Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

How are they holding up? Revlite technology as good as they say it is? I've never owned one before.

I found this one and was thinking about using it in an old B&M models Kloud King that I'm building.


I checked out the http://www.nvengines.com/ under the support section and found this.

Maximizing your engine performance and longevity should be an important goal for every modelist. The model engines need care and proper operations in order to enable output in the maximum range without sacrificing the engine’s durability. This being the case, we need to make sure to understand at least five of the most important methods available for improving the performance rate of the engines. The following tricks and tips will enable you to take good care of your engine in the best possible ways.

1. Ensure your engine has the right compression for the fuel and propeller being used (see the article “Get the compression right”)
2. Always break in cold first - remove the head and a glow plug, inject no more than 1/4 teaspoon of oil into the intake and the same to the cylinder and spin the crankshaft with a starter for one or two minutes. Smiles...
3. Use the proper oil mixture. Requirements - minimum 18-22% oil in the fuel with
50% being Castor oil in engines smaller than .15 and at least 25% castor in larger
motors. If mixing fuel yourself, allow it to settle for a week before use.
4. Do not operate the engine at 100%. When reaching maximum RPM, enrich the mixture by
turning the needle valve counter clockwise 2-3 clicks or 300 to 400 rpm less than peak.
5. When in flight, operate the throttle smoothly without rapid acceleration/deceleration to avoid a
hydrodynamic ram on the connecting rod.



20 to 40% better fuel efficiency right out of the box...

Weighing only 13.1oz with the muffler...

Anybody using them? The one I found is a 40.

jeffie8696

Iused a 40AX on my trainer for a while but it injested something and messed up the liner. It ran terrific up until then, not the most powerful 40 in my warehouse but a good runner.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

The 40 was supposed to have put out respectable power for its size. I dunno about longevity of the ceramic coating on the liner. I heard that parts were available again.

C185Pilot

My Feedback: (25)

I have found them to be excellent engines. We used to class race the .o61 AME's and had them turning 26-27k rpm. They do need the castor because they are fit tight.

Mike

downunder

I believe the bolded portion only applies to the small Norvels (049, 061) which apparently are set up very tight. For the .15-.40 I've treated them the same as any ABx type as far as running them in because they're not exceptionally tight. Other than running them in I haven't used mine so far so can't say anything about how they hold up or whatever. I do think though that the "ceramic" technology is a big step forward. Norvel calls it AAO which is aluminium piston and aluminium oxide coating. In hardness, aluminium oxide is somewhere between chrome and diamond so should be very wear resistant and is also porous enough to trap oil. At the moment it seems only the Russians know how to do it commercially. I must admit I only bought my Norvels because of the technology .

earlwb

I remember some guys using and flying the .25 and .40 Norvel engines for several years. The engine were getting all beat up and raggedy, but they kept on running good. They liked the engines as they were very small and lightweight for their sizes. Fox has a couple of engines with ceramic cylinders and I don't remember reading about anyone having problems with them either.
I only have some .049. .06 and .074 Norvel engines now. I had a .15, I used for RC combat for a long time, it went through several airplanes, and it worked really well until it had a nasty mid-air one time and didn't survive the landing well at all. Norvel had gone away by then, so I just tossed it in the old engine box and left it there. I could fix it nowadays since NV Engines is bringing them back in now.

Mr Cox

The description in bold letters were written for the .049-.074 but I wouldn't do it to them either. Turning a cold engine over with a glow plug is just asking for trubble, it will bite really tight at TDC. A much better way is to pre-heat the cylinder, to relieve the pinch, and then start the engine and run it in with plenty of castor.

I have only used the .15 and below but they are great engines, run them on full castor fuel and you can run them fully leaned out with out any problems.

djlyon

I have the 40AX. I flew quite a lot on a fun fly. It runs very well with good throttle response. The power is on the low end of the scale for sport 40s. The reason I believe is because it is poorly aspirated. If you don't give them much fuel you don't get much power and then of course they seem to have good fuel efficiency. Maybe 20 to 40 percent right out of the box

Denis

hsukaria

I have AX40 that I bought from Sig about 4 years ago. I used it on a lightweight funfly plane (Model Tech Magic 36). I chose the AX40 because it is lightweight. However, the plane I put it in would do better with a 4-stroke engine for low-end torque. The Norvel AX40 did well from a throttle response, idle, and top end aspect. But it is not meant for high low-end torque. I briefly installed it on a Great Planes Escapade and flew well, but not as much power as a Super Tigre G-51. I plan on installing it on a Hangar 9 Sundowner 36 this winter. I will put a 9x7 prop and will be running it more as a speed/power engine rather than a torque engine. I don't think the stock muffler will work with the Sundowner cowl because it is a tilt-down muffler. So, I will be looking for a high-flow high performance muffler for it soon (don't know which one). I think the muffler mounting is similar to the OS 40FSR.
Does anyone know what other mufflers will work for the AX40 that are not tilt-up or down? Hopefully with performance boost?

hsukaria

Regarding poor aspiration, I wonder if using the carb from the new NV AX46 would help. I was told that the new AX46 is a bored out AX40 with bigger carb throat. But is info I got from the NV website, no personal experience.

djlyon

It will probably help. Getting more air has got to increase the power but how much is very dependent on the port timing. I would sure give it a try though. It is a very nice motor, just a bit too nice with that little venture.

Denis

aspeed

I can't say for the .25 and .40, but a bigger carb sure woke up my Norvel .15.

eroc144

My Feedback: (1)

I love the smaller Norvels but found the .15 to be underwhelming. What kind of props are you using and numbers are you turning? What replacement carb did you use?

EG

aspeed

I am glad I wrote this down. I spent a lotof hours checking .15's in the winter. The BB Norvel I checked was using a 7-5" MA G3 prop. and 10% nitro. 16,900 rpm with no muffler and the rc carb.The Big Migplain bearing was 1,000 rpm less.That put it behind th LA .15 (which was actually pretty good) I put a control line carb that I made myself in and it went 18,900 rpm. It was .202" dia. with no obstructions going through the centre. That put it near the top of the list of the motors I had to check, behind the Fora of course, Cox Conquest, and 100 rpm less than my example of the Rossi. and ahead of the Magnum XLS which I thought was pretty good. I checked all the motors without the muffler because that was such a big variable and some mufflers were really bad (like the AP.15) and the same prop. It was likely too big for the Fora, but it still was the fastest at 20,500 rpm. Maybe I should put some numbers in the "Tachometer Readings" section here.