Arthur Harris Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) Handmade Model Plane Combustion Motor | eBay Edited January 24 by Arthur Harris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 A 4 stroke side valve engine, only one I know of is Vega but this does not look like one. No carb to be seen and odd looking bits on back of cam gear box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Definitely not Vega, they were all machined from solid (IIRC) and looked very, very different. What are those bits on the back of cam box? Something to do with adjusting the cam timing? My other bet is that the odd bits are a gear fuel pump - the other photos seem to show a fuel nipple on the far side of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarlyBird Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 8 minutes ago, J D 8 said: odd looking bits on back of cam gear box. Contact points for old style spark ignition, I presume for petrol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Isn't the clue to the make in the title of the photo? - "Handmade Model Plane Combustion Motor" Dick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Colbourne Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Having googled the well known model engine designers such as Lawrence H Sparey and Edgar T Westbury, it doesn't appear to be one of theirs. The general style of the engine to me puts it somewhere in the late 60's to 1990s, although that is just a gut feeling. An enquiry on the Model Engineer Forum may get a result, or an enquiry to Adrian at https://www.adriansmodelaeroengines.com/catalog/ may help, although he has been hospitalized lately. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Harris Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 2 hours ago, Dickw said: Isn't the clue to the make in the title of the photo? - "Handmade Model Plane Combustion Motor" Dick That's a very good point! There are more photos in the eBay link, but none show a maker's name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Bump, perhaps Engine Doctor or Brokenenglish might like to come in on this mystery. Or anyone else with more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 (edited) Its a complete mystery to me. The cylinder looks sort of familiar but not enough to go on . Its probably been built by one of the many very talented engineer in our hobby. Crankcase looks sort of based on a ED Hunter-ish but nothing to get any scale in the pics. I wouldnt mind having a go at that but its early days and I reckon the bidding will go a bit silly near the auction end. Its a pity its bèen run on methanol as its obviously been designed for petrol an glow fuel has possibly corroeded any bearings and cams etc. Edited January 26 by Engine Doctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Up to around 1943, both here and the USA, small garages with workshops with tooling, dabbled with small petrol engines for model aeroplanes, resulting in many design one-offs, as production ceased until the end of the war, and motors became available again. Point being, one off design petrol engines were quite common. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Harris Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 (edited) 2 hours ago, Engine Doctor said: Its a complete mystery to me. The cylinder looks sort of familiar but not enough to go on . Its probably been built by one of the many very talented engineer in our hobby. Crankcase looks sort of based on a ED Hunter-ish but nothing to get any scale in the pics. I wouldnt mind having a go at that but its early days and I reckon the bidding will go a bit silly near the auction end. Its a pity its bèen run on methanol as its obviously been designed for petrol an glow fuel has possibly corroeded any bearings and cams etc. It looks like from a practical point of view it is worthless. Spares will be non-existent. If someone has the engineering skills to repair it, they will probably just make their own engine. The same seller has this for sale:Handmade Twin Piston Model Plane Combustion Motor - Complete | eBay Edited January 26 by Arthur Harris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) On 24/01/2024 at 22:09, Arthur Harris said: Handmade Model Plane Combustion Motor | eBay Well it finished on ebay for £127 , a Bit less than I thought it might be . Anyone on here buy it, is it salvageable or a can of worms ? Edited February 1 by Engine Doctor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 The photo of the flat twin was easier to identify. It's a Matador 60 twin designed by Derek Giles. It was a homebuilt engine and the plans are still available from Sarik: https://www.sarikhobbies.com/product/matador-60-60-twin-plan-rc1539/ Still no idea on the single cylinder engine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 18 minutes ago, Alan Gorham_ said: The photo of the flat twin was easier to identify. It's a Matador 60 twin designed by Derek Giles. It was a homebuilt engine and the plans are still available from Sarik: https://www.sarikhobbies.com/product/matador-60-60-twin-plan-rc1539/ Still no idea on the single cylinder engine. Derek did make some interesting engines. I recall him showing me his 0.15cc version of the Mills 0.75. I never saw it running, but he asured me it ran well. Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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