78 MODEL AVIATION
THE ITALIAN ROSSI company has
been famous for high-performance model
engines since 1966. Its founder, Ugo
Rossi, won several World Championships
CL Speed events with his engines. Today
the Rossi company, under the management
of Ugo’s son Alessandro, has been
expanding its product line. Rossi
manufactures a wide variety of model
power plants—among them some of the
fastest-revving car and boat engines ever
made. Some of these turn more than
40,000 rpm!
For powering RC model airplanes,
Rossi has an exceptionally large selection.
These include Pylon Racing engines,
helicopter power plants, ducted-fan
engines, and several sport RC types. These
RC engines range in size from .21 cu. in.
(3.5cc) to .67 cu. in. (11.0cc).
For example, three basic “.60-size”
Rossi RC engines are available. They all
use the same case but have different bores
and strokes. There are two .60s (long and
short stroke) plus a “long stroke” .65.
Rossi also offers options such as side or
rear exhaust, along with mufflers and
tuned pipes of various kinds.
Joe Wagner
T h e E n g i n e S h o p
212 S. Pine Ave., Ozark AL 36360
Hobbico After Run Oil has more uses than
protecting engines after use. It works great
NovaRossis shown at a model meet included displacements from .15 through .50. for freeing up gummy moving parts.
Note the Rossi .60’s overall cleanliness.
No surface cleaning was needed after
Rossi 35R60-2 with unusual slip-on muffler. (Attachment spring isn’t shown.) three gallons of fuel were run through it.
Rossi’s US importer is SG Model
Engines, Box 280303, Northridge CA
91328; Tel.: (818) 472-8460. To help
modelers make a selection among the
various Rossis, SG Model Engines has set
up two Web sites. Go to http://shop.ven
dio.com/RossiEnginesUSA for a list of
types and sizes, and www.geocities.com/
[email protected]/RossiEnginesUSA
provides engine-performance data
obtained with various propellers, fuels,
glow plugs, and exhaust systems.
I was sent one of the long-stroke Rossi
.60s (Model 35R60-2) to examine and
experiment with. Before I got it, this
engine had used more than three gallons of
glow fuel. Nearly all of that was burned in
flight, spinning a 12 x 12 APC propeller. I
was curious about how much wear this
Rossi’s internal parts would show after all
of that service, and I took it apart to find
out.
Aside from minor scuff marks at the
top edge of the piston, I couldn’t find any
signs of wear at all! There’s no noticeable
play at either end of the connecting rod.
The double ball bearings seem like new,
and the piston-cylinder fit, though quite
free, provides a “snappy feel” as good as
that of any other model engine I own.
The 35R60-2 is massively built. It
weighs 221⁄2 ounces without propeller or
muffler. The muffler adds another 4
ounces—and has an unusual design.
Rather than being rigidly attached to the
engine, this muffler is a slip fit over a
tubular adapter fitting at the exhaust port.
It’s retained by a miniature “screen-door
spring” that passes around the engine
cylinder and hooks onto a steel retaining
washer on the muffler. (Sealing is
provided by a high-temperature O-ring on
the adapter.)
I admire the ingenuity of this muffler
arrangement. For one thing, it helps ensure
against crash damage. The muffler is
almost 10 inches long overall and roughly
11⁄2 inches in outside diameter. If that was
solidly attached to the engine, it could
exert tremendous leverage in an
“unplanned landing.”
True, this flexibly mounted Rossi
muffler requires a separate attachment to
the airframe, but I consider that a minor
November 2004 79
Another view of a Cox .010 with an Adams throttle. The pushrod
rotates the barrel via one of the snap-ring holes.
A Steve Adams exhaust-throttle-equipped Cox .010 engine.
Notice the clever needle-adjusting extension.
and easily solved problem. I can mount
this Rossi sidewinder style, with the
muffler extending back under the fuselage
bottom—possibly anchoring it to the
tempered aluminum landing gear.
