Re: Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines!

GallopingGhostler Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:23 pm

Thanks Jacob, Eric, and Ken. Thanks for clarifying Ken, that the upper cylinder discoloration is due to an unstable plating method, that allowed the gold color to deteriorate to a dirty light Castor color with the rest of the engine losing it in an entirety. Still, the engine looks like a good runner.

Well, had a busy day at church, so didn't get home until 4:30 pm. By the time I got changed, went to the garage, sun is already starting to set.

Located my tach and installed a new battery. When I get a chance soon, will run my K&B .35 Stallion first as a "bench" checkout, then plan to move onto the Fox .35 Gold Stunt. I have both 10x5 and 10x6 props, so will be able to run it and spare the props in the memorial kit.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-063

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-062

We have new neighbors, 3 of them located immediately behind our 1 acre lot, that weren't there 5 years ago. (Those appear to be standard 1/6 acre lots, plus a new housing tract that wasn't there when we first moved here.) I may have to travel 12 miles out to Ned Houk Park at the R/C field to run them unmuffled.

Regarding run up of the RR-1, just need to locate the holes I drilled to run a Babe Bee and find my #2 or #3 wood screws.

GallopingGhostler Wed Mar 29, 2023 1:25 am

An update, just letting you guys know where Rusty's engines are.

For the past 5 years, I have been heavily involved with volunteering for my local Salvation Army Corps, so my modeling interests took a back seat. When Covid hit, our services became even more intense distributing food, giving clothing, rental and utility assistances.

With the effects of Covid wearing off, I now have some freer time to do modeling stuff.

The week before for a dry run on my engine test setup, I mounted my K&B .35 mid-1970's Stallion in my stand with a 10x6 prop, for its first test run. This is the engine that I cleaned up a couple years ago that started out as a basket case. My clean up is in this thread:

CEF Other Engines: K&B .35 Stallion Acquisition

I thought it appropriate to do a dry run with my setup before I mount Jason's Golden Anniversary Fox .35 Stunt and run it. This Stallion has a special place in my heart, because I was able to fully redeem it from its obscure past that damaged it. It is like hidden gold, the engine actually in spite of its scarred outward appearance, is quite pristene otherwise, should give a long service life.

I thought it fitting to give it a shot. It reminds me of Rusty, how even being scarred with a potentially debilitating health problem, never let that hinder his enthusiasm and gusto for life and support for this forum.

With a good electric glow ignitor and my custom glow fuel consisting of 13.5% nitro and 25% oil of which 10% is Castor, 15% Synth, I figured, lets give it a short go.

Dry run test setup with K&B .35 Stallion. Click here to read:

Last week, I received word that our pastors were detailed to a last minute tasking from Divisional Headquarters as instructors at the Children's Camp in Heber, AZ (9 hours from Clovis. I guess they were short on instructors.) As head laity, I was doing donation pickups, preparing the message in English and Spanish, projector slides, music, and bulletin to fill their spot for Sunday services.

During Sunday afternoon now at home, I mounted the Fox .35, putting a new Masters 10x5 prop on it (didn't want to damage the 9x6 wood that came with the engine kit).

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-078

With my setup, again doing the left foot on the saw horse cross brace to keep it from moving, left hand holding down the HSP igniter, right hand flipping the chicken stick, all I got was a soft burble from the Fox plug, not even a brrraaaappp. I'm wondering if it requires more current from say a power panel. After several attempts, it was starting to get dark.

I'll need to temporarily change the plug to one of mine that works on 1.5 Volts. Monday, I stopped by Harbor Freight and bought Alkaline D batteries. I'm going to solder pigtail wires to join a couple cells in parallel, solder banana clip sockets to the ends, then use the more reliable Hangar 9 power panel igniter clip or salvage the clip off my home made D cell igniter to provide me a reliable one. Also, interestingly enough, my replacement battery on my tachometer went dead after 2 days. I'll need to pickup some batteries for it.

Originally I was going to mail to @Tee Bee the package on March 26, as this was when he'd be ready. I could send the package out right away, but if I could be given a little more time, want to document with tach readings at least the Fox .35 engine. That is if this is OK with he and Jacob.

rsv1cox Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:37 am

I share your affection for the K&B Stallions George, and your comparison with Rusty is spot on.

Much applause for your deep connection to the Salvation Army. It is one of the few charities that I continue to support.

