2BFlying

I never had a McCoy 35, but I did own a 29. Probably got it in the mid 60's, and it was a really good little motor. The last time I flew it was about 1986, so I figure I got my money's worth out of it. I had stored it away in the attic, still on the plane that I built in the early 70's. I came across it many years later and patched a few holes in the wing and went flying. It still ran fine after all that time. That was the only McCoy I ever had, and for a 12 year old kid, (at the time), it was a good little engine.

RWCherry
Sharpsburg KY

Lou Crane

Several have mentioned burning down McCoy stunt engines...

Sure, you can do that. For those of us who have known and loved Fox and ENYA engines, there is an alternative. It is called "break-in."

The ENYA engines, given a half decent break-in, will last until you are so tired of seeing them that they tend to go on the wall and stay there.

Fox Stunt 35s, given a decent break-in, and a steady diet of 28-29% all-castor fuel, will live forever, too. McCoy engines, of various eras, had the potential to give such service. Aside from factory QC, the low prices kept them from being considered suitable candidates for a break-in that cost more in fuel than the engines did, themselves, new-in-box.

The porous, sintered iron pistons are ideal candidates for varnish-equals-fit durability. Two things only - a frying hot run kills them, and a low-oil - or detergent oil - fuel does them much evil. It flushes off the varnish build-up that makes the pistons seal in the sleeve... They still preferred a juicy stack-prime to start reliably... Harder to do today, even with chip/tongue mufflers.

The McCoy Series 21 boat anchors were heavy for their displacement, particularly the .19, but the Dykes ring - if never fried - made a big difference. J.Bowman has rings for most of our engines, and if you have a Series 21 with a Pringles Dykes ring, he may be able to restore a very useful engine for you. Fried Dykes rings never seal for hand flipping... Reasonably used Dykes rings are very durable.

When I was a kid, the McCoys were steel sleeve red heads. Their worst trait was blowing glow plugs out of the head in mid-flight. No way to fake out of that condition... Of course, as a kid, I was more into the burn-it-down mindset than building an engine I could use reliably for quite a while.

We all learn...

...eventually.

Fuel Dinosaur

The McCoy .35 redhead was a control line engine. It came in a plastic box and at that time as I remember, it was $8.00. My K&B .35 engines used for rat race at that time were higher and the .35 McCoy redhead racing engine with the square looking grey metal case was almost double the sport redhead. They ran well, were very inexpensive and used high oil, on the order of 22% or higher, with lots of castor. Nitro was low at about 5%. I know they let a lot of kids like me fly over in the schoolyard across the street. Could not afford R/C until I got an honest job. :-) After awhile and lots of Fox Superfuel gallons later, my cousin and I started mixing our own fuels and have been doing so for some 40+ years now. I had more engines than the law allows, including several McCoy .35 sport engines, a bunch of .15, 29 and .35 K&B engines, a Cyclone super .60 (on a roller skate ball bearing platform!), Cox .049s, OK Cub .074, you name it, I had it. I sent all my small engines up to the .15 to a fellow in Augusta Maine, his father still ran these small engine and it was great to give them and mail them off for him to enjoy.

gwinhh

My flyin' buddies and I had good luck with the McCoys. Superfuel (plenty of castor) and the old Sterling profile Yak, Mustang, Navion, etc. made for lots of good flying. The one I saw fail was by an idiot who ran out of 9 x 6 props (probably the reason we had good luck with ours) and tried an 8 x 5. Exploded half way thru the flight. (well, a rod broke).
howell

Michaelj2k

My dad built a Sterling Spitfire stunter and installed the McCoy .35. He never flew it until one day we took a trip to Willow Grove NAS for the Nats (1965). He had gotten acquainted with a fellow from Illinois who was flying FF power and CL stunt. He flew the airplane and to this day, I'll remember that Spitfire tight on the lines doing everything in the book. He made it look easy. After the Nats we took it to a local ball field and my dad proceeded to strain the airplane through a snow fence. Seems the lines went slack on him and he got a bit tangled up. After that, he decided RC was safer and stored the engine until it was given away some time later. I had one of those Sterling kits but sold it off. Now they're going something like $200 on ebay.[:@]

glowtime

I have a McCoy Redhead .35 i was going to use in a c/l airplane for the first time. I have a fresh gallon of Patriot r/c 15% nitro, lubrication package by Klotz and states it is 18% oil. I have a quart of sig castor oil. How mutch castor would i have to add to bring a quart of fuel to approx 25% oil. Thanks !

Dan Vincent

As long as you have an oily fuel the Testors/McCoy engines will run pretty well.

I used the T/M .19 engines a lot in the sixties and the main problem I had with the old shiny-case engines was blowing the fiber head gasket.

The later dull case engines with the lightening bolts was a better engine.

Here are three versions of McCoy stunt .19 engines I still have.

jessiej

11.2 oz of added castor will give you a total of 25% oil.

edit: Sorry, you were only going to doctor a quart a.d I gave you the amount for a full gallon. For a quart you wolul only need 2.8 oz of castor. This will give you 13.8% nitro and 25% oil.

jess

Jim Thomerson

Someone pointed out that adding oild does not change the ratio of methanol/nitromethane. So adding oil should not affect the power performance. Just need to open the needle a little to get the proper amount of m/n through the engine.

Vegasracer

My Feedback: (18)

I have a Mc Coy .35 Red Head Never Started with the Paper Work/Warranty Card & Sticker (Spotless)
Is it worth hanging on to ?
Got a lot of good info on the engine here
Thanks

gcb

I scored a couple of McCoy .35's some years ago at a local yard sale. Paid $5.00 each if I remember correctly. They were properly broken-in and are the older versions with the plastic button in the wrist pin hole to space the conrod from the backplate. I oiled them and maintained them but have never had them in a ship so far...too many engines, not enough time. [&o]

George

Spin

Here is some history on the McCoy 35 cl engine thats interesting::::

http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/McCoy.htm

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF_KGB_wnkg[/youtube]

stuntflyr

Love your avatar, Tom. Nice first run on the McCoy. Looks and sounds like it'd be a runner. Lots of castor will make them seat it, that one has the looks of a good one.
I bought a McCoy 40 redhead stunt and a Froom spinner for a Sterling Spitfire for which I have actual construction plans. Some day I'll build it!
Chris...

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Thanks Chris!

zedad71

My Feedback: (1)

The Mcoys do not like any synthetic oil in them. As was mentioned they really like lots of castor, and they need to build up a "varnish" along with the proper fit on the piston. A lean run will kill them quickly.
I know a guy in Portland that is pretty much an expert on Mccoys. He reworked one for me that was a tired pony. Something about the heat treating on the piston, then he tapped the top of the piston lightly , many many times, then lapped it to fit the liner. Its a really sweet motor now. Saving it for my goldberg profile shoestring stunter kit I found. THis will replicate my first "big" control line airplane from my youth.

his contact info is
Name: Scott Riese
Email: [email protected]
tell him Mark Scarborough sent ya, his collection of mcoy engines has to be seen to be believed!