Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

OK, been lovin' my Hangar9 Arrow. The 3-bladed prop on the Evolution engine was a great idea for slowing the aircraft down in the initial flights, particularly landings, but now I'm ready to play with the grown-ups with a 2-bladed prop.

Problem is, the normal Dubro-type 2" spinners that I have been using on other aircraft don't work on this engine -- the spinner backplate really neads to be absolutely flat like the 3-blade spinner that came with it. LHS's don't seem to stock anything that works. How is everyone else handling this?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

Would it help to remove the flywheel? The engine will run without it?

Enjoy,

Jim

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

Haven't tried it yet but I'm assuming the spinner would fit if I removed the flywheel and I assume the engine would run OK.

That, of course, raises a whole new set of questions, maybe deserving its own thread. To Wit: Is everyone leaving the flywheel on their Evolution trainer engines or are they removing them? If so, why? The flywheel thing has always seemed to be a good idea to me, and the engine runs and idles very reliably with it, even at incredibly low RPM....

But removing it just to make a spinner fit seems crazy, particularly for an engine this popular.

-- Mike

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

Most often the flywheel is removed when the engine is removed from the trainer and a more conventional prop and a spinner are used. The engine seems to run pretty much the same.

Enjoy,

Jim

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

The Sig spinners have a flat back to them and a cut out that will accept an APC prop.

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

The Evo .45 runs like a bat out of h=ll with an APC 11x7 and the flywheel removed. You will love the engine then. The engine never needed that flywheel to be reliable. It still idles and runs as before. You won't notice it being gone, except for better performance. When I resurrect my trainer, I'm going to put a Tower muffler on the .45 and see what it does then.

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

Thanks for all the great input guys. One other question I'm a little embarrassed to ask but you all seem to be nice people so I'll bury it in this thread......;)

I'm not at all sure what size Evolution engine I've got in my RTF Arrow. The whole package was advertised as an Arrow 40 but the engine appears twice as large as my other OS 40's. Flight times on the 11 oz tank are less than those with my others with 8 oz tanks. I note that Hangar9 is very cagey with the documentation, always referring to the "Evolution Training System" but never specifically mentioning an engine size. I can find no indication on the engine itself, other than an "alpha" character where the engine size normally goes. Is it really a .46? or .45 if there is such a thing?

This is all pretty spooky....

-- Mike

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByC...ProdID=EVOE100 , on this page under specs it says 0.455, 0.45 or 0.46? it appears to be a bit of both.

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

Thanks for the link.

OK, I finally took the trouble to look up the entire Evolution line of engines and sure enough, apparently the only one of approximately my size with a flywheel is the EVOE100, a .455 size machine. Interesting. I've put 3 gallons of glow fuel through this thing not knowing what size engine I was running. [:@] Am I clueless or what? Must have been all the reviews I read prior to buying it, all of which referred to it as a .40 trainer. Particularly this one, which I think is the best known (note caption on picture, for ex.):

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Explore/...ArticleID=1229

So, I guess a good, middle of the road 2 bladed prop would be, say, a 11x6, rather than the 10x6 I was pointing at before..?

-- Mike

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

You touched on some of the recent history of how that engine was advertised. It was called a .40 engine for a long time, and I have no idea why. It is indeed a .455 displacement engine. It is well worth the money as it has a tremendous amount of power. It is ridiculously easy to tune and stay running.

I tried quite a few props on mine, and the APC 11x7 was about the best for all situations. You could put on a smaller pitch if you wanted more vertical pull. The Master Airscrew series was disappointing compared to the APCs. Zinger 11x7s were worthless, imo.

One thing about those Evo 3 bladed props. Balance them!!! I have 4 of them, and they all are way, way out of balance. Mine all have one blade lighter than the other 2. You know how everyone says to sand a little, balance, sand a little more, etc? Well, on these props you get out the Dremel with a sanding drum and grind away a lot of plastic before you can get close. Forget sanding small amounts or you will at it for days. I was a beginner when I landed one evening and 3 engine mount bolts were shaken out. Two were stripped. I didn't know about prop balancing then.

When you get tired of your trainer, put the Evo .45 on your next plane and it will surprise everyone at the power it has. Just take off the flywheel weight and prop it good.

I hope to fly mine again next week. I'll post my RPMs, and how well it flew with a Tower muffler.

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

Try a zinger 10-7, the 11-7 is way to much prop for a 45.

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

What makes you say a 11x7 is too much prop? Mine has plenty of power with one. I have it on a heavy trainer for now. I can take off in about 6 feet and be going vertical. It has more than decent power.

RE: Trying to find spinner for Evolution engine
 

I did get the old trainer and Evo .45 out to the field today. The engine ran well after all these months of sitting. The APC 11x7 tached at 10,700 with Omega 15%. The plane had power to spare with this prop, just as it did in the past.