The Valentine Blitz

A Mk I twin version appeared
 

Following by a Mk II

Then we have the Blitz 0.05 BB
 
The crank shaft runs in dual ball bearings and the crank case was machined from bar stock. We produced 5 of these engines. The cylinder and spinner were anodized in gold. This engines had 2 intake and 2 exhaust ports together with the two miniature ball bearings.
 

 
Bore                          4.0 mm
Stroke                       4.0 mm
Rpm                         28,000 rpm
Total combustion       0.05 ccm
Weight                     5.5 gram
Intake                    Front Rotor
 

Now we move on to the Blitz 0.05 Mk IVs
 
There are three of these. Why?
 
Because they display the differences produced by hand craftmanship and demonstrate that CNC and mass production are not in play. Each one is unique - spot the differences.
 
One of these has run and flown.
 

 

More recently - the Blitz Inline Twin was produced
 

 

The Inline Twin completes a set that makes a nice display piece
 

 

Here we have the Blitz collection - rarely seen together (even by me!)
 

 


They are, once again, stored away!

Magnificent Ian!!!!!!

Very nice Ian,

Shame they can't be run regularly. I have to wonder if they would be better off as glow engines as the stresses would be lessened somewhat.

Ron

What really amazes me, is the fabrication of the NVA's... possibly 000-120 pitch threads or smaller? I used to operate a "Blake" grinder (straight-flutes) for a tap company. It was no easy task to grind flutes which had lands within tolerance, in a tap-blank ground that small. The grinding wheel was paper thin, and needed a clean radius diamond-dressed with care and often, for each flute that was ground. Spiral-flutes can be found on larger taps (6-32 and up) but not on taps this small. Grinding 000-120 threads has it's own set of challenges.

McMaster-Carr lists a 0000-160 tap... and they're $86.25 USD each...

Cribbs74 wrote:Very nice Ian,

Shame they can't be run regularly. I have to wonder if they would be better off as glow engines as the stresses would be lessened somewhat.

Ron

 

The smallest glow engines I have are 0.98cc and I have often wondered "Why not smaller?".
 
However, a glow plug can only be made so small - whether .049 or a 60 they are more or less the same size. Making glow plugs is difficult  and I can only imagine that the cost of specialty plugs would be horrendous.
 
When you are down to 4mm bore things get difficult.
 
For the .098s with 5mm bore the glow plug is a modifed Cox 010.
 


Lower than 5mm and there would be not enough metal surrounding the element.

Also, the recess for the element will affect compression and there isn't much volume to play with in one of these tiny engines.

Imagine the palaver shimming and deshimming one of these. Better off with diesel.

One day you will try diesel for control line and experience the delight of the aroma, the sound, the mess and the easy starting! That should give you PAWs for thought!

roddie wrote:What really amazes me, is the fabrication of the NVA's... possibly 000-120 pitch threads or smaller? I used to operate a "Blake" grinder (straight-flutes) for a tap company. It was no easy task to grind flutes which had lands within tolerance, in a tap-blank ground that small. The grinding wheel was paper thin, and needed a clean radius diamond-dressed with care and often, for each flute that was ground. Spiral-flutes can be found on larger taps (6-32 and up) but not on taps this small. Grinding 000-120 threads has it's own set of challenges.

McMaster-Carr lists a 0000-160 tap... and they're $86.25 USD each...

I too think that producing threads this size is amazing but there is another element to it.

Assuming you have the tap and the die - the "screw" is so slender the process of cutting the threads must be time consuming and require patience with a steady hand to avoid breaking the needle.

Likewise, when tapping the hole, accuracy is paramount to avoid breaking the tap. Just getting the hole straight and true, prior to tapping, in those dimensions is not easy. The smaller the drill the easier it is to wander off course.

On the small engines - busting the NVA is my big worry. That is the most delicate part!

Ian,

At the moment I don't really have a use for a diesel. However, that may change in the next 10 yrs or so as nitro fuel becomes less available. Diesel may save the day!

BTW nothing smells better than Castor.