The biggest dowel I can find around here is a 1 1/4" Poplar. Is Poplar going to be ok? I am trying to fit this DA-85 to my Edge 540 H9 33%.

Thanks,
Kevin

That's what held my DA100 to the front of my edge and now on my Sukhoi. I used 1 1/4 " fender washers on both ends though. Made a sandwich of the wood dowel.

Thanks! Just what I wanted to hear. Now for the tedious task.

Kevin

Here is what I did for standoffs, I made the walls thinner after pictures taken.
The mount is even and parallel on both sides, notch on back side for needle adjustment.
Cross laminated maple stock for strength and milled it out.

Looks nice!

Very nice job! Want to make another?

Hi Mr. Mugen,

I can make more, it will be ~35-40 shipped.
This is not a profit maker, gas to the wood store, post office, shipping cost, cost of wood and the time to make it.
If still interested in PM me.

Thanks,
Tony

I'll take one...................

This is how I mount all my engines now. I have these available in custom lengths for DA-85 and DA-100. A kit costs $25 and includes the long 10-32 socket head screws, fender washers and 10-32 blind nuts. I've used it on 4 DA-85 installations now, rock solid, very light, and it leaves room on the sides to access the linkage and needles.

One neat feature on some planes with DA-100, there's enough room between the engine and the firewall to put the ignition in the gap. This works out very nicely, keeps the ignition out of harm's way.


Tom Fawcett
Wild Hare R/C

You can also look at PAU. They have a kit with stacked pieces of 1/8" ply. Just adjust the number of pieces for the length that you need.

Well off to the mill next. This is going to be interesting.

Kevin

Too much work... I'll mount a 150 using the method Tom noted.

Well when time is on your side why not eh. Seem to have lots of it lately. Not sure this will work out but at least I will have tried and learned something if nothing else. I have never milled wood before and just thought what the heck...I'll look up properties of wood in my machinists handbook and found it! That book has it all. Learning a ton from it and it has not even been cut yet. Didn't know they broke wood down so far. This is interesting stuff for sure. I hope a 2 flute mill will work good. If nothing else it may serve as a good rougher. I need to order more tooling bad. Limited to about 10 endmills and a few face mills. Just getting set up with my mill and lathe. Never would have pictured wood chips on my mill though.

Kevin

Your end mills will last a lot longer on wood than metal. Hardwoods are really good stuff and a hell of a lot stronger under compression and in shear than many realize. You'll enjoy working with it.

Your not kidding! I am turning my 1/2 inch 2 flute endmill at 1750rpm and feeding it at about 5-7 IPM...guessing it is all manual. It cuts great with no signs of trouble yet. Just getting the center of it hogged out now. Wondering it I should do the outside profile first? Not sure but heading back out for another 15 minutes before we gotta leave for the sled dog races.

More later and a pic too.

Kevin

Well I think I will stop right here and drill out the bolt holes. Not sure if cutting them last is a good idea or not. If something wants to blow it will be much easier with all that material gone....what do you think? Kids are in bed now so I am done working on it for tonight. Shop is right below the bedroom wing.

Kevin

Well it is still in the rough but it is all set to be finished now. Got the holes drilled and they all line up perfect. The bolts drop right in with no play. Now to cut it off the block and mill to right height. Should be done soon. Thanks for the idea tkilwein....appreciate it.

Kevin

Thanks you all for the insight and pics. Esp. Tony for the start on this. He was kind enough to try and make me one with a blow out. I wish I could replace the time you spent on it...sorry. However this one turned out flawless but took some time as I knew it would. I made small passes and a lot of them. I didn;t want this pic to look like Tony's...no offense Tony...just tried taking every precaution from what I learned from you. Your on heck of a guy. Well what do you's think? Still need to hack a hole in side for the adjustment screws and finish sand it a bit...maybe throw some sealer on it too.


Thanks again,
Kevin

Looking good, no offense taken and I would have taken it as a compliment if you copied mine.
Glad it worked out.
I did a major boner sunday, will doing some work on one of mine I forgot to put the fuel
lines back on, distractions are not good. After ~30 oz into a 20oz tank I realized something wrong.
Dried it out and left in sun for a few hours and back in the air after a good checkout.
Here's the DA85 in flight. It's a power house.

When you do the side slot, consider angling the slot to match the needles.

Well consider it a compliment by all means......I tried to copy yours . I did just that, and made the holes angled as the needles are. Might make way for the choke too. Really would like to not use a servo for choke since it only gets used once or twice a day. Will get a rod made up for this part. So close I can taste it! Too bad winter will be around til June. It's a short flying season here and I want this one to be ready for spring.....or summer. We only get 2 seasons here....shoveling and swatting....snow and mosquito's.

Kevin

I have a choke servo and I like it, just flip a switch and it's on or off.
Have the smartfly ignition cutoff and the choke to kill if problems arise.
I have a few planes setup for snow, it,s a blast. Use the Raydiowarm glove for the 14mz.
The display does not like the extreme cold.

I would not mind flying in the snow but we got so much of it, that we can't get into our club field or anywhere that wasn't plowed from day one. This is a typical year here. Just not the flying type place for winter....unless it's lite and electric.

Kevin

That sucks!

Good news for the DA 85 owners, now it’s easy to build the motor box for this engine. Desert Aircraft states clearly in their manual you can’t use standoffs otherwise the warrantee is voided if a crack in the case occurs.

Well, here is the solution –
Fritz’s DA 85 Motorbox

[link=http://www.wyliewarbirds.com/products/gasmotors/gas.htm]http://www.wyliewarbirds.com/products/gasmotors/gas.htm[/link]http://www.wyliewarbirds.com/products/gasmotors/gas.htm

The price is low and the design is approved by DA. The box is very strong and easy to assemble.

Hope this makes some of you guys happy.

Happy landings

G-Pete

Hey better late than never eh. I am sure others will like this option. They are the same thing as the one's PAU makes. Only PAU's have the jog out for the carb which is very much needed IMO. Looking at the pics you provided it seems like the inner lines do not come over enough to clear the throttle arm. I was using the hole center and the inner line as a ref while looking at it. Am I off base here? Or is there enough clearance for it?

Kevin