Glow Engines

[Capt. Crunch]

I recently made the move from electric to glow. I have an O.S. 46AII engine that I mounted in a Great Planes avistar. I just fired it up for the first time and did the break in procedure. Now I understand the complaints of these motors being messy!!

Here's my question...Since this is my first glow engine, I'm not sure just how much mess there should be. I have oil everywhere. Dripping off the side of the plane and even pooling on the plane stand. On the third tank I tried to run it as lean as I possibly dare, but there was still oil all over the place. Is that normal? Or do i need to buy more windex:)



Jeff

[boomer108]

Hey Jeff!

Go back to electric and your problem will be solved.:) Seriously that's pretty much normal with glow fuel, that's why I switched to electric.

[OV10]

Jeff..........As Boomer said - that's the norm. So while your cleaning that bird up at the end of the day from the 'mosquito fogger', Boomer and I will have gotten in 3 more sorties in the flight logs during that time and I will never have to keep asking my sweetie to get more paper towels to add to the landfill. I'll never go back to foggers.:sick:

[Capt. Crunch]

Hey guys

Dont get me wrong, I love my electrics and will never give them up. But I also wanted to try glow. So far I'm liking it! The mess not so much, but there's just something about a smoker that makes it a bit cooler!

I would really like to end up with a 60cc (or bigger) Corsair.

I'm a dreamer:shy:

Thanks for letting me know that the huge mess is normal. I'll add windex to the grocery list!

Jeff

[2FewDaysAtFlyingField]

Hey Cap,

Do what makes you happy man. Glow, Gas, Electric, Sailplanes are all cool. Fly them all!

Friday at our field there was a guy there with a Glow powered Mustang that his dad built and I helped him maiden it. I'm exclusively electric but the experience made me think about busting out one or two of my glow planes for nostalgia sake.

Here is the corsair you need:

https://youtu.be/7tQAjoBZZq4

Its the Hanger 9 Corsair with the Evolution 77 radial. Probably about $3K at maiden but very AWESOME! The kids can pay for their own college education....

[xviper]

Yup, that sounds pretty normal for mess. Had electric never came along, I would have never returned to RC flying. Just can't deal with that oily crud ever again.
An interesting observation today. I went to a big RC auction. I was surprised and somewhat shocked to see that electric foamies fetched more money than any liquid fueled planes that were balsa, built up versions of similar size and style. There are still the old geezers who will snicker at those new, flying beer coolers, but from what I saw at this auction, those geezers will soon be in the minority at most, if not all, flying clubs.

[Capt. Crunch]

Hey Cap,

Do what makes you happy man. Glow, Gas, Electric, Sailplanes are all cool. Fly them all!

Friday at our field there was a guy there with a Glow powered Mustang that his dad built and I helped him maiden it. I'm exclusively electric but the experience made me think about busting out one or two of my glow planes for nostalgia sake.

Here is the corsair you need:

https://youtu.be/7tQAjoBZZq4

Its the Hanger 9 Corsair with the Evolution 77 radial. Probably about $3K at maiden but very AWESOME! The kids can pay for their own college education....

YES! something like that, but not an ARF. I want to kit build my final Corsair. I'm a cabinetmaker by trade so that's right up my alley.

But this dream is long term. Yes I do have to get 2 kids through college yet Lol But I'm patient. This might be the nitromethane exhaust high I'm on, but I really see a giant scale corsair in my future!

Dream big or go home!:)

Jeff

[boomer108]

Keep the dream alive Jeff, that's what's great about our hobby.:shy:

[WintrSol]

If you are a member of AMA, you can peruse their plans; I'm sure that sometime in the many years they've collected them, they should have a Corsair. You may have to scale them, if you want larger than typical plans.

[Capt. Crunch]

Thanks for the tip WintrSol. I will def keep that in mind. For now I'm going to start with a simple laser cut kit and work up from there. I want to try my hand at applying monokote too. I have a long way to go before I tackle building a plane just from a set of plans.

The way I figure it, if I have to build the planes I fly, that should slow down my plane purchases:)

Jeff

[WintrSol]

When applying Monokote, pay close attention to the temperature recommended for application, as there can be different ranges for coverings that appear to be the same. Set your iron accordingly, using an IR thermometer, letting it stabilize several minutes between changes.