The Rossi has a ruggedly constructed
two-needle carburetor. One minor
problem I encountered with that was the
idle needle; it’s quite sensitive. An eighth
of a turn either way makes a noticeable
difference. Probably because my fuel-tank
arrangement differed from that in the
airplane that my Rossi .60 came out of, I
had to fiddle with the idle needle to get
consistent throttle response from
minimum to maximum speed. Then too, I
used a different propeller ...
With a 121⁄2 x 6 Graupner propeller
and 10%-nitromethane fuel, my Rossi .60
turns 12,200 rpm maximum and idles
reliably at 2,300 rpm. It hand-starts
without trouble—although I do wear a
heavy leather glove when doing that.
Better safe than sore!
An interesting sidelight to the Rossi
story is that the original company was a
cooperative venture of Ugo Rossi and his
brother. After several years, a
disagreement occurred, and the brother
left to start a company of his own. He
called it NovaRossi, meaning “New
Rossi.”
Today, NovaRossi makes its own line
of high-quality model engines. These are
imported into the US by Allen Worley at
7477 Wood Rail Cove, Memphis TN
38119; Tel.: (901) 755-1536. There’s a
Web site too, at www.planethobby.com.
In an earlier column I mentioned my
liking for Hobbico’s After Run Oil (A-RO).
Lately I’ve been using that as an allpurpose
oil in my shop. For one thing, AR-
O won’t thicken with time the way 3-
in-1 oil does. Another reason I like
Hobbico’s A-R-O is that it combines the
functions of a rust preventative, a light
lubricant, and a penetrating oil.
I made good use of that last function
recently, when my friend Ron Parker
(Houston TX) sent me approximately 40
old CL engines for use in a local youth
model-airplane program. The engines had
been stored away, untouched for decades.
80 MODEL AVIATION
When I received them, every one was
gummed up almost solidly with
congealed oil. None could be turned over
by hand.
Instead of painstakingly
disassembling these engines—most of
which were in good condition except for
being stuck—I merely removed their
plugs and liberally doused all of the
openings with A-R-O. In an hour or two,
the congealed castor oil between these
engines’ moving parts had softened
enough that I could turn them over.
Then I applied more A-R-O and
flipped the propellers vigorously while
holding the engines nose-down. Doing
that allows crankcase compression to
force the A-R-O out through the main
bearing and rinse away the sticky
residual sludge that is trapped in there.
Freeing up the 40 old CL engines this
way took me far less time and trouble
than disassembling and solvent-cleaning
all of the moving parts would have, yet it
did just as good a job.
Although most small RC model
airplanes these days are electricpowered,
many model fliers still enjoy
the challenge of mini-engine power.
After considerable experimentation,
Steve Adams (610 15th Ave., Santa Cruz
CA 95062; E-mail:
[email protected]) has developed a
simple, effective exhaust throttle for Cox
.010 engines.
No, this is not the device that was
advertised extensively in model
magazines a few years ago. That never
panned out. Steve’s device is a new
concept that he and a friend are
manufacturing in a “limited edition.”
Unfortunately, these units aren’t
cheap, despite their simplicity. This is
because to make the tiny throttles work
effectively, Steve had to obtain custommade
.010 piston cylinder assemblies
from Estes (which manufactures the Cox
engine line). These cost $25 each, which
pushed up the necessary selling price of
the throttle, cylinder, and pistonassembly
units. They are $40 each
postpaid, available by mail order directly
from Steve.
I got to see a couple of these little
devices in action at this year’s annual
SMALL (Small Aircraft Model Lover’s
League) meet in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Installed in attractive 20-inch-span, allbalsa
cabin models that Steve designed,
the modified Cox .010s performed so
impressively that I absolutely had to
obtain one of those “.010 throttle kits”
for myself!
