Thank you a lot for your trouble. Do you mean that the reason you are calling again to talk to him is that he might have other parts for th H-1 too? Like cowl, canopy, something else?

I was very pleased to se that website for the list of kits. My other favourite was there too. SrTelemaster, you are extremely helpful.

Yes Precision Cut Kits has plans & will cut the kits, (6 weeks lead time) but they don't have any cowls/canopies. They gave me contact information for Henry Budzinski who bought out Jim Pepino. I was hoping that Bud would have the accessories or at least know of some sources.

As far as my trouble? I'm @ a point financially where I don't have the resources to pursue projects like this one. Helping someone else gives me a certain level of satisfaction. Being able to participate & assist in someone else's success is gratifying.

BTW, what is your "other favorite"? i want to do a Don Smith FW-190A-8 & power it W/a Saito 450R3. The 450R3 will most likely be my next engine purchase.

MIG-3 is the other top favourite together with Hughes racer. I will buy them both from Precision. You have helped me more than you know. I hope that someday we might get a chance to meet in person. Maybe not but you never know.

FW190 is also a close contender on my list. So is Hawker Sea Fury. Outside warbirds Pitts Special is my favourite. I have two of them, both in top notch flying condition. Next runner-up is GP Little Toni. I have one NIB ready to be built with everything. That is for next summer.

By the way, how would you chacterize the differences between Saito and OS? You prefer Saito clearly. I would like to know your insight to your preference. I am curious.

I have (had) Saito, OS, Webra, Laser and few other brand of engines. And gasoline engines too but somehow I like nitro more with airplanes. Regarding rc-cars its gasoline all the way.

One of my real favorites is the Fairchild PT-19. I have one of the Dynaflite 89" WS versions. I made wing fillets & filled the front of the Fiberglas Specialties cowl for in depth (scale) radiused cooling openings. I used microbaloons/epoxy to accomplish that. I also built the scale roll bar & had somebody make me a pair of 1/5 scale pilots W/(resin) leather helmets/goggles, sheep fleece collars, the whole 9 yards. Each is a different pose W/the instructor looking off @ a slight angle while the student is concentrating, eyes straight ahead. I fully sheeted the wings & covered it W/Cub yellow & sky blue 21st century fabric. I also went for the added expense of Robart scale oleo struts. I could not find the correct instument panels so I substituted some for a PT-17.

It's not "Top Gun" caliber, but it does look pretty good. It's pretty heavy @ 16# but the FA150 on spark had plenty of snot to pull it into the air after a moderate ground roll & it would pull through BIG graceful loops on power. The power of the rudder is outragious. I had to reduce the throw as it would just put on the brakes & dive when I gave it full rudder as it was initially set-up. After reducing the rudder rate to a more appropriarte value, it would do 3 consecutive snap rolls in rapid succession W/a pull of the snap roll lever. W/the added wieght it would come in pretty hot & it didn't slow down very fast. I would have issues W/it taking back to the air when I would try to flare. I had to make a long, shallow approach to slowly scrub off speed for a good short field landing.

About 14 years ago, I crashed it into a safety barrier @ a field, smashed the mainspar in the right wing & snapped the horizontal stab off the left side. I plan to start over from scratch on the wing. I bought a complete kit right after the crash. Good thing too as they were discontinued. I want to build a little lighter, add flaps, cover it W/Solartex for a more realistic look & put my FA180 on spark in it for a bit more oomph.

I also have a SIG 1/3 scale Spacewalker that is framed up. The FA300TTDP in the video is slated to power that. I plan to also use Cub yellow Solartex on that & paint the red color sceme of Hazel Sig's Spacewalker on it. I want to go pretty detailed on that W/maybe full cockpits.

I have Wingsmaker 1/5 J-3 Cub ARF still in the box. I have a spark ignition FA91 for that one. After a few flights I will probably strip the plastic film & go Solartex on that too.

I am in the planning stages for a Brain Taylor 83" MK I-V Spitfire. I already bought the cowl from Vic R/C to assure that the Saito FA200Ti inline 30* "V" twin will fit. I have about 1/8 to 1/4" to spare on the front cylinder rocker cover. I will be going W/Vic's Fiberglas fuselage & he says he can lay it up for a lightweight but stong airframe. I want to keep weight down so there won't be rivet/panel lines, just an authentic color scheme & weathering. I am sending the 200Ti to C&H after it is broken in on glow ignition. Adrian is going to fabricate a nice tiddy EI sytem for it. Contrary to appearances it has a 30* offset twin throw crank & is "even firing" so an EI will be a simple, single magnet/sensor, single module, twin set up. Bob Holman cuts the kits for that.

