It's better to be lucky than good

Well, that was quick.... lol.

What has always amazed me is how APC has a prop for everything...including this pretty rare engine / plane combo.

Here is the same basic design but instead of solid balsa sheet for the wing it is "built up". This plane is much lighter than the black one and a better flyer. Same engine and prop for both planes..a Cyclon .061 and APC 4.2 x 4. The plane was designed by Patrick Ulmer and it is called The Blink. It has 16 inches of span.

Man the AP .61 was singing and not missing a beat ! What is your fuel and deliverer method ? Did you fly Pylon

Eric, the engine is a Cyclon .061 not a AP .061. The Cyclon is ball bearing engine from the Ukraine. The AP is a Chinese slag engine in comparison. A Cyclon requires only 10% nitro and runs like that everytime. Nothing fancy in operation. Were not supposed to use .061 ball bearing engines in 1/2A but that seems to be what the hobby is coming too. Guys are doing it and you can't tell unless you take the engine apart what displacement it is. I just noticed the order for .051 piston sleeves from the combat guys. Unlike a Cox TD, a .049 and .051 Cox engine is essentially the same in rpm's. This isn't the case with Cyclon and Fora engines. I would like to see the engine on the glass prop offerings. I use APC's on my Fora and Cylon but only due to cost. They break too easy but they're cheap.

The AP .061 was a good value at $30 back when I flew RC Combat with our own rules. Both planes were identical in every way so it reduced the number of mid airs and maximized the amount of time we could sit back in our lawn chairs and fly. There was just enough power to maneuver a 12 oz model at will and that's all we wanted / needed. The idea was to maximize slow speed fur ball dog fighting and discourage "High Speed Jousting" that AMA rules RC Combat has become.
If I could fit bushings into the worn out AP crank cases..I'd still have a few "runners".

In my opinion, there was really nothing good about the $30 AP engine. The only good thing is that is was offered when Norvel was defunct. Aside from that it was really a POS. As you mentioned, the bushing wore out very quickly in the crankcase. The prop shaft was larger than others rendering any prop used for it to be dedicated to the AP specifically unless you made bushings. The plugs used for them absolutely sucked and if one used the stock carb, they sucked air like a vacuum. While I found the fits of the piston/cylinder to be quite amazing for what it was, the engines I had would take out plugs in short order no matter how many head gaskets were used. For all the fiddling with it, a Norvel outperformed it in every aspect. Therefore, it would only make sense to seek what worked rather than play with a turd. I did rebush the case. My friend rebuilt his Ferrari and gave us the old bronze valve guides which is what we used for the bushings. Talk about lipstick on a pig. After all that fiddling, it was a lost cause which was also a good leason to be learned. Buy what works. Just like the Cyclon, for what it costs and most cheap control line guys would never fork it up.

I picked up an AP .06 in Toledo one year. It must have been abused a lot. Would not run as good as a reedy Cox. I thought the crankcase looked much nicer than the Norvels that it copied. Maybe it needed bushings? I still like the AP .09 and .15s, not for the power fer sure, but just for a good medium size knock around cheap thrill. Still have not run my Fora .049. Can't fly RC as good as Combatpigg, and Amp abuser, and don't have a paved runway for control line. IIRC it was $150. Not really that much.

I ran a AP .061 with a tuned pipe did ok:



Jun 28, 2015

Skorch Flying - AP .061 - Profi 1/2A Tuned Pipe
5ch plane with flaps / 11.8oz less fuel.
Static peak 22,609 rpm APC 4.5x4

It was haulin'..!


I would buy one NIB for $25 [delivered].

I'd buy a dozen of the blue head .15s for $25 a piece. Even in US $. I like those. They used to be $45. Quite the bargain.