Control Line: Speed
THIS COLUMN IS BEING written just before I leave for the Nats, so everything is rush, rush, rush! Most of my airplanes are ready, and I've been filing and sanding props, mostly fiberglass ones. I wear a dust-filter mask and long rubber gloves ???? with fiberglass-I just hate those itchy little glass fibers sticking in my fingers. There are several items I'd like to cover in this column, so here goes. The Quest: It's difficult for a flier to fly Speed all by himself. As a result, there have been many Speed teams down through the years, including Clem, Beasley, and Kirn; the ZOOM Speed Team; Harris and Shelton; Graham and Booher; Nash and ???? Stegens and Dodge; Telford and Violett; Lauerman and Delaneys Theobald and Wisniewski; Roselle and Frye; Bussell and Jett; Anaston and Morton; Hustad and Roy; as well as many others. The list sounds like a Speed Hall of Fame, doesn't it?
Control Line: Speed
THIS IS THE CONTROL Line Speed column; however, I find that it's read by modelers who fly other Control Line events, as well as RC fliers. As a result, I try to pass on any engine-related information that I accumulate. John Bishop, a member of a the suburban-Chicago Tri-Village R/Cers club wanted me to pass along some information about the big SuperTigre 2500 and 3000 engines. Quite a few fliers have complained about excessive vibration with these engines, and John accidentally figured out the cause. A flier noticed that the spinner backplate (or prop driver plate) that comes with the engine was out of balance, so he drilled several holes in the heavy side to rectify the problem.
Control Line: Speed
SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS have written for information on reasonably priced .21-size engines for control line Speed or sport flying. Unadvertised and almost unknown is the control line version of the K&B .21 engine designed for small ducted-fan RC models-a true ABC, Schnuerle-ported ball-bearing-supported crankshaft, rear drum valve, neat little power plant as shown in the photo. It is not a modified Sportster engine. It is built like the other well known K&B racing engines from 5.8 to 7.5 cc. It has a brass chrome plated sleeve with a special contour-ground piston designed for high rpm. If you are interested, call the factory direct-I don't think distributors handle them. (2100 College Dr., Lake Havasu City AZ 86403) I haven't had a chance to run mine yet, but when I do I'll report rpm and performance. K&B also has a new glow plug called the KB 1L HP (for high performance) that has a thicker, more rugged, different alloy element.
Control Line Speed
THE DEADLINE FOR THIS COLUMN arrived too soon! Instead of working on my Speed engines like I should be, I'm building a couple of model engines. No, not model airplane engines; just models of four-stroke twin-cylinder antique engines, and there are an awful lot of parts involved. I've always been fascinated by the horizontal opposed twins-always wanted an OK, but never had a chance to get one. I've promised in past columns to write about newer engines if I obtained useful information. There are several relatively new engines available, so I'm sure some of you are interested. Some of the older ones are still competitive: K&B still has the .65s for sale, and remember, Bill Nusz used one of them to win the '93 Nats.
Control Line Speed
DOES THAT NEW ENGINE you just purchased need extended break-in running before you can put it in your model and fly it? Should you mount it on a test stand and run it with a small tank for two or three minutes, let it cool down, and continue this procedure until you accumulate a running time of an hour or two? Should you start with a large prop to keep the rpm down and run the engine slobbering rich? The answer to all of these questions is: "Most likely, no!"
