The more blades there are the greater disturbance in the air for the following blade reducing efficiency. Full size use multiple blades for clearance issues, ground, airframe clearance and to absorb the power of powerful engines. At model size a two blade is simplest and best but a 3 blade will not lose much. The issue with model IC engines is they will not drive a scale diameter prop in most cases. This is because they are not geared. The prop on my SNJ [Navy AT6] is pretty much scale diameter because engine is a geared RCV 60sp.
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The Aero 35 was an interesting design like the more recent British RCV engine to make a normal piston engine into a more compact shape for model aircraft use. There have been full size development engines along the same lines with multiple double end pistons lying horizontal to the drive shaft but in the end the simplicity of the usual vertical piston motor wins out. I still operate an RCV 60 SP in my SNJ. [ US NAVY AT6 ] Pic in the hand is of early development RCV.
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RCV engines with the reduction drive have always interested me and while i have always been keen to grab one and have a play, i never did. Why didnt i just buy one? At the time i had a chance to other things seemed to have greater priority and since then..well they have gone. 2nd hand engines always seemed to end up at a much higher price than i thought was justified for an unknown ebay job, so my itch went unscratched. A little while ago i made a passing comment on a thread about my desire to play with an RCV 120sp as it was an engine i had not had any real experience with and i was curious to try out a whole bunch of stuff with it. Following that passing comment i received a very generous offer from Mike here on the forum and now, i have an RCV 120 sat on the bench. The full back story from Mike is that the engine was a replacement for one that gave trouble. This one has only half hour running on it but after repeated noise test failures it went in the drawer and i think has sat there since about 2005 if the paperwork is anything to go by. Currently the engine is locked solid with castor so i suspect it will need new bearings all around and general service before i can run it, but that should not be a big issue. My main curiosity is props. Looking at the RCV blurb they recommend a prop RPM of between 5000 and 5600 at full power on props of 12 and 14 inches pitch. Thats over 11k on the crank, and to my mind much too fast for an engine of this size. I would normally run a 120 at 8500 ish on a prop with 8 inch pitch so 12 and 14 (equivalent to 6 and 7 inch) are bit thin on pitch in my view and i am keen to test out props with 16 inches pitch and prop/crank RPM of around 4250/8500. I am just interested in how the thing behaves and if the issues many had with noise/heat were related to this high recommended RPM. Its possible i have the wrong end of the stick, but im always keen to test things and see what the data tells me. If anyone else has experience with these engines by all means comment, i am curious to find out how it was received by others and what their experiences were. Before all that, i need to flush out some castor!
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Why don't we see more RCV engines in general use? I have six examples, three of the CD type, and three of the SP type. They are all excellent, easy to start and just don't quit in the air. Fellow club members come up to me and express surprise that I have such success with them - they apparently have heard negative reports from another source. It's true that early examples from about eight years ago had problems, and also true that the SP series needs specific cooling ducts, but I find the present range really is very good. My recent purchase is the 130CD which I use to power a Seagull giant PT-19. Let me hasten to add that I also operate Laser and Saito engines both of which are superb. It's just that the RCV engines don't seem to be as popular, and from my experience they should be.
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Hi, I am looking at buying a second hand OS 4 stroke for a friend without its exhaust, before I do has anyone got the Table with all the threads OS, Enya Rcv etc, I did see it on a forum, but I just can't find it.
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Does anyone know if the RCV SP Engines are still in production? I'm after an RCV60SP but the only UK shop that lists them is out of stock, with no forecast for resupply, and Weston UK are not responding to emails.