Installing the Adams throttle kit on
one of my original-edition Cox .010s
turned out to be somewhat more of a
chore than I expected, so I notified Steve
about that. It turned out that the unit I
had was an early version. Later units
have eliminated the difficulty that I
experienced. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/11
Page Numbers: 78,79,80
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/11
Page Numbers: 78,79,80
78 MODEL AVIATION
THE ITALIAN ROSSI company has
been famous for high-performance model
engines since 1966. Its founder, Ugo
Rossi, won several World Championships
CL Speed events with his engines. Today
the Rossi company, under the management
of Ugo’s son Alessandro, has been
expanding its product line. Rossi
manufactures a wide variety of model
power plants—among them some of the
fastest-revving car and boat engines ever
made. Some of these turn more than
40,000 rpm!
For powering RC model airplanes,
Rossi has an exceptionally large selection.
These include Pylon Racing engines,
helicopter power plants, ducted-fan
engines, and several sport RC types. These
RC engines range in size from .21 cu. in.
(3.5cc) to .67 cu. in. (11.0cc).
For example, three basic “.60-size”
Rossi RC engines are available. They all
use the same case but have different bores
and strokes. There are two .60s (long and
short stroke) plus a “long stroke” .65.
Rossi also offers options such as side or
rear exhaust, along with mufflers and
tuned pipes of various kinds.
Joe Wagner
T h e E n g i n e S h o p
212 S. Pine Ave., Ozark AL 36360
Hobbico After Run Oil has more uses than
protecting engines after use. It works great
NovaRossis shown at a model meet included displacements from .15 through .50. for freeing up gummy moving parts.
Note the Rossi .60’s overall cleanliness.
No surface cleaning was needed after
Rossi 35R60-2 with unusual slip-on muffler. (Attachment spring isn’t shown.) three gallons of fuel were run through it.
Rossi’s US importer is SG Model
Engines, Box 280303, Northridge CA
91328; Tel.: (818) 472-8460. To help
modelers make a selection among the
various Rossis, SG Model Engines has set
up two Web sites. Go to http://shop.ven
dio.com/RossiEnginesUSA for a list of
types and sizes, and www.geocities.com/
[email protected]/RossiEnginesUSA
provides engine-performance data
obtained with various propellers, fuels,
glow plugs, and exhaust systems.
I was sent one of the long-stroke Rossi
.60s (Model 35R60-2) to examine and
experiment with. Before I got it, this
engine had used more than three gallons of
glow fuel. Nearly all of that was burned in
flight, spinning a 12 x 12 APC propeller. I
was curious about how much wear this
Rossi’s internal parts would show after all
of that service, and I took it apart to find
out.
Aside from minor scuff marks at the
top edge of the piston, I couldn’t find any
signs of wear at all! There’s no noticeable
play at either end of the connecting rod.
The double ball bearings seem like new,
and the piston-cylinder fit, though quite
free, provides a “snappy feel” as good as
that of any other model engine I own.
The 35R60-2 is massively built. It
weighs 221⁄2 ounces without propeller or
muffler. The muffler adds another 4
ounces—and has an unusual design.
Rather than being rigidly attached to the
engine, this muffler is a slip fit over a
tubular adapter fitting at the exhaust port.
It’s retained by a miniature “screen-door
spring” that passes around the engine
cylinder and hooks onto a steel retaining
washer on the muffler. (Sealing is
provided by a high-temperature O-ring on
the adapter.)
I admire the ingenuity of this muffler
arrangement. For one thing, it helps ensure
against crash damage. The muffler is
almost 10 inches long overall and roughly
11⁄2 inches in outside diameter. If that was
solidly attached to the engine, it could
exert tremendous leverage in an
“unplanned landing.”
True, this flexibly mounted Rossi
muffler requires a separate attachment to
the airframe, but I consider that a minor
November 2004 79
Another view of a Cox .010 with an Adams throttle. The pushrod
rotates the barrel via one of the snap-ring holes.
A Steve Adams exhaust-throttle-equipped Cox .010 engine.
Notice the clever needle-adjusting extension.
and easily solved problem. I can mount
this Rossi sidewinder style, with the
muffler extending back under the fuselage
bottom—possibly anchoring it to the
tempered aluminum landing gear.
