ORIGINAL: Reg Hinnant
Allright Don......will you PLEASE just forget the romance of and dreaming about, using the Seidel.......
I'm really working hard to get past the "romance" of having a Seidel and trying to decide rationally if there is an advantage to using one. I do believe that the Seidel is currently the most economical radial current available...by several hundreds of dollars. The fact is that I just wouldn't pay $1,500 for an engine...let along $2000 or $4000! But at about $1000 the Seidel is within range (as a one time purchase to be used on a number of models over the years). But then for the same money I could get three DLE engines and keep them in three models.
In terms of scale appearance, as I illustrated above, a good quality dummy engine will be more scale than the Seidel (but the Seidel definitely looks more scale than any of the other radial engines). But there's a certain scale quality to having a functioning round engine even if it's not quite scale. Curiously, I find the 7-cylinder 770 to look "more scale" than the 9-cylinder Seidel. The 990 just looks "too busy" in a WWI cowl and looks more like a Pratt and Whitney. The space between the cylinders on the 770 gives more of the impression of the space on a 9-cylinder LeRhone or such.
But I, like everyone else, admired the craftsmanship then ran it and marveled at how well it functioned before I put it up to display it.
Yeah, I just wouldn't have the heart to put a Seidel in a "cage." I'd have to let it "run free."
I mean, if it really loves you, it'll come back right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOki5eGvy0