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Have a chat with Alan at Weston about Castor oil ....... but be warned hold your phone away from your ear ! He hates the stuff after repairing engines ruined by it over the years . Horses for courses . Castor ok on older lower powered engines with cast iron pistons and old diesels again with iron pistons . Still very messy but doesnt bake on due to lower running temp and plenty of excess fuel passing through engine . Even then it can have detrimental effects. Ive just sorted out an old PAW 0.9 BB diesel that's been run on castor fuel. The outside resembled an old chip pan ! The top of the cylinder and the piston crown both had a good 0.75 mm of hard carbon deposits and was stubborn to remove ! not too much of a problem in a diesel as comp is adjustable but, in a glow, would have serious effect on running and probably have damaged the engine . The BB was a solid block of congealed hard Castor varnish . Modern synthetics would have avoided this. Before RCV engines there were many rotary valve engines that came and went over the years. One of the main problems was that castor oil would set hard like varnish on the rotary valve causing wear and poor compression so most were consigned to the spares or scrap box . Move on to present day and many of those engines would run happily with good modern synthetic oil albeit with low power compared to modern engines
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Would this lot be worth-while getting?
Paul De Tourtoulon replied to paul devereux's topic in All Things Model Flying
There in't much of a description, if it's Mds, Asp and the like engines and burned out spectrum,,,, If you are business maybe so, I see a box for an Rcv .58 so next to the Os and asp, so maybe some stuff worth having. -
If Weston cant help with piston ring try "Gaviscool" on ebay . He supplies piston rings for most if not ALL model engines . Prices are good and rings are excellent quality. RCV 58 size is about £12 inc post to UK but post France may be different . Cant see RCV listed on his site but worth a call. I use his rings as its easier ,quicker and cheaper than making my own . I have no connection with the seller just a very happy customer.
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If you were to photograph the ‘20-30’ engines together and post them here we might be able to identify them. You might even get some offers. The BMFA have just held another online auction with hundreds of engines and old kits for sale. Anyone know when the next one might be? Would you have a RCV 58CD or perhaps a HP vt-21 by any chance?
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Currently flying a Seagull Flybaby on an RCV 58CD which gets airborne in a very realistic scale manner. That is probably more accurately described as an underpowered airframe! Would therefore like to upgrade the powerplant to something larger whilst keeping an in cowl installation. Has anybody got any recommendations as to suitable engines. Did wonder if an RCV 91 would be better but these seem to go for silly amounts on ebay.
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If the top of the tank is 1/4 above the carb that should be ok. SC and asp engines shipped with mega rich slow run needles (over 3 turns!) and their carbs were not always brilliant. I made a new barrel screw for the Sanye (parent companty of SC/ASP etc) carb fitted to my RCV and the performance was much improved.
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I see one of my photos from the RC Groups thread. Mine is still flying but on electric now, I did add that to the RC Groups thread. Whilst the 2 x RCV60SP is what I started out with, they caused me no end of trouble due to the excessive vibrations that they generated, ultimately ending in a crash that broke the wing beyond repair. I rebuilt the wing with electric motors. In terms of hardware changes, the thick ribs supporting the motor have been lengthened so the motors mount directly without spacers. The ESCs have been mounted on extension plates so they sit right in the prop blast coming in through the chin scoops. Battery boxes have been built into each nacelle and hatches cut into the top of the cowls. I used Hyperion ZS 4025-16 320kV motors (no longer available) with 16x12 APC E props driven by 6S 4000mAh batteries through HobbyWing Platinum 80A V4 ESCs. Measurements gave 6,450rpm at 22.3V with 47.5A, so about 1050W each = 2100W. The plane now weighs 8.07kg = 17lb 12oz which is exactly the same as it weighed in IC version without fuel, so the flying characteristics should be the same. The ESCs both have 10A BECs with adjustable voltages. I have set up both to feed the Rx through Schottky diodes with one set at 6.0V and the other at 5.5V so I have some redundancy and the voltage telemetry alarm will indicate if the 6.0V one fails. UK weather is very windy at the moment so the maiden may not occur for another week or so. The pull on the ground was tremendous and much more than the RCV 60SP engines which never reached much above 5,500rpm on 16x12 props. The RCV engines flew the model sedately, the motors give potentially 40% more thrust, which is why it felt so powerful on the ground. When I flew it for the first time on motors it was a much more relaxed time than with IC where I was always waiting for one engine out. I was happy to do rolls and loops now without the concern of losing power. It really does fly like a large sport plane once it is in the air. Someone on my thread mentioned that they had used a 4S set up but it was quite sedate, have a look at the last few pages. My build log.
