Great Planes Tracer
 

I haven't flown my Tracer for 2 years due to ground damage. I did use after run oil for my Thunder Tiger 46. I went to fly it this weekend and had a little trouble setting up the engine. I set the high speed needle for max rpm's and backed off by 1/4 turn. Went to idle and set idle per the manual. Idle is doing ok but when I do the standard hold the nose high test at full blast the engine runs rough and if I keep it there it dies. I have to back it out by 1.5-2 turns to get it rich enough to run reliably in nose high conditions. I got about 12700 rpm's at this reliable setting and 13500 at max lean. Before I crashed 2 years ago I could get her to run reliably at 1/2 turn before max lean for ton's of power and reliability. What could be going on? Also she's pretty fast with the TT/46-APC 10/6 but I'm getting the itch to speed her up. Do you think an O,S, 52 or Y,S,? would be a good upgrade-I can balance her out by moving tail servos from the body to the tail. Thanks for any help. Deltatech

RE: Great Planes Tracer
 

Delta- The Tracer is pretty much a pattern plane right? You definitely need it to run properly with the nose up- Simply to ensure that the engine does not lean out as the fuel tank gets low...

The easiest way to GREATLY improve your speed and performance is to get the "Tower Muffler", it is $13 or $14 bucks, and it should give you a boost of about 600-1,000RPM's- also run the TT on an APC 9x7, the take-off roll will be a bit longer but it WILL be faster!

As for an engine upgrade, there are quite a few engines that you might consider but I would play with the TT first..... Here is my usual list of engines to consider if you are in the market for something new!:D

Jett-50
YS-45
Rossi-45/53
West-50
Webra-50
MVVS-49
K&B-48
OS-50SX
Irvine-53

RE: Great Planes Tracer
 

Have you tried a new plug...? An OS #8 or something...

Could be some crap that was in that after run oil ruined your plug... It's always a good idea to wash your engine out with fresh fuel after it's been stored for a while with or without after run, but especially if you used after run, since most of these oils were not intended for glow engines... so they can do all sorts of freaky stuff...

Oiling it up with castor before you start it after it's been washed out doesn't hurt things either.

If the engine got dirt in it from the crash... I hope you got it all out before you ran it... because if you didn't, your engine will be pretty much shot by now...

As for speed... if it moves on a 10x6, then try a 9x7 and/or 9x8 next... and look around for a decent exhaust like Razor said.

RE: Great Planes Tracer
 

Sounds to me that perhaps after sitting all that time you got some gum/crud/hole/corrosion in the fuel system.

If you have that wide a change in performance, I would look there first. Change the glow plug too...likely gummed and corroded up too. Any after-run oil may have clogged pressure fitting, the carb, spraybar and fuel inlet. Make sure they are cleaned up too.

There is a chance also that the bearings are gone. Corrision is possible even with decent storge care.

The TT46 Pro is a very good engine. Puts out nearly the power of the OS .50 when configured properly.
The tower muffler would be a good add-on, but get it running correctly first.

My suggestion.........

1) check the fuel system as noted. some of the cheap clunks can corrode something terrible.

2) put a 9x6 on it ....... on the ground....... let the sucker howl for about 5 minutes. Find peak, back down about 500 rpm, and let it run. Trust me on this one. The engine should turn well over 16K rpm. Shut it off before it runs out of fuel. Let the engine cool down completely.

3) put a 9x7 on it to fly it. You will get speed, but as Razor noted, expect an extra bit of take-off roll.

RE: Great Planes Tracer
 

I knew I came to the rite place for advice! Thanks for the ideas. I've been considering the Tower muffler and now it sounds like a good investment. You guys are right about the plug it lasted for 2 flights and died. I've been using Cheap Tower plugs "5 for $8 or something" but I've found them to give me the best high end and idle "idle bar". If you guys say that an O,S, #8 would be better I will try it. I also plan on trying a differn't prop. My field is pretty big so a longer take off run is fine. I also plan on cleaning out the carb and installing new packings. This is all great stuff. Thanks allot! Deltatech