Green River

Sorry to hear about the Shark man. That always hurts. I seem to have the same issue, crashing in front of crowds. Must be Murphy just keeping us humble. The nobler should be a very gentle flier, much easier than the smaller plane. Larger planes are usually more stable and easier to fly. My guess is you are running too many rpm's. All synthetic oil fuels are not very good things for control line engines. The oils burn off at too low a temp. Higher temps cause the runs to lean out and fry the pistons of lapped engines like your OS .35. Castor doesn't burn off at such a low temp and stays in the motor and carries away alot of heat. A very good thing in stunt motors. When I was a kid we always flew everything at a screaming 2 cycle. Planes went fast and we didn't know any better. When I returned to stunt hearing the motors running in a 4 cycle just breaking on verticle uplines was a whole new thing to me. When the plane returns to level it should come back to a 4 cycle. If it doesn't you have a lean run going. The castor in keeping the motor cooler lets it doe that. Most engines will have difficulty doing that with a synthetic. There is a downside (isn't there always?). The castor really makes a mess on the plane. You will notice it builds up alot more cause it doesn't burn off. The low pitch props keep the motors from getting too loaded and help them return to the 4 cycle mode also. Alot of folks like the OS .35 stunt motor. I flew with it alot in the mid 80's and its a real challenge to get to run consistantly. But back then I didn't know the castor deal and can't remember what fuel I used. Some newer motors that work well are the Brodak .40 and the Thunder Tiger .36. The absolute killer motor in the class is Randy Smith's (Aeroproducts) rework (like complete guts replacement and retiming) of the Thunder Tiger into the Aerotiger .36. That motor runs like it has an electric switch to turn the 2 cycle on and off. It what I fly today. Nothing out there compares to it in its size range. But the LA is a very common and popular motor. Getting a venturi and control line needle valve will help you tame it alot too. Randy's web site (Aeroproducts. com) can be a help. He is very active on the stunt forums and is an engine expert in control line stunt.

Good luck and have fun. I still enjoy CL more than RC though 3D RC is really being a ball too. After the demise of my Saito .72 powered Brodak Strega (the reason I wound up flying the electric smoothie in modern stunt) the Saito is on its way into an OMP Fusion 3D profile. Guess you'd have to say I'm AC/DC when it comes to my modeling.

Bob Branch