I want a round engine warbird. to run an FA450R3. I am torn between a Valley FW190A-8 & an F4U Corsair. There's just something sinister looking about both, but the Focke Wulfe is downright nasty looking. Besides it would be fun chasing all those Mustangs around the local flying fields.

I also want a Biplane to use my FA150. I was settled on a Tiger Moth but as of late I have become smitten by the Maxford 20% Jenny & that's going to require @ least an FA220, maybe even a 300 twin. Man, they were BIG birds. Over 43" WS!

To me, it's all about the engines. I often select an engine & seek out an appropriate aitframe. The 300TTDP, 200Ti & the 450R3 are examples of that.

So here it is in a nutshell: You will need to purchase the plans from Scale Plans and Photo Service as they do not come with the "kit". (this is SOP for plans built "kits")

The plans are available from Henry Budzynski at Scale Plans and Photo Service. http://scaleplansusa.com/ ........$40 + S&H

The "kit" is available from Precision Cut Kits.(6 weeks lead time) http://precisioncutkits.com/kit_inventory.htm ...$385 (wood Kit) $260 (short kit) + S&H

The Cowl is available from Fiberglass Specialties. http://www.fiberglassspecialtiesinc.com/catalog.htm ...............$39 + S&H

The canopy has to be fabricated from metal & thin acetate/plastic but Henry assured me that it is a fairly simple task as there are no compound curves to deal with. After all, we are talking about a plane from the mid 1930s.


Post #75 has been edited W/the above information & detailed instructions on navigating the sites linked above. If you have trouble finding the product for the Hughes H-1 Racer, refer to post #75.

Also note. The kit is spec'ed for a Quadro 35 which is probably slightly less powrerful than a Saito FA180 so an engine in the 2.8HP range is specified. This might not be sufficient if added scale detail brings the AUW above the 18# estimate.

Can cut you a short kit. Please send a pdf three view in the scale you want and i will get you a bid. you will have to decide how much wood you mant cut and you have to do your own cowl doors and canopy. pM OVER THE PDF ILL GET YOU A BID ALSO CRRC MAKE A DECENT TWIN THAT WILL FIT IN A 1/4 COWL

I have nothing bad to say about O.S. engines. My limited experience W/them has shown me very good build quality power & reliability.

My preference for Saito engines is due to the 1 piece head/cylinder arrangement that allows optimal port routing & the pent roof (Hemi) combustion chamber also allows larger valves/ports that allow optimal breathing in the RPM ranges we use.

Almost all aircraft & 4-stroke motorcycle engines are of the "Hemi" design, some of the former utilizing the same 1 piece head/cylinder configuration.

The simpler straight gear cam drive of the Saito singles also has (slightly) less parisitic power loose than the helical Surpass cam drive.

The only bad experience I had W/Saito was an exhaust valve sticking problem most likely due to the castor content of the Byron's 4-stroke fuel I used when I started R/C flying W/my 1st FA150. It wiped off part of the exhaust cam lobe. The engine ran OK albeit there were some issues W/reliable idle which eventually lead me through onboard glow to electronic ignition in the search for the lowest reliable idle. In the end that was a very fortunate experience.

I dscovered the cam issue when I had to dismantle the engine after a full throttle, straight-in re-kitting of my Sr Telemaster ARF when I misjudged altitude right before initiating a split "S". Horizon sent me a replacement cam W/nothing more than a phone call, so that initial negative experience was not so bad in the end.

I have since run full synthetic 15% Morgan's Cool Power for both glow ignition & spark in all of my Sato engines W/O any more reliability/durability issues.

The new O.S. "V" series engines are interesting as they seem to be utilizing some of Saito's design features. The 420 7-cylinder radial looks awesome, but the price is just not justifiable for the size aircraft that would utilize that power level. It's as much as some of the medium sized Moki radials of much larger displacement. Too bad as W/it's 230mm diameter, it would be an excellent choice for the 80" WS Hughes H-1 Racer.

I like OS and Saito about the same. Both are terrific brands of engines. OS is over priced in the US because of the greedy importers and their pricing. I remember back when World Engines passed along its distributorship to the Great Planes conglomerate and the OS engine prices increased by one third over night. OS prices, nor Tower Hobbies have been the same warm and fuzzy folks that they used to be.

I'm not ready to buy into the castor oil being bad for four-stroke model engines just yet. I've only been using castor oil in four-strokes for twenty some years. A lean engine run can cause damage regardless of the oil type.


