Follow The World's Smallest Traveling Engine!

Sent a pm to Marleysky. I'll go ahead and do my thing, and get it on to whoever is next. Forgot to say in the note that yes, I'll take both.

Thanks guys !

Kim

So, if you had any doubts that a Cox Tee Dee .010 would take a 48" sailplane aloft, well, it can. The little sucker actually hauls the glider with a bit of authority!



At first though, I didn't have an easy time with Jason's little engine.  My plan was to run it on a stand first, as I hate messing with engines when they're bolted to a plane.  Turns out that I couldn't get it to draw fuel at all, and finally summoned enough courage to take it's NVA/shower head apart.  After some forceful flushing, I was able to draw what looked like paint chips from the NVA, and put it back together.  The Tee Dee cranked up pretty easily afterward.



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I got in multiple flights through the day, some with cameras and some without.  I was getting pretty fatigued late in the afternoon, though I did want to get some 'studio' photos of it running on a stand.

So, another great time with one of our Traveling Devices, and this one will be heading out shortly as I turn my attention to the larger Traveling Engine.  Gonna try to piece together a video at some point.

Thanks for letting me be part of this !!!

Kim






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Thanks Guys!

"Tee Bee:   I usually attach a syringe of oil with some fuel tubing to the venturi or NVA, cap it off with my finger as best I can, and force feed it. Sounds similar to your method?"

Yeah, I just used the fuel syringe like you said. Stuff came out when I drew back on it.  It IS a somewhat a typical ritual for me with these engines, though it's usually congealed goo causing the problem!

"Mike 1484:  Great pictures Kim . I like the one with you staring at the plane in the sun , been there myself a few times ."

Thanks Mike!  Nothing like blinding yourself while having fun !!!

Cribbs74 wrote:Awesome Kim! So glad you were able to get some air time with it. Sorry to hear it was rough to get going. Jason sent it to me to test and I did, had a hard time needling it so I swapped it for the spare set in the kit. I ran a couple tanks through it and it ran flawlessly. I wonder if the fuel broke something loose? Who knows. You apparently got it to work and work well! Good job!!!

Ron

Thanks Ron!

Think so on the fuel/debris.  Hopefully it's all out of there...I'll flush it again, but the next member to receive it might want to run it on a stand before bolting it to a plane.

While the Fling flew fine with the W.S.T.E. peaked out, the engine DID get a little bit off it's setting a couple times, calling for 'cautionary aborts' into some handy tall weeds at the edge of the yard.





I did have a somewhat burbling run early in the day (about 11am), but managed to hook into a booming backyard thermal that hauled the Fling to a scary height, with the W.S.T.E. just going along for the ride.  I've often likened sailplane pilots to greedy old men, counting their pennys in altitude, and it's always a tough call to punch out of one of these free rides from Mother Nature, verses worrying about losing sight of a plane that was pretty small to begin with.



But we got back down OK, retreating to the house for a break, and even did a little work on the new 3M B.O.T. while I was fired up about sailplanes.

getback wrote:Kim , Man i can see a smile on your face from here with all the fun your haven . I was wondering about the pic that was very high in the sky when you had said with all the gear you were only getting 20 or so ft. off the land , now i understand . Dummy me didn't think about the thermo's having not experienced it before . Very Nice flight pics !!

Yeah, I flew it with three different camera set-ups through the day...two using just a square of foam and magic tape (was able to get some high flights with these), and one attempt to put the camera on a boom or 'selfie stick'.  The selfie stick version was pushing it, but I DID get some low-level footage at the end of the day.

Marleysky wrote:WhooHoo, you got airtime!! I’m still working on the PoolBoy from your plans. That was my intention to fly the WSTE, but time got away from me.. ..sure glad to see you got her running and in the air.

Thanks Man!! Well, if it's anything like it's sibling, the W.S.T.E. will probably make a loop back around to fly in your Poolboy!

Also, I've finished the engine's photo sessions, so if the next member in line would PM his address, I'll get it on it's way.

We had a great visit!

Sun Burned-My-Face-for-the-First-Time-this-Year Kim

Jason_WI wrote:Excellent pictures Kim. Sorry you had issues with the initial running of the engine on the test stand. Looks like after a bit of cleaning it roared to life.

Thanks Jason!!

And PLEASE don't take my comments as whining about this great project !!!! I'm still stoked about being part of this whole deal, and any 'engine fiddling' is just added activity!!!!

Thanks for your efforts in making all this happen dude!!!

Stoked Kim

I was getting ready to mail the W.S.T.E. to Bill (Gwilliefox) this Friday as his name seemed to be next.

Cribbs74 wrote:

Kim wrote:I was getting ready to mail the W.S.T.E. to Bill (Gwilliefox) this Friday as his name seemed to be next.

Make sure you make contact before you send it. We wouldn’t want it waiting on the porch while he is on vacation for a month.

Yep! Bill and I traded PM's yesterday and he knows it's coming. I'll get another PM with tracking # to Bill tomorrow after it's sent on it's way.

I HAD hoped to fly it over my Uncle Wayne's house today, but the winds were too much, so he kindly agreed to pose with it and the Fling!