Ken Cook Wed Mar 29, 2023 3:14 pm

The Thunderbolt plug in the Fox should be a Thunderbolt R/C long. Hands down it's the best plug for a Fox one can use. It is 1.5 volts. There was also a spare in the packaging when it was at the last recipient. If your using a rechargeable nicad driver that's already a problem but there could be other issues such as the plug is scrambled. If the engine was flipped and over primed, it could damage the plug. If the mailman is anything like the jackass one I have here, he probably threw the package from his truck. The wire is very fine in the Thunderbolt and fragile, it was the hottest plug available and now no longer. A terrific plug for low performance engines, it has no rpm drop when the igniter is removed. One should receive years of service from one. If your using a clothespin type clip, the outside of the case might not be making a good enough contact due to castor baked on.

GallopingGhostler Wed Mar 29, 2023 6:00 pm

Ken Cook wrote:The Thunderbolt plug in the Fox should be a Thunderbolt R/C long. Hands down it's the best plug for a Fox one can use. It is 1.5 volts.

I haven't checked back at the spare parts stock in the box. I have some hot long plugs that worked well with my other engines and lower voltage glow driver (1.25V for the HSP ignitor.)

Ken Cook wrote:There was also a spare in the packaging when it was at the last recipient.

I'll check, it probably is still there.

Ken Cook wrote:If your using a rechargeable nicad driver that's already a problem but there could be other issues such as the plug is scrambled.

Yup, the HSP is 1.25V, Ni-MH, which is 0.25 Volts short of 1.5V.

Ken Cook wrote:If the engine was flipped and over primed, it could damage the plug.

When I flipped over the Stallion to drain a flooded crankcase, I purposely did not attempt to open to TDC, good way to hydraulic lock the engine and damage something. I had it at BDC and from there, let drain through bypass port exhaust port, then rotated crank until there was enough daylight in the crank opening to the venturi, to let any remaining in the crankcase dribble out. You are correct regarding the Fox, it can be damaged with hydraulic lock, wouldn't even want to go there.

Ken Cook wrote:If the mailman is anything like the jackass one I have here, he probably threw the package from his truck. The wire is very fine in the Thunderbolt and fragile, it was the hottest plug available and now no longer. A terrific plug for low performance engines, it has no rpm drop when the igniter is removed. One should receive years of service from one. If your using a clothespin type clip, the outside of the case might not be making a good enough contact due to castor baked on.

Surprisingly, the box was worn from multiple trips but didn't see anything to indicate it was severely abused. I do have a clothespin style clip using 2 D batteries in parallel for 1.5V service, but was not using it.

Was for a while using Swanson Associates Fireball Red hot plugs, gave excellent service until I bought a faulty NOS card off the bay. It would only work about a week, then acted like it lost its iridium / platinum coating. Heard that Swanson a while back got some faulty wire from one of their suppliers. Have some more recent Chinese hot plugs that seem to be OK.

I got those when bulk prices of 12 for under $30 was the going rate before Covid. Now, plugs are going for around $8 a pop or so I checked, better brand name plugs like over $12. Así es la vida. Such is life.

GallopingGhostler Thu Mar 30, 2023 3:12 am

rsv1cox wrote:I share your affection for the K&B Stallions George, and your comparison with Rusty is spot on.

Much applause for your deep connection to the Salvation Army. It is one of the few charities that I continue to support.

Thanks, Bob. The original purpose was a special tribute to Rusty. That Stallion is amazing. I have it targeted for one of my C/L kits. I will eventually have to add gaskets, compression is a little high, which tells me it would probably run well on no nitro fuel.

GallopingGhostler Sat Apr 08, 2023 8:37 pm

Ken gave some good advice on the plugs that Jason supplied with the Fox Golden .35, requires a higher voltage than the rechargeable 1.25 NiMH single battery provides.

Weather here has finally improved. We were having gale like winds with advisory to stay off the roads. I've never seen it so dry without a break. Normally about every other week, we used to have decent rainfall.

Getting much closer to running at least one of Rusty's engines. My Cox style ignition battery setup is now repaired sufficiently to work. Drilled a bunch of 0.0625 inch holes, then ran soft steel wire through the holes to mend the broken battery case end.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-092

End is buldging from the spring force of the positive battery terminals. That is why it broke tne first time.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-093

More to come.

GallopingGhostler Wed May 17, 2023 10:06 am

To all, I haven't forgotten Rusty's engines, but ran into a few other snags. The wooden test stand that I've been using for a very long time, is slowly giving up the ghost. I repaired it 8 years ago, when the wood base split in half, used water based Carpenter's Aliphatic Resin glue to glue the halves back together, then did run ups and break-ins of my various .35 & .40 legacy McCoy engines, and a few Enya's. The Fox Stunt is a shaker, don't want the engine to suddenly become airborne. So, I procured a solid metal stand, due to arrive soon.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 S-l16026

Also, I achieved 69 this year. I am finding now that although I have attempted to maintain good physical conditioning and overall moderated eating and lifestyle, things are not the same they were 10 years ago. In future, I'll have to take a back seat to activities I used to enjoy. The statement, Q: How many seniors does it take to change a light bulb? A: Only one, but it might take him all day!, that I am finding is becoming literally true.

