I purchased a Valach 60 from Vogelsang for my 40% Brown B2 Miss LosAngles from Walt Mouchas short kit line. Working with Dr. Gotz and his lovely wife was a pleasure, they were very helpful with my purchase and spent quite a bit of time on the phone answering all my questions. The engine and all the extra goodies arrived well packed and in great shape. Valach says that a Two Hour break in is important before mounting and flying the plane. The suggested Fuel Oil mix is 25-1 for break in and then 30-1 after. Quality oil is a must, these engines us Oil that has passed by the Ring for Bottom end Oiling, then out to a catch canister to keep oil from building up on the Model. They pushed Valvoline 2T oil but thats a product of Europe and I could not find it here. I took the Specs from Valvoline 2T and crossed it with Amsoil Saber 2 cycle oil. I built a simple Test Stand and run the engine today with very pleasing results. 4 ounces of Saber mixed with 1 gallon of high octane fuel gave me a mix of 24-1 approx. Turning a 24-12 prop from Fila with all kinds of authority, I kept it under 2500 rpm for this first run, verying the throttle as we went along from time to time. The engine likes to start wet, I pulled the prop thru 4 times with the choke then energized the ignition and flipped it for start. The engine popped on the second flip then another 5 flips with nothing happening. Choked it again as before and it started on the second flip. The sound is amazing, just what I was looking for, this engine is a Beast. What a powerhouse, Throttle response is very smooth without any hesitation off idle. For a first run I find that amazing. Very smooth, vibration was way lower than expected. Cylinder head temps run around 290 and the jug never got over 215 degrees, the bottom end barely got over 100. At 2500 rpms I had to hold back the desk I had it clamped to, it wanted to scoot across my shop floor. Had to run just inside my shop door, we have bad weather here in Seattle. I put 20 ounces thru it mostly just above idle, so far this looks to be a very good purchase, the first run was trouble free and the huge smile on my face says it all. I let it cool for several hours then gave it a couple flips to see if it would again start easily, fired right up. Nothing worked loose and no leaks anywhere, I am very pleased so far, Super Pleased. I will continue the break in and bring the results here for those interested. Will be glad to answer any questions. See ya. Jim

The Valach 60s bench running has continued for 3 tanks now with run times of 30 min. each. Very easy to start as long as you choke it first and then it takes only a couple flips to get it going. On the 3rd tank the engine was showing to be a little rich at idle so I eased in the low speed needle and things really smoothed up. Throttle transition has stayed very smooth and the engine is improving a little each run. The real test will come when I get it into the air but so far I am very pleased with this Beast. No leaks or seeping anywhere. More to come. JIM

Thanks for sharing Jim, 4 stroke gas engines are my favourite among engines. I have a roto 85fsi coming very soon. I wanted a multi cylinder 4-stroke for my yellow P-40 and the roto is the best size for it, my second choice was a valach 60 but i wanted atleast a twin and the roto came up here on rcu for $1000 nib and couldn't pass it up.

keep sharing your experiences, Mike

I have completed the bench running of the Valach 60cc engine. Everything went smooth with no issues at all, no leaks or seeping anywhere. The engine has improved somewhat, it's a little smoother now and quicker to start. Mike, sounds like you made a great deal on your Roto 85, I too looked pretty hard at the Roto line and the Moki also before going with the Valach. The Moki 50 got good reviews everywhere but on Power output and the Roto inline I wanted was just outside my Pocket Book, wow, those inline twins really got a Bark don't they. When I get the Valach mounted I will try and upload some pics and I will report back as to how well it pulls my Brown B2 Racer around the patch. Jim

Just checking in on this report, what prop and rpm's are you getting out of it? I see they are releasing a 70cc as well which I am curious about.

I am currently breaking in a VM120 B24T. I dont use a fiala at the moment. Is it absolutely necessary to use the fiala? With a XOAR 30x12 wooden prop I find the rpms keep fluctuating on idle and full. I have only started the engine 2-3 times. I am getting very high idle around 1300 and the max rpm is around 3800 on the ground. They start great but I find the transition to be a bit sticky.. Could this be due to the fact that its still not even seen 500ml of fuel? BTW, I have a Fiala 30x12 on order, should take few weeks. I use Valvoline oil as per manual. What could be the reason for the surging rpms? Needles are stock and the engine is brand spanking new.

thanks.

this is my 73" span Miss LosAngles from a Walt Mouchas kit,, I bought it from the builder with only one flight on it.. it had a G38 in it, and it was not enough power for good top speed, with that said this plane does have a lot of lift, it lifted off the ground at about 35%, 40% Throttle, I was surprised to find that out,. the plane kept pulling to it's left down low to land when I came off the power, I read a write-up where by this can happen if a plane does not have enough Right Engine Thrust, if I ever get a new wing built for it I will put my MVVS 35cc in it, but it really should have a strong 40cc in it

I have to say that there are not many planes out there that are more beautiful than the Miss LosAngles.. well maybe one, maybe two, but no more

