worst engine ever
 

I couldn't find a form for engines so wanted to see what is the worst engine you ever had.

I can't stand the Fox glow engines. They are the crapiest I've ever had. can't run right or ideal right well for very long any ways.
Now the Fox gas engines are good motors for the giant scale planes.

Kevin

RE: worst engine ever
 

Kevin, there is a glow forum and a diesel forum right here on on RCU..

If you want to stir the pot and get the Fox fanatics on your case, go post this on the glow forum.. and stand back.

RE: worst engine ever
 

Back in the late 70's - early 80's I flew Fox stunt 35's a lot in control line stunt. I did not like the Fox NVA and installed ST NVA's. Usually got one-flip starts and good consistant runs. My son won senior class C free flight at the 1980 Nats with a Fox stunt 35. I'm building an Old Time CL Stunt airplane for one of my Fox stunt 35's at the moment.

RE: worst engine ever
 

I tend to agree on Foxes - have one that is great - had several that were terrible. Just fixed a Fox 40 for a friend - filled the grove between the carb and the front bearing. Another Fox idea gone bad.

My worst engine - a Thor back in about 1955.

Paul

RE: worst engine ever
 

Some Fox engines were very good period.

Some of the bigger ones would not work without extensive modification then they were excellent.

But why should you have to make your own engine?

Fox fans look here.... It tells how to make the bad ones run good.

http://www.flitelinesolutions.com/projects.html

RE: worst engine ever
 

I just did the break in on a new Fox .74 ring this very afternoon while unloading a load of firewood. It will Idle at 1,700 rpm and turns a Bolly 12.5x8 at 10,900 rpm on 5% Fox fuel with 20% castor.. It's my 13th Fox engine. Your statement says more about you than the Fox engines. I have yet to get a worst engine.

RE: worst engine ever
 

Hobbsy:

Amennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. My worst engine is one I never could get started, no one else in the club could either. It was a Brown 29 ignition unit in about 1948. Oh, what a old motor. You should look in the mirror and see what I see sometimes.

RE: worst engine ever
 

any macoy.

RE: worst engine ever
 

I am a Fox fan and I would say that if you get past the carbs, which very from crappy to crude. The crude ones actually work pretty good but the detents on the needle are too wide, and the needles leak a bit. But the later ones are very good and the carbs are only slightly crude. If you like an engine with lots of torque but will still have a lot of power with a lighter prop, then Fox is great.

RE: worst engine ever
 

I had a McCoy series 21, black head square case. Ran great but hard to start hot, the dykes ring wouldn't have any compression hot. But it was almost as powerfull as a combat engine. I am told it doesn't last very long, but it met its demise in a crash. Great beginners engine.

RE: worst engine ever
 

I would say my worst engine was a Cox .049, I think it was a Baby Bee. For some reason it had little compression out of the box. All my other Cox engines were good, for such a small engine.

RE: worst engine ever
 

Well, a McCoy engine may have been hard starting, but least they did after 20 minutes of cranking.

My worst was any A/C or marine engine on the OK Cub lineup. I could get them to run at home, but once that engine left the backyard, it never started, ever again.

Wm.

RE: worst engine ever
 

k & b sport is the one that I just put in a trash can. but I love my fox. Never had a prob with them

RE: worst engine ever
 

My worst goes back to my CL days as a boy. It was a Cameron .19. I had it running, but it never was very good.

Foxes-I've had a lot of great CL & RC Foxes. Most people can't get them adjusted. Way back, I would pick up used Fox Combat Specials that weren't broken in-of course they wouldn't run. Those old iron piston engines needed a good long break-in. I would run them for another hour rich and have a great engine. I also has Fox .45s and Fox .50s that ran great. The ones with the butterfly carb ran great, but you did have to understand how to set them.

As for McCoys, I had a couple of the .35 Red Heads with the shiny silver case. I had one on a Flite Streak that I built back in 1960 when I was in pilot training. It would 1-flip start and I flew it and the Streak for a couple of years until I wore both out. Boy, does that bring back memories, flying the T-33 and the Flite Streak.