Today for next couple days, I leave for Ruidoso, NM to help the Christian Motorcyclists Association, who are helping the promoters with the Aspen Cash Motorcycle Rally at the Inn of the Mountain God's Resort.

Jacob gave me some wiggle room, as Tee Bee wasn't quite ready yet to receive the engines. After I do my run-up, will report and get the engines off to him.

Tee Bee Wed May 17, 2023 11:03 am

No worries! Things have been hectic on my end as well and for a couple of weeks, I had actually forgotten all about receiving the engines. I look forward to seeing how things work for you before you send them on. All the best!

Tee Bee Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:18 am

I received a PM from George but am not able to reply to it for some technical reason. George, if you see this, send them when you are ready. The shipping info you have is correct. All the best to you!

balogh Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:53 am

GallopingGhostler wrote:...The statement, Q: How many seniors does it take to change a light bulb? A: Only one, but it might take him all day!, that I am finding is becoming literally true.

...

George, I have a different version...it actually takes two seniors to change a light bulb: ...one sitting on the shoulder of the other while grabbing the bulb, and the one below slowly rotating first counter clockwise then clockwise (rotation directions when viewing the bulb from below...Notes from me, another senior...)

Sorry for derailing the thread, please check the post from Tee Bee above mine!

GallopingGhostler Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:16 pm

balogh wrote:George, I have a different version...it actually takes two seniors to change a light bulb: ...one sitting on the shoulder of the other while grabbing the bulb, and the one below slowly rotating first counter clockwise then clockwise (rotation directions when viewing the bulb from below...Notes from me, another senior...)

András, wrong version! Laughing

A grandson is atop the shoulders of the grandpa with the light bulb in his hands. He always screws it in perfect, because grandchildren can do no wrong! (Well, maybe not quite yet. My back is better, but I feel a twinge in my back picking up the gallon fuel jug. Doh!

)

Well, today I managed to get everything together for a run. The Golden Fox .35 engine is mounted much more securely than my old wooden one, that had seen its better better days. This mount is solid aluminum, good quality.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-132

I had some difficulty starting the engine with my standard Cox style battery setup with 2 D-cell Alkalines. I removed the Fox idle bar plug and substituted a new Swanson's NOS Yellow idle bar plug. Also, I didn't want to chance breaking the wood prop, and so put a reliable one, a Masters 10x6 that I used on my Testor McCoy .35 Red Head.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-133

I also had to open the needle valve another 1 turn to 6-1/2. Initially, I had it set to 5-1/2, but acted like it was getting insufficient fuel. One more turn did it, surprising, it ran with very little vibration. (Perhaps the solid stand and platform?)

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-134

Rather that going through the trouble to tach it, I thought it best to bring my run to a close, next is mailing it to Troy @Tee Bee.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 2023-135

I'll leave the Fireball plug on the engine and put the Fox plug in the Fireball holder marked as "Fox" in the shipment. I reused the copper Fox plug washer and left the new washer with the Fox plug.

GallopingGhostler Sat Jul 01, 2023 3:18 pm

Today, the engines were mailed by US Postal to @Tee Bee in Texas, he should receive by mid to latter next week, sent him the tracking.

I also backed up the contents of the included thumb drive to my system, in case the data croaks. Blow up Mad!

(These are usually very stable, but I have had some earlier thumb drives go bad after a couple years use.)

A very good job was done by @layback209 , Canada Day Flag

he also completely documented his experiences with these engines in both written log book entry and by photos on the thumb drive, including participation by his children. Thumbs Up

Tee Bee Sat Jul 01, 2023 3:26 pm

I live on the TX coast, so hope those engines enjoy some humidity with their summer heat.

rsv1cox Sat Jul 01, 2023 4:53 pm

Ah George, we share another convieniece, velcro lace-ups. A gift to sore back sufferers. The less time I spend bent over lacing/tying up shoe laces the better I like it. The only sneeks I buy but they are getting harder to find.

Enjoyed your engine run and text.

getback Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:17 am

On the move again . Looks like TeeBee is the last member on the list ?!