The Rossi has a ruggedly constructed
two-needle carburetor. One minor
problem I encountered with that was the
idle needle; it’s quite sensitive. An eighth
of a turn either way makes a noticeable
difference. Probably because my fuel-tank
arrangement differed from that in the
airplane that my Rossi .60 came out of, I
had to fiddle with the idle needle to get
consistent throttle response from
minimum to maximum speed. Then too, I
used a different propeller ...
With a 121⁄2 x 6 Graupner propeller
and 10%-nitromethane fuel, my Rossi .60
turns 12,200 rpm maximum and idles
reliably at 2,300 rpm. It hand-starts
without trouble—although I do wear a
heavy leather glove when doing that.
Better safe than sore!
An interesting sidelight to the Rossi
story is that the original company was a
cooperative venture of Ugo Rossi and his
brother. After several years, a
disagreement occurred, and the brother
left to start a company of his own. He
called it NovaRossi, meaning “New
Rossi.”
Today, NovaRossi makes its own line
of high-quality model engines. These are
imported into the US by Allen Worley at
7477 Wood Rail Cove, Memphis TN
38119; Tel.: (901) 755-1536. There’s a
Web site too, at www.planethobby.com.
In an earlier column I mentioned my
liking for Hobbico’s After Run Oil (A-RO).
Lately I’ve been using that as an allpurpose
oil in my shop. For one thing, AR-
O won’t thicken with time the way 3-
in-1 oil does. Another reason I like
Hobbico’s A-R-O is that it combines the
functions of a rust preventative, a light
lubricant, and a penetrating oil.
I made good use of that last function
recently, when my friend Ron Parker
(Houston TX) sent me approximately 40
old CL engines for use in a local youth
model-airplane program. The engines had
been stored away, untouched for decades.
80 MODEL AVIATION
When I received them, every one was
gummed up almost solidly with
congealed oil. None could be turned over
by hand.
Instead of painstakingly
disassembling these engines—most of
which were in good condition except for
being stuck—I merely removed their
plugs and liberally doused all of the
openings with A-R-O. In an hour or two,
the congealed castor oil between these
engines’ moving parts had softened
enough that I could turn them over.
Then I applied more A-R-O and
flipped the propellers vigorously while
holding the engines nose-down. Doing
that allows crankcase compression to
force the A-R-O out through the main
bearing and rinse away the sticky
residual sludge that is trapped in there.
Freeing up the 40 old CL engines this
way took me far less time and trouble
than disassembling and solvent-cleaning
all of the moving parts would have, yet it
did just as good a job.
Although most small RC model
airplanes these days are electricpowered,
many model fliers still enjoy
the challenge of mini-engine power.
After considerable experimentation,
Steve Adams (610 15th Ave., Santa Cruz
CA 95062; E-mail:
[email protected]) has developed a
simple, effective exhaust throttle for Cox
.010 engines.
No, this is not the device that was
advertised extensively in model
magazines a few years ago. That never
panned out. Steve’s device is a new
concept that he and a friend are
manufacturing in a “limited edition.”
Unfortunately, these units aren’t
cheap, despite their simplicity. This is
because to make the tiny throttles work
effectively, Steve had to obtain custommade
.010 piston cylinder assemblies
from Estes (which manufactures the Cox
engine line). These cost $25 each, which
pushed up the necessary selling price of
the throttle, cylinder, and pistonassembly
units. They are $40 each
postpaid, available by mail order directly
from Steve.
I got to see a couple of these little
devices in action at this year’s annual
SMALL (Small Aircraft Model Lover’s
League) meet in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Installed in attractive 20-inch-span, allbalsa
cabin models that Steve designed,
the modified Cox .010s performed so
impressively that I absolutely had to
obtain one of those “.010 throttle kits”
for myself!
