Sorry for the delayed reply. I'm nocturnal and went to bed soon after my original post.
CombatPigg asks, "Do you want to mess with going this extreme..?"
No. I have no intention of ever attempting to change the timing in an engine. If I ever do it will be with an engine I really don't care about and has no value and I don't care if it ever runs again or not.
I plan to use these engines as intended. The NovaRossi's are already pipe timed. Allen tells me there is one more in the line that is even more powerful but again, I don't want to get into temperamental engines.
What surprised me is how massive these NovaRossi .15s are. The three of them with pipes and mounts will be over 2-1/2 pounds. They are far bigger than my CV-A and almost the size of my Webra .35.
In fact, the .12 is bigger than my CV-A as well (I bought the .12 for a Sterling 1/2A Corsair but now that I have it I might use my old very worn bushing HB .12 instead).
So my plan is to pipe the .15s, use moderate nitro fuel, and be nice to the engines.
With those kinds of RPMs how long do you think a 3 oz tank will last?
I was looking at the Tettra tanks but at $24 each doubt I'll do that. It's hard to find 3 oz tanks at all. Wish I'd stocked up when I was in Germany but didn't realize there would be a problem. I have some Hayes 3 oz tanks but I'm really not a fan of Hayes tanks. Can't even say why.
So the three engine plane will be sort of a melding of my Shadow design that I've wanted to build two more of - one will just be the next generation with a single engine and one was going to be a twin. I love the fuselage for Dave Platt's Duellist so I planned to pretty much rip that off. Then it occurred to me that I could get another engine in the nose.
Now there's going to be a problem with getting a tank and a retract in there. I could always make it a tail dragger.
I have a Magnum .15 and it's not even close to the power of the CV-A. It was never intended to be. As far as I know the Magnum I bought is just a sport engine closer to an LA .15. I haven't run it much. I took the CV-A out of Great Gonzo and put in the Magnum and it was way different. Whereas the CV-A would lift off in less than 10 feet, the Magnum used a large portion of the runway before it had the speed. And I'm talking about a plane that was less than 2 pounds with a wing-loading in the 7-8 ounce range.