Ken Cook Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:41 am

I've touched a bit on this topic before. I haven't ever participated in the Traveling Engine program. Running the engine on a bench is much different then flying it. I personally could make a entire day running engines on the bench because I do enjoy it. The plugs that were sent with the Fox aside from a Enya #3 are hands down the best plug one could use in a Fox .35. George has commented that his battery wouldn't light it. I'm not doubting George but something isn't correct here. The Thunderbolt has a small diameter coil, slightly wider in diameter over a stock Fox plug but it still glows extremely bright. A Fox element is so thin that it practically glow white. A Fox plug is too hot but which also makes it short lived and it retains it's heat poorly. The fact that the T-bolt doesn't lose rpm's when the battery is disconnected and NEVER shuts off when doing outside maneuvers is a testament to itself. A Thunderbolt r/c long will last in a Fox .35 almost infinitely. The death of the plug is shock from a crash impact OR FLOODING. This will take out the coil or at least push it over to one side which keeps the coils from lighting properly. This certainly can happen during mailing of the engine. Straightening it can work but this can also break the spot weld where the wire is terminated.

Plugs are disappearing from the hobby, what plugs we can attain are essentially now double and even triple in cost. I commend George on his gratuity. I'm not posting this to bash him, just commenting on the subject. Fireball plugs have been around for a long long time. The quality of them though has been hit and miss. I've had good success with them and bad. I will say my success with them though has been more with the yellow vs the red. Reason being is the coil diameter is slightly larger. Many of them have the insulation fail on the top of the plug. In addition, the threads can be cut rather poorly which results in the plug cutting it's own thread into the cylinder head. Fireball plugs are only to be used on NON PERFORMANCE engines like a Mccoy, Fox's, Enya etc. Even when used on a .15 size engines, the higher rpm's can make short life of them if leaned up. This is essentially true of any plug.

The yellow is the incorrect temperature range for the Fox .35. The yellow is a medium heat range plug, the red Fireball which is the hot is the correct range for the Fox .35. If one is using what is the recommended oil percentage for a Fox .35, the high oil content and the medium heat range is not going to cooperate together well. While the plug worked, and yes it will run the engine, it could possibly cool off in flight proving not so worthy. The difference here is that is was being used on a stand in the upright position. A Fox makes more power in the upright position and also inverted opposed to being mounted sidewinder on a profile airplane. Essentially when a Fox is mounted profile, the bypass area is so large that it essentially floods the cylinder and dowses the plug with more fuel than it can tolerate. If one is to mount this engine on a profile to fly it, I would use caution with the yellow as it could just shut off in a outside maneuver when the Fox burps.

GallopingGhostler Sun Jul 02, 2023 8:18 am

getback wrote:Looks like TeeBee is the last member on the list ?!

He is, unless someone contacts Jacob and he approves.

Ken Cook wrote:George has commented that his battery wouldn't light it. I'm not doubting George but something isn't correct here. [...]Fireball plugs have been around for a long long time. The quality of them though has been hit and miss.

Ken, in this case all I could get were soft pops from the Thunderbolt (I guess that is what it is, referred to it as Fox as it was the one I removed), similar to a Fireball that has gone bad. When I changed plugs, immediately I got performance. It may have been the wrong heat range, but these are the only idle bar plugs that I have, and when I looked in my shop desk drawer, they were staring me right in the face, for a quick fix.

My mix is 15% nitro diluted a touch with extra Castor oil to bring standard R/C fuel up to snuff with 10% Castor (now 15% Synth after a pint added to the gallon). Because I live at 4,300 ft. (1311 m.) elevation, the extra nitro helps. Since I was doing a static engine run, it worked. For others, it is YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

I did buy a dozen Fireball Red Hot standard plugs that were bad. It would work a day or two. Next week of flying, only soft pops, no fire. Replace, then it was good, to do the exact same thing. Prior, never had any problems. Then I read in one of the forums, that Swanson Associates had received a batch of defectively coated plug wire rolls sometime in the 1980's. The Platinum / Iridium coating was unstable, and would deteriorate quickly. That happened to mine. I was replacing plugs weekly. The dozen on a card I received were probably from that lot. Prior to that experience, I guess I lucked out with always good results.

OTOH around that time I had those bad Fireballs, tried my old Enya plug. Wrote about it some time back, can't recall the number of the plug, but it came with one of my Enya .09-III TV's. As old as it was, it still fired like the day it was new.

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines! - Page 8 Enya_010

Ken Cook wrote:Plugs are disappearing from the hobby, what plugs we can attain are essentially now double and even triple in cost.

Ken, I bought two cards of Chinese hot standard plugs and glad I did back 7 years ago, when they were going for around $30 per 10 shipping included. I'm glad I bought, because plug prices have escalated to $10 or more per plug.

