I should know today................

Hi Pug, you saw Mika Woodward's Cap Saturday, sorry I missed you and Wreck, I was in Toledo. I understand the question about spending the extra bucks, but here is further insight: Mika uses a Supersonic Pitts style muffler on his plane that has larger stacks than are on my BME 6.2's standard mufflers. His ZDZ is definitely a good runner, and turned a 26-10 Zinger Pro propellor at 6,000 rpm. His engine was LOUD, however, measuring 101 db at 25 feet over asphalt, definitely too loud for IMAC competition. My BME gives 96 db over asphalt at 25 feet while turning the same Zinger Pro 150 rpm faster. We did some experimenting, and added inserts to his stacks, bringing the noise (sound?) level down to 97 db but lost 400 rpm in the process. Sound is more pleasant, less "raspy" and definitley quieter on the ground and in the air. As you saw, he STILL had good verticle performance, and could still pull out of a hover. His Cap weighs 25 pounds 3 ounces, and the 37 pounds of thrust he was getting according to my digital fish scale.....er........THRUST GAUGE was still greater than 1 to 1 (though it was noticeably less thrust and verticle performance than the original 42 pounds that turning a Zinger Pro at 6,000 rpm will give you).

Noise levels are becoming increasingly an issue at more and more fields, thus should be an additional consideration. There are a couple of fields in Indy that Mika couldn't fly, because of sound level restrictions. It's one thing if a pilot that only flies his own field and noise isn't a problem. On the other hand, I do enjoy "making the rounds" and need a plane that will meet other club's restrictions. If I had a ZDZ, I'd put a tuned pipe on it to keep the performance, and kill the noise. My larger BME gives me quiet performance, and for me, that's worth the extra money.

I definitely can't knock the ZDZ's great bang for the buck. Dick Hanson proves that you CAN get the ZDZ's great horsepower and be quiet at the same time. My point is that each has characteristics that are unique, there is definitely more than meets the eye at first glance. You're not exactly spending less and getting more (there are trade-offs in everything). You decide what YOU want an engine to do, then you pays your money, and you takes your choice.

Well said, Tim. And, it sure is nice to see someone spelling definitely correctly for a change!

...and for some quality flying footage....check out the cleaning up video on Joes website.....lol

My lousy DSL connection won't even let me play my own videos from the NET. They plane fine off my hard drive, though. Were you able to play all of the new six without trouble, Chris?

Yupp...I saw all 6 fine...

They were taken my buddie "Fullscale" Mike. He's the personal pilot for Larry Ellison. Not only does he get to fly his jets, but also his Extra, Edge, and new CAP232. :-)

I think he's a riot as a camera man... and crazy too, to let me TR on his head. :-)

Where are these new videos? I went to downonthedeck.com and didnt see anything new in the vid dept.

BTW, I had 4 mid-airs tonight. None of them took either plane out of the air. My boss and I were flying our IFO's inside the hangar. Way too much fun!

Try clearing your brower's history, Wayne. :-)

Hey Wayne!

Once you get them... time them and tell me how long each one is... if you would... thanks! :-)

thanks for info cant wait to get this thing flying

Joe,
I cant get any of them to play. I got one error message saying "run time was invalid" and another that said "Network connection lost"

I might just try zipping them up and posting them that way?

I made some of them smaller... I went to zip files... and even I was able to download them from my crappy connection. I had to make a few attempts on a couple of them. But, I got 'em all in the end.

I guess I'm special??

But here are my thoughts.......

I guy flying at your field (Nice field by the way......) had more than enough power. The type of flying that I want to do, which does not include IMAC, this combo would be more than enough. As far as noise, I, like you stated, would go with the tuned muffler system. Most of the guys flying the 102's at my field are at 106 db, but they hardly ever go above 1/2 throttle except on up lines. Most of the flying that I will do will be below 1/2 throttle. Which I'm sure is where you at on your Extra. I'm not totally set on the ZDZ yet. I will investigate more (Your field a week from Sat......). I hope to talk with your buddy a bit about it. I am however totally sold on this plane. I will pick one up soon. I'm looking for performance on a budget. What I watched at your field not only impressed me performance wise, but it fits into my budget. What I really want is a 35 % Radiocraft Extra with a 102, but $1400 sounds a whole lot better than $4000......

Thanks.

Pug

1) How long is this fuse; built? I hope it fits in my damn truck.

2) Is Wayne really worth a 67 post thread?

Pug