It Ran!!

[Tim Wescott]

I just spent the last thirty minutes turning a burnt out Cox 049 glow
head into a glow plug adapter. Put it on an engine (with a glow plug,
of course), and it ran!

Well, at least it ran out the prime. I haven't tried it with actual
fuel in the tank -- I'll want to do something more than just hold it in
my hand for that. I'm 99.44% sure that it won't run as well as before,
because it started out as a low-compression head, and the plug will
lower the compression further (hence my sudden anal retentiveness about
CCing heads).

Tomorrow I'll go see if it'll actually fly an airplane. Then maybe I'll
think about how to turn some billet aluminum into a head.

Which means I'll have to make a special threading tool, so's I can
thread right up to the edge of the fins. And a special fin-cutting
tool, and a ...

--
Tim Wescott
Control system and signal processing consulting
www.wescottdesign.com

[Steve W.]

You do know that you can play with the fuel mix to get better power with
the lower compression? Just add some more Nitro.
We used to run a 40% Nitro, 30% Castor/Synthetic and 30% methanol blend
in the race engines. BUT you needed the low compression head AND a
couple of extra head gaskets to drop it a bit more.
Made much better torque and would spin a 4 inch prop great.

--
Steve W.

[Tim Wescott]

I know -- at this point I'd rather make up a bunch of heads (and round
up all my head gaskets) and experiment with low nitro fuel. This isn't
some whippy-zing racing effort, I'm just playing with engines.

Maybe after I know more I'll play with higher nitro.