Jim

To the Wasp I must say that it was good to hear that your B2 lifted off so well at such a low speed, I have been concerned about the the airfoil since its so thin. Have not flown mine yet but Im getting very close to that day. Now that there are several guys out there flying with the Valach 60 and posting on you-tube and whatnot, I see that this motor has power to spare and a beautiful sound but it might not be a good choice for someone who wants any speed. Im glad thats not my need at all, many years ago that might have bothered me but these days just up and around the patch is all I ask. With a higher pitch Prop this engine might surprise us with some decent speed, I will look into that after I get things off the ground. Happy landings. JIM

GBQED, what is the span on your Miss LosAngles ? when I talked to Walt Mouchas on the phone he said he built one with a span of 100 inches, boy I would love to see that one !!

sorry, I don't know how to correctly calculate the total wing ares,, but my GeeBee has a span of 82 inches, yet it's fuselage is 3 inches wider than my Miss LosAngles fuselage, now the Miss LosAngles wing-cord is 1&1/2 inches wider than my GeeBee's wing, and I would bet the Miss LosAngles is a bit lighter

Jim

I purchased the larger of his two short kit choices for the B2, like Walt said, bigger flies better. I chose the Valach 60 mostly because I dont like the weedeater 2cycle sound and they had an engine big enough for my 42% B2. Mine came out to a 99 inch span and a fuse 99 inches long. Really pleased with Walts design, its built strong and lite. I did change the wing to a three piece to aid in hauling it around. I used an Aluminum tube and I had somewhat of a hard time finding a tube small enough to fit in that thin airfoil. Hopefully it will be strong enough to handle the wing loads during lite Aerobatics. I put it thru three wing bays for strength. It does have flying wires and that should handle anything I might ask it to do. I used Balsa USAs flying wires and there system looks clean and strong. Right now Im working on the Bar between the landing gear legs, thinking about using an Airfoil shaped tube with an allthread shaft inside for something to attach the lower flying wires too. Sometime soon I hope to be able to upload some pics of my project and let everyone in on the build, its been a great build so far. JIM

I guess I should have added than I feel the Miss LosAngles wing need to have Shear Webbing,, all I can say is that we did know that my wing was rather flexible without shear-webbing,, in flight my plane did feel smooth on the sticks, but if it hit a wind front the plane would react in different ways depending on the angle the plane would hit the wind front, ether the nose would climb or drop, or one of the wing tips would drop,, at that I had a bad landing, she would always pull to it's left badly just 2ft before the wheels touched down, and on the last try she got in the high grass and was pulled down, the wing was damaged, on the right side the upper front spar and the trailing spar were broke,

I bought a new wing kit from Walt, but I don't consider myself as a builder in wood, and I am worried about getting the new wing straight, so I need to find a good builder close to Vermont that will get the wing started, then I can finish it and add shear-webbing,

knowing how strong my GeeBee flew with it's fat wing with my MVVS 35, I can guess how strong the Miss LosAngles will fly with less drag and it's faster wing

Jim

Your right about the needed shear webbing, I installed it on the front spar on both sides, front and rear. I might have added it to the rear spar too but dont recall at the moment. Your plane pulling to the left at touchdown could be caused by not having any right thrust and trimming for that will always pull to the left when the throttle is pulled back like at touchdown. The wing is really a simple build and easy to keep straight because of the flat bottom airfoil, dont be afraid to build it yourself, just make sure your build board is flat. I would love to help but Im in the Seattle area plum across the states from you. If you have any questions about the build I would be more than happy to help. It also might help your problem to put in a little washout on your wing tips with a heat gun or iron, just twist the wing a little then iron out the wrinkles. Make sure you get it equal on both wings. Twist towards the ground to lessen the angle of attack so that the root of the wing stalls before the tips. Hope that helps. JIM

yes, after my,,,, mishap,, I search the net and found my answer to my problem,and I plain to add some wash out too,, but I have to say that other than pulling to the left the plane flew rather well when slowing down for landing

Jim

Side thrust is tough to add or adjust on an already built plane, and might mean having to construct or buy a new cowl. Sometimes it looks awkward as well. What you can do is use a rudder to throttle mix on your radio. Make it so that as you add throttle, a little rudder percentage is added as well. This way when you reduce power for landing, the plane won't swerve on you.

AV8TOR

heehee hee I was watching the movie Test Pilot with Clark Gable, there was a racing seen, and gee, guess what I saw in the back ground, I had to stop the movie and go back, I jumped out of my chair, and there it was all in red at the lift off of the race, the number 33, the Miss Los Angles,, pointed and told my wife, that's the full size of my plane, sO, somewhere out there there is tape with the Miss Los Angles flying,, very cool.

hold on, maybe I can find it on YouTube ??

Jim

I can't find it on the U Tube

Jim

I will look for that Movie, Thanks for the heads up. You might find it in another Movie called the Rocketeer from Disney, lots of the golden age racers in that film and I think there is a scene showing our #33 in the background and possibly in a flying scene, check it out. I may not have spelled that right but it should be easy to find.

Still waiting patiently to see a picture of your creation.

Loving this engine once it is running.

I am hoping someone has some basic needle settings I can try to assist in starting.

It requires 30 flips or more with choke on before it will pop. Once running it is great but I am hoping to get it dialed in for better starts both hot and cold.