Engines 101 Revisited - 2004/08

BEFORE PROCEEDING to the third article in the “From the
Ground Up” engine series, I am going to review the first installment,
published in the April issue. MA has received numerous comments on
the information presented in that article. Many were favorable, but
several pointed out that the theoretical information was incomplete,
poorly explained, or just plain wrong. And in some instances they
have valid points.

The Rest of the Engine - 2004/09

SOMETIMES WE become so
involved with the various types of
model engines, performance
ratings, and displacements that we
overlook something important. Just
as a fully race-prepared car engine
is useless until its power is
transmitted to the ground, a model
engine is useless until its power is transmitted to
the air. Most often, model aircraft use propellers
for this job. Our engines also need to burn fuel to
produce power, and they need to ignite that fuel.
These functions, which are directly connected to
the engine, are this month’s subject.

So Different, Yet So Familiar - 2004/10

IT LOOKS DIFFERENT
from the .40 cu. in. engine
that came with your RTF
trainer. There is a “bump”
on top, and the glow plug
points from the head at an
angle. The carburetor
appears to be upside down,
and the throttle arm is on the wrong side.
The sound is also different from your
engine; it’s lower in pitch with a “crack” to
it. The owner calls it a “four-stroke” and
says he wouldn’t fly with anything else.

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