Ed Cregger

I don't see any problems with using a little castor oil in the fuel. Castor oil does wonders for protecting the ferrous metal parts from corrosion where synthetic oil does nothing. So usually I can run a 4 stroke engine for ages before I have to replace bearings. But I see other guys all the time replacing bearings every year and they use 100% synthetic oil.
Now granted if you let the engine sit for a long time the valves tend to get sticky and you might have to work them loose again. I also don't see using 100% castor oil as it tends to gum up the valves faster. Anyway I use a blend of synthetic and castor oil in my fuel.

SrTelemaster, can I have your telephone number? If you dont mind then send it to me via PM.

Btw, what do you think about the new radial gasoline Saito? I think it was FG-84R3 (or 83) witg 83 or 84cc fill volume, 5,7hp and just over 3kg. The Youtube-video looked interesting. Not breathtaking but good anyway.

PM sent Jari. Call me when convenient.


Sorry, I'm just not that impressed W/the Saito gas burners. Unless they have used roller bearing on the master rod journal of the radials, or any rod journal of a single/twin & increased the colling fin area I just don't think that they will last as long as the glow fuel burners @ the oil ratios they recommend.

Oh. they will probably last through the 3 year warranty, but I just don't see all the addded heat, reduced oil ratio & increased combustion by-products not taking their toll.

A 450R3 running spark ignition burning 15% N/M should put out @ least 5.8+ HP & last a lot longer than the gas burner.

I'm finishing up a 12.66:1 CR HC180 built on an FA150 case. I expect to get well over 3HP on glow ignition (my 9.56:1 stocker made 2.9 HP) On EI W/the same 15% N/M fuel I should see about a 6% boost so somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.2-3.3 HP on EI W/glow fuel.

I have it in my head to buy a gallon of 30% Cool Power Heli fuel. W/spark ignition it should be able to be tuned for some big HP even if for only short bursts. I have a 25% Hanger 9 CAP 232 ARF already set up for an FA180 & I can see some short duration high HP bursts for extreme vertical performance, torque rolls, etc.

Having big HP on tap would be a lot of fun on something that light & nimble.

I recently put my Saito FA91S straight in @ WOT (thank goodness the ground was moist/soft) It seemed to come through unscated until I was doing test runs when I set up the C&H EI. About 20 minutes running @ high RPM revealed a leak developing in the front bearing. Looks like the bearing didn't survive the hit & is failing.

Anyway, the engine was previously stored indoors for 14 years after I ran the previous airframe through some picked corn stubble when I "range checked the radio in the air"! DOH!

It will be interesting to see how the "innards" look. The engine had moderate hours on it before it was stored & has had close to a gallon of fuel through it before the latest crash. Exclusive use of 15% Cool Power so we will see of the horror stories about lack of corrosion resistance for all synthetic oils are true.

Ok, I found the YT [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCd76ZBtOE]SAITO FG84R3 GAS BURNER RADIAL VIDEO[/link]. I'm not all that impressed. It runs like what a 450R3 on EI/glow fuel would run W/slightly less HP. (than the 450R3 on EI W/glow fuel)

A 450R3 on EI with nitro/methanol should make nearly 6HP, the FG84R3 makes 5.7. A 13:1 CR ratio EI version FA84R3 running on 15% Glow fuel would make 7HP easy, be just as easy to start, run a LOT cooler/cleaner & most likely last a lot longer.

If Sailto had marketed the 450R3 W/EI for glow fuel use long ago they would have sold a LOT more of them IMO.

I do like the design concept of the [link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21757207&postcount=2312]IGNITION SYSTEM[/link]. (but not the way they mount the hall sensor & trigger magnets) Adrian @ C&H was trying to explain a system like that to me a few months back but I could not grasp the design.

[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21769897&postcount=2320]THIS POST[/link] as well as [link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21770036&postcount=2321]THIS ONE[/link] explain how the concept works.

Are you one of the above-mentioned cutters or somebody else? Can you cut a kit in any scale if need be? Like bigger than the original 80" ws if I would want that?

Hi All,

I'm researching my next build project and an H1 80" is top of the list. I don't have any plans or cowl yet but thinking about engine possibilities - i'm a glow fuel baby

I would really like a scale flying 7-cylinder radial and think the Evolution E735 could be a great match.

Its 35cc, 3.1lb, 7.3in diameter, 2.2hp. Compared to the recommended 1.8 4-stroke? such as a Saito 1.80 it would seem like a good match and fit in the cowl with room to spare.

Any advice much appreciated

Rob