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i have an rcv 120 and have run it on the standard laser 5 fuel i use in everything. Its been fine in all my ground testing to date. IF it was overheating before then its likely you have a cooling issue not a fuel issue as i know folk who have used those 58's on 5% nitro without issue. It is extremely unlikely that 2% nitro is enough to completely break the performance of the engine and i suspect there is another issue. RCV engines by their design suffer badly from mechanical wear as sealing of the sleeve valve is lost. What prop are you running and what are the peak revs? I just had another thought. i guess you were using optifuel 12 before? if so what are you using now?
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RCV engines today make engines for UAV's although they are no longer rotating cylinder, more like the Webra / HP engines with an overhead rotating valve.
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Hi folks, I have a rcv 58 engine that is hardly used ,and though it starts easily and runs well,when I tilt up the aircraft nose the engine cuts out. Now I have adjusted it over and over to no avail, I don't think I have an air leak anywhere. So I'm at a loss .does anyone have experience with these engines that could offer advice? Regards Dan
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As above. I'd be interested to know of peoples' experiences with RCV engines, both types. Also resale values, etc. I have read that whilst listed as British, they are in fact made in China. Can anyone confirm this? Cheers, MrTin
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Ok Jon, no need to show off your lovely planes with super engines, 😉, Just fitted my RCV .58 to a rubbish falling apart Gambler, talk about Chalk and Cheese,, but it's all fun Rubbish or Scale finished planes it's all modelling fun,,,🥳
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I would think the rcv would be just fine. Stick a huge prop on it, get the revs down to about 4200 at the prop and i expect it would be quite civilised. I need to get the rcv 120 i was given last year into something to continue my testing with it. They are certainly very interesting engines to play with.
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I bought a model at the Nats on Sunday and its fitted with a RCV SP. I believe its a 60 size. Never come across one of these before, but have found some info on Weston UK's website. Are these engines good, bad or indifferent? I don't hear them mentioned at all. Turning the engine over by the prop its quite stiff, but that may be due to the reduction gearing? When you do turn it over you can hear and feel the gears 'meshing' together. Is this normal?
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The RCV would cool in the same way as this inline, my OS flat and the full size equivalents. As modellers we only deal with single cylinder engines most of the time and any twins tend to be flat or V. All of these configurations can be cooled by, essentially, blowing air in their faces. With cylinders inline (including flat 4 or 6) cooling by blowing air in their faces is no longer an option and the engine must be cut in half. Cold high pressure one side, hot low pressure the other side. The same is true for the RCV with its unusual layout. All of the cooling air flow through the fins is then at 90' to the direction of travel of the engine. This splitting in half can be left/right like in an upright or inverted inline engine, or top/bottom like the flat 4/6, the RCV or in inline twin on its side. In the case of the AWXL Steve, the hold in the cowl over the cylinder heads needs to be sealed up, at least on the cold side of the engine as you need that wide of the deal to be sealed up tight so that the only escape for the airflow is through the cylinders.
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At the introduction of the SP range at the Sandown Syposium, I think it was the 60 fitted on a Wot4 with no cowl fitted. It overheated and stopped after a couple of minutes . . The ducting to get air to flow through the fins is essential. The early ones also sounded like a bag of spanners with a whine! Not a bad idea but like all the alternative inc Webra,HB, Falcon etc four stroke engines they just were not as good as the poppet valve design. There was talk of RCV making a version for small motorcycles , probably killed off by emission as although technically a fourstroke it still required a two stroke fuel mix.
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