Dar,
Yup.... You're right on some of that.

BTW, George was a funny guy. Or maybe strange is a better word. And serious too. And sometimes hard to talk to.

But the engines back then (wanna buy some?) actually weren't designed to last 100 hours. A few might have been, but most weren't actually designed for much more than to sell at a profit in that market place. McCoy comes to mind. K&B was sorta that way too. A Fox wouldn't last 10 flights unless it saw half those first flights at 4cycle for most of the flight. The first Enya's... The first OS's..... chuckle.... I happened to be there then.... chuckle.... trust me, them puppies.... ALL of them puppies weren't designed to last 100 hours. Some did because an iron piston in an iron sleeve, running on 25% castor, if the tolerances had come out right to begin with, wound up lasting 100 hours.

Hey, George was one of the original modeling gods, but let's put him into perspective. He actually didn't originate all the things we've discovered independently to be true.

Those broken rods etc... Remember that the tolerances back then were a major contributor when one or two of those engines broke rods. Every taper bore back then didn't break a rod when broken in slobbery rich. Remember that back then a BUNCH of those taper bores WERE broken in slobbery rich and lived. Truth is, most of them were broken in successfully the same way everyone broke in engines back then, slobbery to begin with. After all, most of us hadn't found out that what everyone knew as a fact (that a model airplane engine should be broken in slobbery rich) wasn't really true for some engines. Actually, because Glen Lee hadn't published it.

Back then, I think Lee was one of the first engine columnists. Actually, everyone didn't learn what everyone knows today from George because George wasn't writing much yet. George didn't get widespread following as an engine man until later. And if I remember correctly, George didn't even start writing until way late in his career. He actually wasn't the root source of all our notes.

But whatever.... good talking with you. It's pleasant to converse about the old days.... which is what us old guys seem to do a lot of.