A C Gilbert Co. What were they smoking??

balogh wrote:A truely golden era for kids...what engines did Gilbert planes have?

From Mark Boesen’s  soon to be gone yahoo collector group: the ThunderHead 074 and 011 :

Had a couple running on my Lazy Bee for a while:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDL64jtR2B8&t=17s

Kim,

How did your Gilbert engines hold up?

Ran mine only on the test stand, but really enjoyed the easy starting, and smooth running.

The only problem we had was the .07 glow heads were no good. I finally got a couple Merlin replacements, but never got around to trying them.

Hope to get mine out again someday, as they were about the easiest starting small engines I own.

Bill

smooth_bill wrote:Kim,

How did your Gilbert engines hold up?

Ran mine only on the test stand, but really enjoyed the easy starting, and smooth running.

The only problem we had was the .07 glow heads were no good. I finally got a couple Merlin replacements, but never got around to trying them.

Hope to get mine out again someday, as they were about the easiest starting small engines I own.

Bill

I know Merlin is gone, but I'm curious to hear about the Merlin replacements you mentioned for the Gilberts. I haven't found any feasible alternative as yet- been looking for ages. I know the Fox .09 head fits the Gilbert 11, but the 11 heads didn't give trouble anyway.

Rod,

Got mine from California Dan, and verified they were re-built by Merlin. Expensive at the time ($10 each), but I knew the Merlin reputation for quality work. Dan may still have a few around. I haven't seen him on eBay in years, but his son posts on the forums now and then.

Unfortunately, I've lost all my previous data and contacts when my old Dell computer crashed hard. Found out all my backup files on a stand alone USB drive also were lost.

When I finally get this Win10 HP computer working correctly,  I may be a able to recover some of my files!

Bill

Rod,

Dan Sitter is the fellow who listed the Gilbert 07 heads. Used to have his email and phone, but no longer.

Bill

smooth_bill wrote:Rod,

Dan Sitter is the fellow who listed the Gilbert 07 heads. Used to have his email and phone, but no longer.

Bill

Thanks Bill. I've probably see his listings on ebay but wasn't aware that they were rebuilt. Can't figure out why the original .074 heads were so fragile, while the .11 heads seem to last fine. Replacement 11 heads are plentiful, but 7s are rare and sought after.

Rod,

The story I got from the fellow who sold the last batch of Gilbert engines (Steve Brown) was that the Alloy in the 07 heads was a little different, and corroded easier. That and decades of storage in an old warehouse wasn't kind to them.

Using a power panel, I found the 07 heads took about half the current of the 11 heads to glow adequately. Too good a 1.5 volt glow driver would burn them out almost instantly. The power panel at reduced setting helped a little, but they still burned out way too soon.

Bill

Acapulco Gold !! Love those old days commercials

smooth_bill wrote:Kim,

How did your Gilbert engines hold up?

Ran mine only on the test stand, but really enjoyed the easy starting, and smooth running.

The only problem we had was the .07 glow heads were no good. I finally got a couple Merlin replacements, but never got around to trying them.

Hope to get mine out again someday, as they were about the easiest starting small engines I own.

Bill

Hey Bill, I had them on the Lazy Bee, flying it quite a bit over two months, but not enough to really tell haw they were doing.  They've been oiled up and stored for several years now.

Kim,

Same here, never got enough bench time on mine to know how they last.

Never used mufflers on the bench runs, but wondered if you had any problems keeping them on in the air? Locktite might work, and I'm pretty sure they make a hi temp version.

Bill