I haven't had this engine very long. Less than 1 gallon of fuel.

I broke it in as you should any ABC engine. I used a fuel with 10% nitro and 22% total oil content with an 80/20 blend of synthetic/castor oil. I burned that fuel for about 5/8 of a gallon.

Then I switched to Omega (pink) 25% nitro. 3 tanks of that as of today.

Engine deadsticked today on my second flight. I figured it was just out of gas; as I'd flown it around for almost 20 minutes. I deadsticked it in and set it on the table for about 30 minutes. When I went back to fly again, I decided to make sure that it was indeed out of fuel, but it wasn't. I figured- maybe the plug- but it was in good shape. So, I flipped the prop without the plug in the head and it wouldn't turn over smoothly. It turned over kinda stiff and it was obvious that something internally wasn't up to snuff. I only turned it over that 1 time and then decided to stop and go home for the day.

I took it completely apart and have discovered that the front bearing is hanging up and dragging pretty bad in one spot. I also discovered a gall mark or burr on the front of the crank- right on the front shoulder where the crank rides on the bearing.

Rod bushing and crank pin appear to be in fine shape. Nice and shiny with no indication of overheating there. Cylinder looks shiny and smooth throughout. Piston shows minimal tanning on the top and minor brown spot on the exhaust side.

I suspect that the front of the engine had a piece of metal or slag in it from the factory. I took the backplate off the engine and removed the cylinder/piston when I pulled it out of the box. I usually do a minor inspection of the back-half of the engine before I bolt it up and light it for the first time.

I guess- in the future- I'll have to completely dissassemble every engine right out of the box. When looking at the damage to this front bearing and the crank shoulder up front- it's pretty obvious that some foreign material got hung up in there and put the hurtin' on the front half.

Hopefully, this is just a fluke. It's possible for any engine to have a piece of foreign material somewhere inside when it gets shipped form the factory. I'll send it to TH and see what they can do with it.

I can honestly say that this is the first time in 5+ yrs of modeling that I've come across an engine that had problems. I've worn a few out after many hours and gallons of time; but never had one toss a bearing after 1 gallon of fuel. Guess it was just my turn.