Ken Cook wrote:Fireball plugs are only to be used on NON PERFORMANCE engines like a Mccoy, Fox's, Enya etc. Even when used on a .15 size engines, the higher rpm's can make short life of them if leaned up. This is essentially true of any plug.

You just described 9/10ths of my engine cache. lol!

But early on in late 1970's, had no problem running the Fireball Red Short Standard plugs in my 1965'ish OS Max .10R/C non-muffled with exhaust plate baffle for idle. This was on standard Cox fuel. Very Happy

I had difficulty with that engine on my 39 inch Top Flite Ken Willard's R/C Schoolmaster using a Fox short idle bar plug. I just could not get it to fire with the standard large 1.5 Volt ignition batteries of the day. I was about to give up, then bought a Fireball short red standard plug. Now, it fired up as reliably as the Cox reedie engines, was one of the sweetest running engines I'd ever experience. The extra ponies from that engine turned the Schoolmaster from a trainer to a decent sport plane! Very Happy

Ken Cook Mon Jul 03, 2023 10:45 am

I own 6 of the OS MAX .10's. 3 are control line versions and r/c. For years, I marveled at the one I owned and then out of the woodwork I received others from swap meets. Owners didn't even want them. I just couldn't let them go, I took them, cleaned them up and brought them back from the dead. Marvelous little engines .

Tee Bee Mon Jul 03, 2023 6:57 pm

The engines have arrived safely on the Texas coast! Now I just need to scrape up a little spare time to tinker.

**Admin** Tue Jul 04, 2023 12:29 am

Tee Bee wrote:The engines have arrived safely on the Texas coast! Now I just need to scrape up a little spare time to tinker.

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing what you do with them! RC Plane

**Admin** Tue Jul 04, 2023 12:40 am

Great write-up George. Glad you got that Fox going, even though there were a few snags. Good thinking on backing up the flash drive. I've had them fail in the past too, although they were cheaper ones.

Ken Cook wrote: I haven't ever participated in the Traveling Engine program. Running the engine on a bench is much different then flying it. I personally could make a entire day running engines on the bench because I do enjoy it.

It's not too late to join in.

Ken Cook wrote: The death of the plug is shock from a crash impact OR FLOODING. This will take out the coil or at least push it over to one side which keeps the coils from lighting properly. This certainly can happen during mailing of the engine.

Always possible. The engines have changed hands multiple times, been run on different fuels, been shipped all over the place... it's not a big problem if the plug failed. Not going to blame anyone. Thanks to George for fixing it.

GallopingGhostler Wed Jul 05, 2023 12:38 am

FYI Troy @Tee Bee and Jacob @Admin, @Jason_WI left a spare Thunderbolt plug in the spares kit with the engines. I decided not to break open its package.

Ken Cook wrote:I own 6 of the OS MAX .10's. 3 are control line versions and r/c. For years, I marveled at the one I owned and then out of the woodwork I received others from swap meets. Owners didn't even want them. I just couldn't let them go, I took them, cleaned them up and brought them back from the dead. Marvelous little engines .

I marvel at them as much as you, Ken, I have 3 of them, the R/C version. Only weighing 3 ounces, they are the ideal upgrade for an anemic .049 R/C plane.

As great as those engines are, another that became a favorite is the Enya .09-III's, the TV and venturi versions (have 4). They are slightly more powerful than the OS (and Fox .15X), weigh another ounce at 4 ounces with similar exhaust baffle plate for idle. Propped correctly, they are even more a fantastic engine. Peter Chinn said, short of the .09 Tee Dee, they were the most powerful production .09 he tested, back in the mid 1960's when it debuted.

Advantage over the Tee Dee, which is a high RPM engine benefiting R/C & C/L speed planes and contest F/F's with smaller props, the Enya .09-III TV is a torque engine able to turn larger diameter or steeper pitched props with ease, good for planes with more drag, like some trainers and sport planes.

Tee Bee Thu Jul 27, 2023 11:18 am

I appreciate everyone’s patience during my time so far with Rusty’s engines. I have been overwhelmed with my ill mother’s needs for a couple of months. I had to make the tough choice to put her on hospice care this week and have mostly been by her side as much as possible. I will do my best to give the engines some attention when I can. Thanks for understanding.

Kim Thu Jul 27, 2023 3:35 pm

Tee Bee wrote:I appreciate everyone’s patience during my time so far with Rusty’s engines. I have been overwhelmed with my ill mother’s needs for a couple of months. I had to make the tough choice to put her on hospice care this week and have mostly been by her side as much as possible. I will do my best to give the engines some attention when I can. Thanks for understanding.

Thinking of you, ole Bud, and wishing you strength in this tough time.

Sponsored content

Follow Rusty's Memorial Traveling Engines!