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Favourite old engines


jeff2wings
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So what is ,or has been your favourite engine/s past or present ?? and not necessarily the one that ran the best or lasted the longest ,being a machine head myself it’s sometimes a case of how nice it looks !

Here are some from my collection

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Edited By Steve Hargreaves - Moderator on 17/09/2012 14:19:48

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I love engines that are reliable:

OS 40FSR must rank up there with the most reliable and robust ever made. Noisy by modern standards, loves a 10X6 and a pipe, and aerobatics.

OS H60 blackhead: Smooth, very quiet, utterly reliable. Had one of these in my Proctor Antic Parasol for years, with a homemade dustbin silencer, I was often asked if it was a four stroke as it was so quiet. Swung a Punctillo 14X4.

Saito Fa30 Fa45 Fa90 I could go on

DC Dart; about 5 years to run in, now fantastic, with a cnc made conrod.

Mills 1.4 1947. Easy and reliable.

Recently discovered Laser engines: I LOVE my 150 It runs and sounds fabulous. Cannot wait to try my NIB 80. Must get building.

Oh yes OS 52fs, smoooth, reliable, pretty much too easy, as close to plug and play that I have come accross in an engine: With my two of these it was a matter of start the new engine, rev it a few times, fly it immediately, never a hiccup of any sort, just smooth power.

Charles

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One of my favourites is my MDS 38 !

Not because it's anything special but it just amuses me to dig out my Limbo Dancer once in a while, prime it, flick it backwards and fly until the tank runs dry while everyone else says all MDS engines are an unmentionable (on this forum) word.

Real favourite is my ASP 160 twin which is incredibly smooth and sounds great.

Best out of the box? OS90 FX which started on a reverse flick first time and hasn't missed a beat since.

Long term reliability - the award must go to my OS52 FS which hasn't been out of its home in my Chipmunk in a decade and I don't remember ever having a dead stick with.

One of my longest owned is an OPS 60 from 1975ish - at the time I was in awe of such a mighty beast which I bought to power an 80 inch Mick Reeves Hurricane (sadly never completed) but I took the opportunity to pop it in to my Pegasus Hurricane 5 or 6 years ago when I needed to replace the crankcase on its 90FS, so it finally took to the air (and in a Hurricane) after some 30 years or so of loft storage!

Nostalgia-wise has to be a DC Merlin, an example of which which I did run up a few years ago just to smell the wonderful exhaust fumes - which instantly took me back to happy days of KK Snipes, Phantom Mites and suchlike...

Although I'm fairly ambivalent about some of the mid-range 2 strokes I've got, any engine can be a joy to handle and operate - Lasers, Saitos etc. are particularly nice but I'm not currently flying them although I have a couple of examples.

Edited By Martin Harris on 01/03/2013 09:56:52

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I've been collecting engines for a bit more than 50 years. Unlike most collectors, I do actually run most of my engines, play with them on the bench, and fly as many as I can.

It's true that some of the very ancient stuff isn't very practical to run, but most engines, from the late forties onwards, are superb, particularly English diesels.

Here are a few examples...

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Simon,

In the early days of diesel development, a number of "fixed compression" diesels were made. They work extremely well, providing certain "limitations" are accepted. The first one produced in large numbers was the French Micron 5 (5 cc). The Micron was produced from 1943 until the early sixties, with a later short production run in the seventies.

The one in the photo, in the nose of my Simplex, is early fifties production.

The Micron "inspired" a few other manufacturers. The most prolific being the American "Drone", by Leon Shulman who, I think, is still with us... You can see the Micron running, in one of the other photos, and here is a Drone, roaring away like a champion, still on fixed compression.

PS: Looking up through the posts, I'm particularly pleased to see Peter with us. We both flew and played with engines in the infamous Model Aircraft Club in Aden, in my case, 50 years ago this year, and Peter a couple of years earlier...

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Some very interesting engines you have there B.E. had a Drone NIB but had to sell it along with some of my other vintage engines and kits due to hard times last year , still traumatised from the experience ! crying 2 What fuel do you use for the drone ?? D.A. Laidlaw-Dickson suggested castor/ether only

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Jeff, your post again raises memories. You mention D.J.L.D... When I was young (in the fifties) I used to live near Dickie, and I actually went to school with his daughter.

Concerning fuel mixtures, I think the "standard" mix is well-known. The original Micron mix was just 75% ether, 25% good quality automotive engine oil (castor wasn't generally used in model engines until the late forties). This Micron mix was also used (copied) for the Drone and the English Owat.

A lot of nonsense exists on the Web concerning fixed compression diesels and their fuels. This isn't the place to go into great detail so, to keep it simple, the standard 75/25 mix is perfect for running a Micron, Drone or Owat in ambient temperatures of between say 20°C and 30°C (i.e. most of the time, in summer). Below 20°C you may not get satisfactory starting/running (better to wait for warmer weather), and above about 30°C you'll need a bit less ether, say a 60/40 mixture, or even 50/30 with 20% kerosene. Using 75% ether, in very hot weather, gives pre-ignition, i.e. combustion occurs before the top of the stroke, and you can't reduce the compression!!! This gives awful rough running with a lot of vibration, and could probably damage the engine (they usually don't run like this for more than a few seconds).

BTW, your Drone photos show a very late ball-race engine (superb), but the box is that of an early plain bearing version! (Don't say anything, no-one will know!).

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