Aero Mail
Correction
The following table was inadvertently omitted from the September "Frequently Asked Questions" column. It should have accompanied question-and-answer 314. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused our readers. —MA staff
Fuel-to-Electric Conversion (Basic Guidelines)
- Glow-fuel engine displacement (cu. in.) — Motor power (Watts)
- .020 — 20 W
- .049 — 50 W
- .090 — 100 W
- .200 — 200 W
- .300 — 300 W
- .460 — 460 W
- .500 — 500 W
- .600 — 600 W
- .800 — 800 W
- 1.20 — 1200 W
Sailplane Praise
Really enjoyed [Dave Garwood’s September 2007] article ["Soaring With Simple Sailplanes"] in Model Aviation. Just sorry that it could not have been written years ago. We need more of them.
Everyone, including the A.M.A., has always treated sailplane flyers as second cousins and wished we would go away. At least that is the way it has always seemed to me.
When I started flying many years ago, I had barely soloed when I discovered sailplanes. It wasn't long before I sold my engines. All we had at that time were high-starts. Never been sorry.
I think that the big problem is that most flyers would rather just bore holes in the sky than trying to put any effort into the hobby. It seems that has been proven by all the ARFs and RTFs that are sold. Most are just lazy.
Norman Weiler Lansing, Michigan
The article on simple sailplanes—much needed, long overdue, and very well done. I've built preproduction kits of the Q-Tee and OLY 650 for Bill Warren of Aerosphere; great kits—great fliers as well. Unfortunately, the Aerosphere Web site is not complete and to find the OLY 650 one must go through a veritable rain dance to get information. I've written Bill about this problem and he assured me that he will take care of it and make it user friendly. Bill has worked very hard to resurrect the old Airtronics kit line.
Pepper Kay Garland, Texas
I noticed after rereading your article on "Soaring with Simple Sailplanes" last night that you recommended the VG6000, and you noted that the spoiler and elevator functions can be linked. I have not found a way to do that and have been considering getting a new transmitter just to accomplish this function. I currently have the spoiler on the throttle stick. How can I link spoiler and elevator on the VG6000?
Rich Rennecamp via E-mail
Rich, try this on the VG6000: Put the spoilers on the FLAP channel, and that will allow elevator mixing. The FLAP channel is on a three-position switch, which does not give as fine control as having the spoiler on the throttle stick, but it does allow elevator mixing.
Dave Garwood Glenville, New York
Flooded Engines: Remedies
Depending on the severity of the flood, that may or may not work. It will not work if there is a bunch of fuel in the crankcase.
I have found a method of remedying flooded engines. Put the piston at bottom dead center and rotate the engine so the fuel goes up the ports and into the cylinder, then rotate the engine so the fuel rolls out of the exhaust port. You may have to go through the procedure two or three times to get all the fuel out.
This technique seems to work well with side-exhaust, no-muffler engines, such as the Nelson .36. F2D power plants with mufflers are another story. They require that you blow air through the 8-millimeter opening in the muffler with enough force to expel the fuel from the 4-millimeter venturi.
I do not recommend putting your lips around the muffler and blowing. The solution can be as simple as obtaining a piece of garden hose you can blow through. You can also obtain a variety of sizes of clear or reinforced tubing at The Home Depot or Lowe's.
You can find some interesting fittings in the plumbing department that have tapered ends that fit nicely into the 8-millimeter muffler opening. I like the 5/8-inch-size tubing, which allows for a fair amount of air volume.
All this air blowing will do you no good if the crankshaft port is not open to the venturi opening. You can hear air passing through the venturi as you rotate the propeller to the correct position. You will also be able to see the fuel spraying out the venturi if you did that correctly.
If you've cleared the engine too well, it still may not want to start because the top end will be too dry and will need a drop or two of oil prime. This is one of those things you acquire a feel for, much like knowing how much prime to use.
On occasion engines will vapor lock and refuse to start. That means the engine has trapped atmosphere in the muffler and inside the crankcase that does not have enough oxygen molecules to mix with the fuel to cause combustion. Blowing air through the engine will fix this problem.
Some engines are reluctant to restart, while others will make your flipping-hand arm muscles so tired that there is no flip left in them. Some pilots have bottles of water in their pit boxes that can be poured over engines to cool them.
US CL World Championships
The 2008 US CL World Championships team will need plenty of monetary support beyond that provided by AMA. Keep an eye out for souvenir T-shirts and hats once the logo is designed. We hope to have a great showing in Landres, France, next year.
Landres is near where many Americans flew combat in World War I as part of the Escadrille Americaine and the Escadrille Lafayette. Go rent or buy a copy of the movie Fly Boys. —MA
Sources:
- Goran Olson's Web site: www.go-cl.se/cl.html
Aero Mail
Enjoyed your article on simple gliders. I too share your enthusiasm for the Olympic 2 design. When I've managed to persuade people to build one, they've been happy with the results, and I've seen students who were really stuck start to make progress.
However, the photo where I'm shown launching is not a Sky Bench. It's either an original Airtronics or a scratch build, by, I think, Bill Martin of CRRC. It was already old when I bought it some time in the last millennium; my guess is it...
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