Installing the Adams throttle kit on
one of my original-edition Cox .010s
turned out to be somewhat more of a
chore than I expected, so I notified Steve
about that. It turned out that the unit I
had was an early version. Later units
have eliminated the difficulty that I
experienced. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/11
Page Numbers: 78,79,80
78 MODEL AVIATION
THE ITALIAN ROSSI company has
been famous for high-performance model
engines since 1966. Its founder, Ugo
Rossi, won several World Championships
CL Speed events with his engines. Today
the Rossi company, under the management
of Ugo’s son Alessandro, has been
expanding its product line. Rossi
manufactures a wide variety of model
power plants—among them some of the
fastest-revving car and boat engines ever
made. Some of these turn more than
40,000 rpm!
For powering RC model airplanes,
Rossi has an exceptionally large selection.
These include Pylon Racing engines,
helicopter power plants, ducted-fan
engines, and several sport RC types. These
RC engines range in size from .21 cu. in.
(3.5cc) to .67 cu. in. (11.0cc).
For example, three basic “.60-size”
Rossi RC engines are available. They all
use the same case but have different bores
and strokes. There are two .60s (long and
short stroke) plus a “long stroke” .65.
Rossi also offers options such as side or
rear exhaust, along with mufflers and
tuned pipes of various kinds.
Joe Wagner
T h e E n g i n e S h o p
212 S. Pine Ave., Ozark AL 36360
Hobbico After Run Oil has more uses than
protecting engines after use. It works great
NovaRossis shown at a model meet included displacements from .15 through .50. for freeing up gummy moving parts.
Note the Rossi .60’s overall cleanliness.
No surface cleaning was needed after
Rossi 35R60-2 with unusual slip-on muffler. (Attachment spring isn’t shown.) three gallons of fuel were run through it.
Rossi’s US importer is SG Model
Engines, Box 280303, Northridge CA
91328; Tel.: (818) 472-8460. To help
modelers make a selection among the
various Rossis, SG Model Engines has set
up two Web sites. Go to http://shop.ven
dio.com/RossiEnginesUSA for a list of
types and sizes, and www.geocities.com/
[email protected]/RossiEnginesUSA
provides engine-performance data
obtained with various propellers, fuels,
glow plugs, and exhaust systems.
I was sent one of the long-stroke Rossi
.60s (Model 35R60-2) to examine and
experiment with. Before I got it, this
engine had used more than three gallons of
glow fuel. Nearly all of that was burned in
flight, spinning a 12 x 12 APC propeller. I
was curious about how much wear this
Rossi’s internal parts would show after all
of that service, and I took it apart to find
out.
Aside from minor scuff marks at the
top edge of the piston, I couldn’t find any
signs of wear at all! There’s no noticeable
play at either end of the connecting rod.
The double ball bearings seem like new,
and the piston-cylinder fit, though quite
free, provides a “snappy feel” as good as
that of any other model engine I own.
The 35R60-2 is massively built. It
weighs 221⁄2 ounces without propeller or
muffler. The muffler adds another 4
ounces—and has an unusual design.
Rather than being rigidly attached to the
engine, this muffler is a slip fit over a
tubular adapter fitting at the exhaust port.
It’s retained by a miniature “screen-door
spring” that passes around the engine
cylinder and hooks onto a steel retaining
washer on the muffler. (Sealing is
provided by a high-temperature O-ring on
the adapter.)
I admire the ingenuity of this muffler
arrangement. For one thing, it helps ensure
against crash damage. The muffler is
almost 10 inches long overall and roughly
11⁄2 inches in outside diameter. If that was
solidly attached to the engine, it could
exert tremendous leverage in an
“unplanned landing.”
True, this flexibly mounted Rossi
muffler requires a separate attachment to
the airframe, but I consider that a minor
November 2004 79
Another view of a Cox .010 with an Adams throttle. The pushrod
rotates the barrel via one of the snap-ring holes.
A Steve Adams exhaust-throttle-equipped Cox .010 engine.
Notice the clever needle-adjusting extension.
and easily solved problem. I can mount
this Rossi sidewinder style, with the
muffler extending back under the fuselage
bottom—possibly anchoring it to the
tempered aluminum landing gear.
