Vic Smeed's Debutante

RknRusty wrote:Will the prop clear the cowling?
I don't know how to compare a .75 diesel to a nitro Surestart. If the SS is too weak it's cheap enough to add one of Matt or Bernie's SPI cylinder/pistons to it, that will boost the power. If it still needs more you can switch to the red Killer bee backplate and you'll have the power of a Black Widow or better, just may be harder to crank. A Tee Dee head would really light it off too.

Very nice!
If i were you i would run a slightly larger than normal prop on it.
I love the vic smeed designs.
You ever build a tomboy?

Yes, the prop being blanketed by the cowl is one of my worries, the old Mills would swing an 8" prop and still give loads of power, which is not the case with glows, if I fit a 6" prop I will have about 3" usable, and that the least efficient part, I will try this to start with, (I don't believe a SureStart would do anything much on a 7" or 8") and if it doesn't give me enough umph I may have to have a rethink on the whole power plant question. Trouble is, I don't have any suitable diesels, all small diesels now are the dreaded "Collectors Pieces" and fetch ludicrous prices, way out of my reach, and I don't have anything below 1.5cc (.09) in glow engines, and a 1.5 would be 'way too powerful.
But, as I said, I will have plenty of time before the Debutante is ready to maiden.

Wilf

Hi Wilf were you looking for a little diesel for this?
I have a frog 100 that will happily swing a 9*6.
Or you could run that SS as a diesel.

[quote="nitroairplane
Very nice!
If i were you i would run a slightly larger than normal prop on it.
I love the vic smeed designs.
You ever build a tomboy?[/quote]

I built a Tomboy MANY years ago, and lost it on it's 3rd flight!
I have the plans for all of Vic's designs so I may build the Tomboy again if the Debutante proves to be unflyable, at least I wouldn't have cowling problems with that, trouble is, I just love the Debutante's looks!

Did you hear that Vic passed away back at the beginning of the year?

Wilf

nitroairplane wrote:Hi Wilf were you looking for a little diesel for this?
I have a frog 100 that will happily swing a 9*6.
Or you could run that SS as a diesel.

Thanks, I'm afraid the modelling budget is overspent already for the foreseeable future, I daren't buy any more engines or I'll be in lumber with She Who Must Be Obeyed!

Wilf

Ivanhoe wrote:[quote="nitroairplane
Very nice!
If i were you i would run a slightly larger than normal prop on it.
I love the vic smeed designs.
You ever build a tomboy?

I built a Tomboy MANY years ago, and lost it on it's 3rd flight!
I have the plans for all of Vic's designs so I may build the Tomboy again if the Debutante proves to be unflyable, at least I wouldn't have cowling problems with that, trouble is, I just love the Debutante's looks!

Did you hear that Vic passed away back at the beginning of the year?

Wilf[/quote]

I did hear that and i was so sad he truly was a British aeromodelling great.

Look hear you can get a replica mills 75 for $50.
http://carlsonengineimports.net/products/oldtimer.shtml

nitroairplane wrote:Look hear you can get a replica mills 75 for $50.
http://carlsonengineimports.net/products/oldtimer.shtml

Thanks, I looked at that, I may enquire further later, unfortunately the site doesn't give International shipping cost.

Wilf

If you can afford a diesel conversion kit for the Surestart, it will swing a bigger prop. Probably no more than $25.

Not sure if this is a no-no but what about a spacer and a longer prop screw? That would get you past the cowl. Excellent looking model btw!

If you can be sure it's a precision drilled spacer, perfectly round with the hole exactly in the center and a tight fit over the screw. You don't want to introduce any vibration into the rotating assembly.
That's my perfectionist's opinion, you can work from there.

cribbs74 wrote:Not sure if this is a no-no but what about a spacer and a longer prop screw? That would get you past the cowl. Excellent looking model btw!

No, that isn't the problem, I made sure the prop cleared the cowling when I installed the engine, the SIZE of the cowling is what we are discussing, it's so wide that it blanks off a large part of the prop's effective diameter, hence the suggestions about running larger props, any part of a prop that is in front of any cowling doesn't contribute to thrust, in most models this isn't a problem, but Vic Smeed liked BIG front ends!

Wilf

RknRusty wrote:If you can be sure it's a precision drilled spacer, perfectly round with the hole exactly in the center and a tight fit over the screw. You don't want to introduce any vibration into the rotating assembly.
That's my perfectionist's opinion, you can work from there.

Yes, that would be true, but as I've said above, in my answer to Cribbs, that aint the problem!

Wilf