SAITO ENGINES and FUNNY things that happen...
 

Perhaps here we can discuss some of the funny things that happen while you are working on/flying or maintaining your saito fourstroke for instance..how much damage can you do while running your engine in the shed? quite a lot if my experience is anything to go by :)

Pete, I can hear the popcorn popping as I type!

if you are giving out some award or club number, I want in on it.

Barry welcome,if someone wants a number have at it :)

I'm hoping embarrassment or shyness won't stop people from relating their experience,hell they can pick on some of mine,i'm all for it as long as it's all good natured and fun for everyone.We could discuss the follies of mounting fa115's to soft pine with self tappers for a bench run,in and out of the shed,in fact way out of the shed :)

I'm not sure if this is a Saito or not, might be an OS... I'm sure many here have seen it but it is the funniest test stand FAIL I've ever seen.

http://youtu.be/1Pk9y5t1N9Q

Tim i saw that and thought the guy got nailed.When the camera was pointing at the floor i was waiting for the blood to start flowing.I bet he learnt something that day if it was me i'd have gone down the road and bought a lotto ticket.

Sammy the hardcore saito boys seem a bit depressed lately with tuning issues and what not so i got an idea to cheer them up a bit.If you hav'nt sold your guitar yet could you strum the opening bars to the movie deliverance for us while singing the words to elvis presley's heartbreak hotel buddy ?? and if your wife makes a vid and can post it that should be fun don'tcha reckon..counting on ya buddy :):)

I have killed a lot of those great big bumble bees over the years, they are attracted to rotating props. I had a .30 get loose from my PSP, it was hanging in mid air by the fuel line and the throttle. I tossed a towel at it like you're not supposed to do. It's a .30 eh.

Yeah, I find it ridiculous to not use at least two clamps. Hell, I use 3-4 whether it's a .10 or a 1.20 4-cycle. You can never be too careful. Just imagine a 16" prop flying through the air without a plane behind it. That could be some serious carnage.

Yup it's no fun cringing behind the lawnmower with a saito screaming around the shed on an unauthorised flight.,I think bumble bees hastened the invention of the full face helmet.

The PSP has two clamps, somebody neglected to tighten the screws.

Somebody?

Somebody who's name is Dave. Fortunately I never did that with the Saito 2.20 or a SuperTigre 4500.

That's just crazy. Who'd fire up an engine without making sure it was firmly clamped in place? Surely a rookie....? ;) ;) :)

More embarrassing yet is the fact I left six screws loose in order for that to happen. Haste makes waste or something like that.

My grandmother always told me that. It took 20 years for it to sink in. It still haunts me from time to time. I'll post pictures later on of a mistake I made that destroyed a prop in an instant.

My RC airboat club has an unofficial set of speed records. Water, grass, snow, etc. I wasn't trying to obtain a record but merely find out how fast my boat goes on grass. Our records are obtained using handheld GPS units. I strapped my GPS to my big flatbottom boat powered with an Enya R120-4C engine and blasted around the soccer fields near my house. Little did I know the GPS shifted and the bungee cords holding it onto the hull came loose. Spinning prop at 11k and hitting a plastic GPS case does this to an APC prop besides stop the engine instantly...... The engine was not harmed in this incident. I never located the other prop blade or the tips. I turned my back for a split second while throttling up and THUD!

Don't feel too bad about losing an APC, you lost nothing of value.

I will agree to disagree. Wish it was an MA but oh well.

Yes sir, APC's are one of those love/hate things we run into now and then in life.

What I meant was I'd rather wreck an MA than an APC. MA props are cheap, but they are better than wood. I will give them that.

A topic gone begging
 

This thread reads like the monthly minutes of the "Spit and Whittle" club. Must be a slow week.:rolleyes:

Well, I forgot to tighten the glow plug on a Saito one day, I had just rebuilt the engine, test ran it, flushed it out and oiled it up and just finger tightened the glow plug. Later I went to use the engine and mounted it in the airplane. I then fueled up the plane, started up the engine Ok, tweaked it a little, and went on the maiden the plane. The plane roared down the runway, lifted off, got about three feet up, then coughed and backfired, threw the prop and spinner off and I made a rather scary dead stick landing on its maiden flight. Fortunately no damage done. I found the spinner and prop, but the prop nut and prop washer had disappeared.

Putz! :) you're in good company.

:D

You're welcome.

Is not 13x7 (330x178) prop too small for a 120-size 4-stroke engine?