Gas radial engines
 

what gas radial engines are available under 100cc?

Well Saito makes a 84cc three cylinder radial gas engine. That may be it as far as I recall. But there may be some ignition conversions for the radial engines too. There have been some folks coming up with radial engine CDI units that do not use a distributor.

Thanks earlwb. I was thinking of something that is more radial look. But if Saito is the only one, then I will probably get that since I really like Saito engines. But HH is out of stock now. Wonder how long I'll have to wait. To convert a grow to gas is too much know how for me to deal with.

Ch Ignitions has been working on a three cylinder radial ignition unit setup, that is fairly simple to install. http://ch-ignitions.com/
I would contact Adrian at Ch Ignitions and see what he can do. He'll likely ask that you send him the engine to install the unit on for you too.
Here is a video of the ignition on a Saito 450 radial engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iERCMNum7XY

Thanks again earlwb, i will consider either this Saito 450conversion or the Saito 84cc for right now. i hope something like a 7cylinders gas radial will soon be available in the market, something that looks like the Evolution small 7 cylinder glow radial, it is so beautiful a machine even just to look at.

Saito has a newly released 3 cylinder 33cc (FG33) out in Japan. Europe and NA markets to follow.

Evolution Radials are a reboot of Seidel's so you probably wont see anything new from them. The main limiting factor at the moment is there just aren't many manufacturers of 4 stroke gas engines in general. Moki, OS has 1 engine, Saito, and the UMS Evolutions/Seidels. That's about it. Im hoping more get on board just because they plain sound a lot better.

thats great! will try to get one from japan if no other source.

just called my local distributor, they have one in stock and now being held for me to pick up today, sweet!

I'd got my Saito FG33R3, the 3 cylinders radial engines. It makes my heart smiles when I look at this machine. On the 1st day I had it bench run in for 2 sessions of 20 minutes each, rpm within the ranch of 3K-6K, very stable, the sound is smooth and beautiful. On the 2nd day I started my bench run in with 30 seconds at 3000rpm, then went up to 7000rpm, it ran for 2 minutes, then died. when I turned the prop, it had lost compression and felt like something is broken inside. I opend up the back of the crankcase, and realised that the connecting rod and 2 link conrods were broken into pieces. Now I will need to have my local distributor to ship it back to Japan for Saito to repair. I am disappointed that Saito has this kind of quality problem.

sorry to hear about the demise of your Saito FG-33R3. What size prop did you use for running in? What oil ratio did you use?
I hope you get it repaired and back to you soon.

I dont remember now, but i either used 16x8 or 15x8 3 blades master screw, 20:1 mix for the 1st tank, then change to 15:1 mix for the 2nd tank, the rods broke during the beginning of the 3rd tank on the 2nd day. The engine is repaired after about a month. I got it back but haven't test it yet. The local distributor wanted to charge me 200s dollars for the repair but I didn't agree, at the end they lowered to usd70 which is the amount I paid. They claimed the rods were broken because I ran it too lean. The engine ran smoothly during my first 2 tanks, normally I wouldn't think an engine running so smoothly could still cause the rods to break into pieces after 2 tanks while the rpm was maintained below mid range. Perhaps this could happen for Saiti engines. I'm not unhappy about this damage nor about the damage not being covered by the warranty, just it makes me to have the feeling that Saito engines are fragile but expensive, while DLE is durable and forgiving, cost much less. Among my 5 currently flyable gassers, 2 are Saitos, 2 are DLE and 1 OS. The DLE are the easiest to break in and run continuously lean or rich, the Saitos have the sweetest sound but takes the longest to run in which I don't understand why they have to be like that, the OS feels like DLE but costs more and breaks easier, in my own experience.

I am glad you got your FG-33R3 repaired ok. Your experience has made me very cautious with running in my engine.

I applied some oil to the valve tappets and squirted some oil into the crankcase breather too. Using 16/1 (6%) mineral oil , run it for 2 hours now. Built up the revs gradually upto 7,500 max. It ticks over steady at 1,700 and blips up to 7,500 rpm cleanly. Adjusted the tappets (some were out) and replaced one of the spark plugs. Currently on a 17 x 10 - I have a 16 x 8 on order.
It will need another tank of fuel before it is fully run in, I will take it upto the 9,500 max rpm.. Then I will be changing to 20/1 5% synthetic oil for regular flying.

now i believe that the rods were torn apart because i had it well too lean during my first 2 tanks of run in. the manual suggests to run it so rich that at full throttle the rpm should not exceed 5,000. after i got it back from repairing, i run in as rich as possible, now i have more than 10 flights so far, still on the rich side, and always run it a full turn more of high needle for a minute before the first flight of the day, after that lean it to about 7,600rpm to continue the recommended 20 break in flights. the engine had been really stable, never quit once, from idle to wot smooth and nice. i dont have to change spar
k plug yet. still on 17x6 APC, 20:1. very nice engine, beautiful sound.

I just ordered a FG-33R3 and am looking forward to the experience. I suspect that I'll follow the recommended run in directions in the manual precisely. For what we pay for these engines, doing it right the first time, even it it means more time on the ground, makes sense.

Back to the original topic, I think I saw reference to a Saito FG-60R3 on some website, but have not been able to locate it since. For me, that would be a nice offering between the FG-33R3 and the FG-84R3. I'd love something that could comfortably turn a 19x8x3 prop. which is just a little big for the 33.

Cheers

i have had many flies since then, it has been a zero troble engine. I hope soon there will be a small cc 5 or more cylinders radial engine .

Right on!

have you tried any 3-blade props? If so, what size and what RPM did you turn?

Cheers

We expect to have the FG60R3 available late June of 2014. I don't have a lot more info as far as specs, etc yet but when I do I'll post them.

Pete

Right on, thanks!

I used 2 blades prop for the first 20 break in flies, after that I switched to 3 blades wooden prop, as seen in my profile picture. It runs so smoothly that I don't even pay attention to what RPM it produces. I don't remember the blades size.

Right on, thanks!

I'm installing in a DHC-2 Beaver so I'm hopeful to move to a scale looking 3-blade after break in. If you happen to remember your setup, please share.

cheers

These guys have good reputaion, they ship fast, they ship @ a reasonable price & the FG84R3 is almost $400 cheaper than Horizon.

https://rcjapan.net/saito-engines-ra...lv36evvq596po6

I don't know for the US, but in Canada, I will not save a lot of $$, 1430$ for the engine, 100$ for the shipping + the customs
it's not worth it and I think with the customs, I will pay more

They may not be able to ship to the US, anyway, as Horizon has the rights, here in the US.

I already contacted them about an FG33 that I was thinking of converting to CDI/glow fuel. The gas version was not much more than the FA200 (From RC Japan) & buying a carburetor/manifold was cheaper than buying a 3-cylinder CDI unit.

The quoted me about $50 shipping & no mention of any problems selling in the US.

Apparently, Horizon has the rights to vend in the US, but they don't have a lock on imports.

The only issues might be warranty, but since I do my own work, that's not a big deal for me.

Cool !

I had a friend that wanted to buy a product overseas, but it was prevented because of distrubution agreements.