Brodak .40 BE-1340

Thanks for the input Ken. I will examine this one more closely.

Back in the Summer of 2013 or '14, Wayne brought the rescue Nobler to life. He used a Brodak .40 of unknown production details, and we grew to hate it because it was harder to start than a leaky Babe Bee. The warmer, the worse. Ever since then, I've cast an eye of suspicion on them, but looking back, I think our main problem was not being familiar with operating inverted engines. On more than a few occasions, I've remarked on a beautiful stunt run, only to be told it was a B40.

The New York Stunt team was using them exclusively. This of course was before the electron era and I don't believe there's many of them left using nitro. They really had these working well. My experience with them has also been very positive. I feel it's one of the few engines you can actually buy, take it out of the box and it will run as successfully as claimed. No additional parts are required ( needle valve, muffler, venturi ). These engines if not primed properly will not start. If you load it, it's going to prove problematic in clearing it generally requiring you to remove the plug and blow it out. A inverted engine unless your familiar with the starting sequence is always going to be a pain in the #@@@. So, you start it inverted . Ken

Always "breakin without a muffler".

Just bought a new Brodak 40 from Brodak and it hand started on the bench with just a few flips of the prop, a Xoar 10x6 wood. I have Xoar 11x4 & 5 coming.
The engine is being run on Brodak fuel 10% nitro, 23% oil 50/50. It's a very tight engine after two 4oz tanks though it will need more bench time but definitely get better with each run and runs strong. I do vary the speed and mixture throughout the run with the second tank wanting the needle turned in to keep running. So far I'm very happy with what I see outside and in.

I also have a Brodak .049 Mk II. The machine work is outstanding inside and out. Still bench breaking in for a Baby Flite Streak. It too gets better with each tank and complete cool down. Before running the first time I removed all the head gaskets except for the thinnest one.

bamboozler wrote:...I also have a Brodak .049 Mk II. The machine work is outstanding inside and out. Still bench breaking in for a Baby Flite Streak. It too gets better with each tank and complete cool down. Before running the first time I removed all the head gaskets except for the thinnest one.

Just FYI, if you're having a hard time cranking the .049 as I did for my first run, a Norvel starter spring fits, works great, and saves some frustrating flipping. Mine kept flooding, and I finally found that the head bolts were loose out of the box. Just zip tie the spring to the plane's lower beam or somewhere on the test stand. They fit lots of other engines too. Get them from nvengines.com
Rusty

This Brodak engine has been run in over quite a period of time but has over one and a half hours running. 50 minutes of this was in two minutes runs followed by complete cool downs.

I found it to be a very easy starter, a tad prone to flooding but got very, very hot very quickly and a comparitively noisy engine. I also found it difficult to restart when hot.

Anyway, it was put away for 18 months but I was considering it for a larger stunt model so out it came again but this time with the "silencer" fitted. The last run I did with it - 5 minutes - had the silencer fitted and the castor baked hard on it. No simply wiping it off.

Here it is, first run after a long lay up. 10% nitro, 15% synthetic and 15% castor. Now these videos can be boring but this one is intended to show and easy start, very quick warm up and not restarting when hot.



If it doesn't fire up quickly it tends to flood



After a complete cool down and put through its paces



When this engine runs - it is excellent but the silencer (muffler) is horrendous and makes it run even hotter and not much quieter. I don't think that this will get through the noise police at the flying field.

I will try this on 5% nitro to see if I can get it to run cooler. This is the hottest I have known an engine to get in so short a time.

I can see why Ken likes this engine - I just wish it was quieter and not reluctant to start when hot.

I have many reasons for liking this engine. This engine is made by Double Star. Originally the Double Star .40 was sold by Windy and it had lugs that were the same as a Fox .35. Some feel the engine was down on power. That's because many individuals in this hobby think if they take something apart it will never work correctly again. So, they didn't play with venturi sizes. This is the current problem with the Brodak.25 is that the venturi needs to be opened up. Brodak eventually started selling the Double Star .40's and they offered in a plastic bag. Those particular engines still used the Fox lugs. The whole reason this engine was designed was to be a direct replacement for the Fox .35 offering modern technology.

True AAC engines generally start with a price tag at a minimum of $200.The Brodak .40 is a exceptional bargain. The Brodak.40 uses 22% oil fuels which is typical of stunt fuel. While some use all castor in the Fox ( Not myself) the Fox .35 in many minds can only run on 29% all castor fuel. The Brodak .40 also weighs the same weight as the Fox .35 making it a weight correct engine. The LA .40, FP.40 are nearly 2.5 oz's heavier. I feel the Brodak makes as much power as the LA.40.

The Brodak .40 is a very smooth running engine. It will do the pattern on 4 oz's of fuel when it's broken in. Breaking it in though took me a entire season and probably close to 2 gallons of fuel through it before fuel consumption was reduced. It used 4 1/2 oz's of fuel initially and in the colder weather I barely made the cloverleaf before it would hiccup. It currently does the entire pattern with 10 laps to spare after the clover.
A LA .40 needs at least 4.5 oz's and a FP .40 needs almost 5 oz's.

It does have some downsides, the stock muffler on the earlier versions had too small of a outlet and that might be some of your issues. John Brodak even posted this on his website at one time and the needed opening. Some of the heads also didn't offer enough clearance for the allen screws, opening them up a touch solved this as it relieved any binding which would distort the liner. Some engines were prematurely wearing out the rods due to the extremely tight pinch up top.
The newer versions have redesigned muffler openings. Parts can be problematic at times to get. Pistons and liners are not sold as sets but rather individual which I think can be real hit or miss.
My ten year old Brodak .40 has a exceptional amount of case wear in the nose but it has hundreds of flights on it and it still runs quite well. It served my son well and he has won numerous contests using it. I run 5% nitro in mine and never used 10% as I never had the need to do so. They're only made when Yuri the builder feels like making them.

The Brodak .40 was based on being a direct replacement for the OS Max-S .35. It's current lug pattern is based off of this engine which is also the same case length. This is also the same pattern the LA.40/.46 use. I recently purchased the latest version. I was not happy with the finish on the case, it looks terrible. It's not the shot blasted look of the earlier versions I own. It appears that the casting molds are just worn out. The prop nut wouldn't screw on due to the builder using inexpensive tooling. That issue has since been resolved. I got lucky and used a Fox prop nut which did screw on, go figure. Any other 1/4-28 nut wouldn't screw on to the shaft.

On a positive note, the very first Brodak .40 engine made is still going strong and is owned by Bob Zambelli. I have flown that engine a few times myself.