The Rossi has a ruggedly constructed
two-needle carburetor. One minor
problem I encountered with that was the
idle needle; it’s quite sensitive. An eighth
of a turn either way makes a noticeable
difference. Probably because my fuel-tank
arrangement differed from that in the
airplane that my Rossi .60 came out of, I
had to fiddle with the idle needle to get
consistent throttle response from
minimum to maximum speed. Then too, I
used a different propeller ...
With a 121⁄2 x 6 Graupner propeller
and 10%-nitromethane fuel, my Rossi .60
turns 12,200 rpm maximum and idles
reliably at 2,300 rpm. It hand-starts
without trouble—although I do wear a
heavy leather glove when doing that.
Better safe than sore!
An interesting sidelight to the Rossi
story is that the original company was a
cooperative venture of Ugo Rossi and his
brother. After several years, a
disagreement occurred, and the brother
left to start a company of his own. He
called it NovaRossi, meaning “New
Rossi.”
Today, NovaRossi makes its own line
of high-quality model engines. These are
imported into the US by Allen Worley at
7477 Wood Rail Cove, Memphis TN
38119; Tel.: (901) 755-1536. There’s a
Web site too, at www.planethobby.com.
In an earlier column I mentioned my
liking for Hobbico’s After Run Oil (A-RO).
Lately I’ve been using that as an allpurpose
oil in my shop. For one thing, AR-
O won’t thicken with time the way 3-
in-1 oil does. Another reason I like
Hobbico’s A-R-O is that it combines the
functions of a rust preventative, a light
lubricant, and a penetrating oil.
I made good use of that last function
recently, when my friend Ron Parker
(Houston TX) sent me approximately 40
old CL engines for use in a local youth
model-airplane program. The engines had
been stored away, untouched for decades.
80 MODEL AVIATION
When I received them, every one was
gummed up almost solidly with
congealed oil. None could be turned over
by hand.
Instead of painstakingly
disassembling these engines—most of
which were in good condition except for
being stuck—I merely removed their
plugs and liberally doused all of the
openings with A-R-O. In an hour or two,
the congealed castor oil between these
engines’ moving parts had softened
enough that I could turn them over.
Then I applied more A-R-O and
flipped the propellers vigorously while
holding the engines nose-down. Doing
that allows crankcase compression to
force the A-R-O out through the main
bearing and rinse away the sticky
residual sludge that is trapped in there.
Freeing up the 40 old CL engines this
way took me far less time and trouble
than disassembling and solvent-cleaning
all of the moving parts would have, yet it
did just as good a job.
Although most small RC model
airplanes these days are electricpowered,
many model fliers still enjoy
the challenge of mini-engine power.
After considerable experimentation,
Steve Adams (610 15th Ave., Santa Cruz
CA 95062; E-mail:
[email protected]) has developed a
simple, effective exhaust throttle for Cox
.010 engines.
No, this is not the device that was
advertised extensively in model
magazines a few years ago. That never
panned out. Steve’s device is a new
concept that he and a friend are
manufacturing in a “limited edition.”
Unfortunately, these units aren’t
cheap, despite their simplicity. This is
because to make the tiny throttles work
effectively, Steve had to obtain custommade
.010 piston cylinder assemblies
from Estes (which manufactures the Cox
engine line). These cost $25 each, which
pushed up the necessary selling price of
the throttle, cylinder, and pistonassembly
units. They are $40 each
postpaid, available by mail order directly
from Steve.
I got to see a couple of these little
devices in action at this year’s annual
SMALL (Small Aircraft Model Lover’s
League) meet in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Installed in attractive 20-inch-span, allbalsa
cabin models that Steve designed,
the modified Cox .010s performed so
impressively that I absolutely had to
obtain one of those “.010 throttle kits”
for myself!
Installing the Adams throttle kit on
one of my original-edition Cox .010s
turned out to be somewhat more of a
chore than I expected, so I notified Steve
about that. It turned out that the unit I
had was an early version. Later units
have eliminated the difficulty that I
experienced. MA