Did I tell you guys that I had a mid-air with an Iranian student and punched out. It was August 15, 1960, just after I had finished training and was waiting to go to my first operational assignment.

RE: worst engine ever
 

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Jim, I'll bet you that you can remove the spray bar and needle valve from the engine and get one flip starts.

The needle valve assembly doesn't work until the engine is running. It has nothing to do with how it starts.

I'll bet you knew that and I'm just honery enough to point it out and pick on you. <G>

Like you, I mix and match parts whenever I can, if it makes the engine run better.


Ed Cregger

RE: worst engine ever
 

I learned to fly control line with a Cameron 19. I have several of them I have accumulated over the years. Not the most powerful 19, but very light. I like the McCoy 19 better, but it doesn't have the same nostalgia appeal for me.

RE: worst engine ever
 

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There are a lot of folks spreading bad information out there, RCPAUL. I hope you haven't fallen victim to one of those folks. Fox wasn't the only one to use that spiral groove oil pump idea. It worked too. Problem was when they ran it under the intake tract, but even then, it was only an inconvenience.


Ed Cregger

RE: worst engine ever
 

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The only worst engine stories that I could think of all occurred when I was brand new in the hobby and didn't know what I was doing. Give me those same engines today and I wouldn't have thought anything about those terrible design problems that I was sure existed when I was young. <G>

Still, we all have to start somewhere...

Here's a hint for the newbie - All of my long ago worst engine stories revolved around trying to use nearly dead carbon-zinc batteries for glow heat. Today we have so many excellent choices for glowplug booster batteries it is amazing.

Back in the days of my youth, there were 1.5 VDC carbon-zinc dry cells - period. No NiCads, NiMH, Li-Poly, etc. Half of the carbon-zinc dry cells available were half dead when they were "new" from sitting in a store display case for three or four years. Make sure your ignition batteries are capable of providing enough current at the proper voltage. Half the battle is won with a good, strong ignition battery.


Ed Cregger

RE: worst engine ever
 

I'm not sure what MY particular "worst engine" story would be, but...reading about starting batteries, I remember a story.

Back when I was just beginning to fly C/L in the early 70's, (I was 11-12 ) had a problem with glow plug battery longevity...so, I bought 3) 6 packs of some cheap store brand "D" cells, and soldered them all together in parrallel :D then wrapped them all together with tape. I had this HUGE mass of 18 "D" cells all wrapped in a big circular shape...with a glow plug lead wire comming off from it for my plug. That set up worked for most of the summer..1972.

My next door neighbor worked at the phone company and took pity on me for having to lug that heavy mass of batteries around and gave me a couple of big olive drab green dry cells and they lasted me for the next 2 years [8D]

RE: worst engine ever
 

K&B Sport .45 too light to be an anchor, not powerful enough to be an engine. The idea was cool though, just which it had worked out.

RE: worst engine ever
 

As I recall the 1960s vintage WenMac .049 CL engines wore out after about 2 hours of use. They did start and run well for as long as they lasted.

RE: worst engine ever
 

an MDS, it ran good though..............for the 2 gallon it burnt between new sleeves.

kc

RE: worst engine ever
 

TigerShark 56 -- a total and utter dog.

Would backfire and throw the prop off quick as look at you.

Shook like a posessed fat woman

Made lousy power

Had such a fat mid-range that it would cut at half-throttle after 15-20 seconds, no matter what you did with the hi or low needles.

The only engine I've ever given up on.

But hey, it was real cheap :-)

RE: worst engine ever
 

For me it was the HP 21 4 cycle. Neat looking but heavy and put out no more power than a good Cox TD 049! Would barely fly a 3 channel "Pronto"...

I've had good and bad experience with Fox over the years, I just cant get past the crude looks.

RE: worst engine ever
 

Well I know I would never own a MDS engine, but I hear there good sometimes and most of the time I hear there crap.


Kevin