Steve108

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Hi everyone,

I have aquired a Wen Mac or Mag .049 Mk.2 engine. It was given to me by one of my dads co-workers. It has a built in, enclosed spring starter and plenty of compression. I wanted to know some information on this engine along with some history and if it would be worth running.

Thanks.

DesignMan

The Wen Mac engines were a derivitive of Atwood .049s which in turn were derivitive of the Atwood/Holland Wasp. Bill Atwood produced them for Wen Mac, so far as I know.

They were very heavy due to the spring starter, and varied from bad to OK. A Babe Bee would blow the socks off even a good one.

I had the poor judgement to build a 1/2A Snapper with one of these engines, then silked and color doped it. What a toad! It would barely loop on 35 ft lines. [:@]

By comparison, the same design (40 years later) built light with a Holland Wasp would do a competitive pattern. Performance was about the same with a Tee Dee .020, but the Wasp had a better "stunt run" and swung a bigger prop which I think, provided better acceleration out of corners.

MikeSell

My Feedback: (2)

I loved the Wen Mac engines as a kid. They had a lower pitch than those whiney cox engines. They started much easier. Their snap starter was built on not an afterthought. They had a real glowplug. I would always get mine started and fly, then some kid with a Cox would spend the next 1/2 hour trying to get his to run in the right direction. Wen Mac had scale plastic planes with real rubber wheels, scale panel lines. simulated rivets. Their planes screwed together and had a complete belly instead of a hole. I flew several of their planes with pride, over and over. Their planes were of similar size to the cox planes but of course they were heavier.
That is the way I felt as a third grader. Now over fourty five years later I want to fly my original Wen Macs again. They may not be as powerful as the Cox offerings but I liked them better. My OK Cub was built so much cheasier. I'll be flying mine on a hand toss glider called an osprey on which it will certainly have enough power.
If electrics and park fliers have taught us nothing else they have shown us we can scale a plane down to any power source. Build a 20" span plane as light (or as heavy) as the control line Wen Macs and have a ball.

BMatthews

While they don't have a lot of power, hence the less objectionable exhaust note as noted, they ARE a very easy to start engine. For that reason alone they hold a spot in my heart.

I've got two of them and plan on a FF Dakota bipe and a FF Original Nostalgia cabin model for them. In both these cases the lower power will be an advantage.

sturmvogel

Hey DesignMan where'd you get plans for the control line Snapper plans? I built one when I was a kid and powered it with a McCoy .049 diesel. What a great airplane! The kit was great-excellent plans, good wood, diecutting that was almost as good as laser. The company also produced another kit the DilBod racer, and the company was (I think)from Oklahoma City. Come to think of it, I built 3 of 'em, all powered with the diesel. It wouldn't do any overhead maneuvers. but vertical 8's, loops and inverted were great. The Wen Mac .049 looked good but was a lousy performer, at least mine was.

Big Al-RCU

I don't have the plans, but still have the skeletal remains of my Snapper from about 1954. The silkspan has long since deteriorated but the framework is all there. If it turns out that there are no plans available, I could measure it up and draw a set. Mine flew real well with a Wasp 049 on .008 single strand lines. I seem to remember that it was produced in Tulsa. Been intending to restore it one of these days...Duh...
Al Lenz






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Edited to fix the quote- bcm

50+AirYears

It kind of surprises me to hear people refer to Wen-Macs as easy to start. I got only one start out the the one I had in an Aeromite, and it was long after the plane and the pull starter cord were history.

MikeSell

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I had an aeromite and a SBD3. Those engines had a recoil starter. The only engine I saw of that vintage with a pull cord was the OK Cub .049 in the Comet airplanes. I thought that engine would be great. I wore out two pull starters and never got it to start. I did get it to run finally but that was just flipping the darn thing almost forever. The plane it came in had stress cracked all over from trying so many times for so many years.

Steve108

My Feedback: (36)

Thanks everyone. It sounds like I might have a keeper for a light plane eh? Any advice on fuel or tuning?

Jim Thomerson

My wife bought a half dozen WenMacs cheap at an auction. I sold the bulk of them at swap meets for $5 each. I kept the two oldest ones. Both needed break in. After I got them broke in they started readily and ran smoothly on the test stand (a paint stirrer stick). There was about 2000 RPM difference between them, neither very powerful. I plan, someday, to put them on sport freeflights.

Jim

gunga din

I am trying to locate plans for the 1/2A Dilbod, I believe designed by the late Hal DeBolt in the 1950's to enlarge to a rc racer. Can anyone help?

gcb

Jim,

Those engines are just begging for a couple of Joe Wagner's Dakotas.

George

injunnut1

'Sturmvogel' and 'gunga din',
You guys might want to take a look at this thread (link below) from over at the Vintage and Antique Forum ..... it shows and tells a bit about the 1/2A Gee Bee control line Racer also kitted by Master Modelcraft back in 1956 ..... I've seen ads for both the Dil Bod and the Gee Bee 1/2A Racers in the old 1956 model magazines, with the Gee Bee claiming the earlier months of the various 1956 ads.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_47...tm.htm#4700208

beaslbob

Don't know if this has already been answered or not but 1/2a snapper pland are available here:

http://www.controllineplans.com/halfa.htm

(of course this is 3 years later also. LOL)