[KitBuilder]

I mostly fly glo.
What is to be done is mount the engine sideways, letting the muffler hang out the bottom. Add a silicon exhaust diverter and you have a very clean plane at the end of the day. Not saying you don't need windex but just a squirt or two. 4 strokes are even less mess but that may just be me..

And yes... im in the minority but I prefer to build and fly in that order.. it's where the fun is for me. The funny thing is everyone is always interested in what comes out of the trunk as it's generally not cookie cutter of just a different color.

[wrongroad]

G'day Gang,
It is interesting that out of the forty [or so] members of my club, there are only two totally dedicated glow fliers and two totally dedicated electrickery fliers. [one of those is me]
All of the other pilots have at least one example of the other power plant in the hanger.
Thirty years ago, I was a glow man but when I came back to the hobby, I was astounded to the leaps that battery powered machines had come forward in. Not just just small steps but huge bounds.
Unfortunately, I now live in a small two bedroom flat with, a just walking, ten month old boy so the hanger space has been handed over to my boy and the bulk of my machines now reside at my mums place.
No room to build and the foamie has been a serious God send to me.
Capt, I raced two stroke Go Karts for twenty five years or so, and more unburnt oil gets spat out of the carby then goes through to lube the bearings. Plus the oil that gets flung off the drive chain so you have a big mess at the end of each day.
I used windex to clean all that oil for years. I am sure that more windex gets used for other uses then cleaning windows.
Enjoy the task at the end of each day!!
Regards and respect
Daryl

[Capt. Crunch]

Hey guys, Ya know...I had expected a little oil blowing out the exhaust, but the actual amount really surprised me. I had watched a you tube vid of a guy breaking in a glow engine, and he had a tube running from the muffler down to a bucket of water. I first thought he did that to contain the exhaust fumes, but now I realize he did that to contain the oil. I think I'll use that trick next time I break one in.

Right now I'm trying to find a decent 46 size kit plane to build this winter.

[WintrSol]

Four-strokes come with a crankcase oil vent, since oil tends to collect there, and less goes through the exhaust. A friend who flies them added an extra fuel tank to collect this oil, thus reducing the amount sprayed around the model; he just has to remember to drain it between flights. His Four-star 40 has no room for an oil tank, so he routed a drain tube down the main gear, so it sprays well away from the model. Of course, he still needs to clean the models, but they don't drip oil the way his two-strokes do.

[Evoman]

I still have an old glow powered HPI NRS4 touring car and even though it was a blast to run it was always a bit messy around the engine. Using a custom rear exit exhaust and putting hi temp silicone around all the exhaust gaskets helped a great deal.

If I were to get a non-electric airplane it would have to have a four stroke engine. Preferably a nice scale looking and sounding 5 cylinder Moki 250cc radial engine in a f6f Hellcat.

[Capt. Crunch]

Those Moki engines are awesome! But come with a hefty price tag

[gooniac33]

I recently made the move from electric to glow. I have an O.S. 46AII engine that I mounted in a Great Planes avistar. I just fired it up for the first time and did the break in procedure. Now I understand the complaints of these motors being messy!!

Here's my question...Since this is my first glow engine, I'm not sure just how much mess there should be. I have oil everywhere. Dripping off the side of the plane and even pooling on the plane stand. On the third tank I tried to run it as lean as I possibly dare, but there was still oil all over the place. Is that normal? Or do i need to buy more windex:)



Jeff

I learned to fly RC with a Dura Plane first and then a Telemaster 40.. I didn't realize how bad they were either until I didn't have to fly with them anymore...LOL I would always have a spray bottle full of alcohol with a roll of paper towels with me but just got used to the mess. Once I switched over to the electric planes I noticed how much less of a mess I was dealing with. Now something to keep in mind is that when breaking in, you will have the biggest mess because the plane will be running really rich. Once it is broken in and you can lean it out more you will notice much less oil. But the mess will always be there. I would always wipe my planes down really well after every flight to keep it from getting too bad. Same with the stands too. It is just the nature of the beast with Nitro and Gas... you have to mix oil in the fuel so that is just how it is. You can get diverters which will move the exhaust away from the plane but it will always be there...

[Capt. Crunch]

Since its not going to be an everyday flyer, I guess I can put up with a little mess. What I do know for sure is that it seems I'm swimming up stream through everyone going to electric! Lol

[Farmer732]

Sorry. Jumped in by mistake