Heli-NuBee

I though I had the 450 Saito radial engine ready on the Gilmore to run but I ran into a little snag. I could not get the Microsens glow system to light the plugs today. I will need to do a little trouble shooting and see if I can get it operating properly.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

Heli-NuBee

I found the problem with the Microsens on board glow system today. The problem was with a bad T connector. I guess I used too much heat when soldering the connector because plastic melted and kept the connector from making electrical contact. Eveything is working great now. I am very close to running the engine but should do some other minor small things like fuel proofing, rechecking control throws, tighten the covering and etc.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

Heli-NuBee

I got my Saito 450 radial engine powered Gilmore Red Lion racer running for the first time today. I shot a very poor short video of it running http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkH7V...ature=youtu.be. Sorry for the poor quality but I could not see the screen in the bright sun light. I picked up this engine used in a trade with one of my club members. He tells me this engine has never been in a plane and only has about six bench runs. The engine ran pretty well but does need some run time and some fine tuning. One disappointing thing though was one of the cylinder mounting bolts on cylinder number one that attaches the cylinder to the crankcase broke during the initial runs. I think it is going to be a real pain to remove and replace the broken bolt. I am just an old big kid that is tickled with his new toys.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

earlwb

That may not be a big problem.  Usually once the head of the screw breaks off, the threaded body is not under tension and can be unscrewed OK.  What I do is get a really good high quality drill bit and using a drill press to keep it straight, very carefully drill a hole into the screw, not all that deep either. But just enough to be able to tap in a hex wrench or a small screwdriver tip so I can unscrew it.  Anyway, I have done it to quite a few model engine head screws and backplate screws before.

Now in your case you'll have to pull that one head off, and pack in some rags around the opening to keep debris out while working on the broken screw.


here is where I had a screw break off on this engine, and I drilled a short little hole in the screw, tapped in a small screwdriver tip and unscrewed the screw body fragment out.

Heli-NuBee

Hi earlwb, thanks for the input but I think the pain part is going to be the engine removal and dismantling necessary to remove the broken bolt. There is just a lot that needs to be done before one even starts to work on the broken bolt. For instance, removing and reinstalling the exhaust ring before I can remove the cylinder is a big job all in itself.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

Heli-NuBee

I could not get the other bolts out of number one cylinder on my Saito 450 radial engine. There seems to be some serious lock tight on those bolts. I went ahead today and did another test run, broken bolt and all. I got the engine tuned much better and it is now probably ready for fly. I was getting 6,450 rpm with a APC 22 x 10 prop on the static run. The engine will probably unload in the air and run a bit higher rpm and the engine will gain a little more rpm as it breaks in more. I am not really happy with flying the engine with one bolt broken on cylinder number one but the alternative is to remove the engine and send it to Horizon or take it to a machine shop. I will keep a close eye on the engine and see how this works out.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

hooker53

My Feedback: (106)

You have to be carefull doi g this but did you try applying some heat around lot area and then Turing it? The trick into heat it around where the bolt threads are but keep all the heat off the Cyl you can.

Heli-NuBee

Hey maxam (Tom), thanks for keeping me honest and motivated. After reading your post, I gave it one more try and for some reason, this time it was sucessful. Maybe the second heat cycle on the engine was enough to allow the bolts to loosen and turn. Any way, I was able to remove the broken stub without any problem after I removed the cylinder. I have included a picture of the complete broken bolt. I feel much better now that I know the engine is repaired properly. I noticed that the rocker arms, valves and valve train were very dry while disassembling the engine, so I removed all of the rocker arm covers and oiled the valve trains well. Now the Saito 450 radial engine powered Gilmore Red Lion racer is ready for its maiden flight.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

Heli-NuBee

My Saito 450 radial engine powered Gilmore Red Lion racer had its maiden flight today. Everything went quite well and I am pleased with the plane and engine. The plane flys well and is very stable. I had so much fun doing the maiden flight I had to fly it again the second time. The engine seems to run best at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle. It does not seem to want to run well at full throttle. 1/2 to 3/4 throttle is fine though because it flys the plane well. I had plenty of power and the plane was certainly fast enough at those throttle settings. It looks as though I have another winner. I second flight was seven minutes long and the engine used about 22 ounces of fuel. I had about 1/3 left on the 32 ounce tank at the end of the flight. I wish I could find someone local that could or would do some videos because the club fellow who used to do a great job passed away and no one else seems to be able to do a good video.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

hooker53

My Feedback: (106)

Congrats on this one. Looking good. Looking forward to some videos.

Tom in Cincy

My Feedback: (16)

Roger, I have several 450r's and I can tell you it should run at full throttle. I had one that did exactly what yours does. It was caused by the intake manifold assembly rotated 120 degrees from where it should of been. I was able to confirm this by checking one that was new in the box. If you bought yours second hand it may have the similar error. The used 450 I had was locked up due to castor oil siezing the engines components . This occurs when the 450 (or any engine) has sat for years with castor in them. This for sure is one reason Saito tells you to run 100% synthetic. A castor fuel is ok during the flying season but only synthetic should be run later before putting it a way for storage.
One additional note for Saito 450r users.Do not remove the choke assembly. I believe it helps cause turbulance which better mixes the fuel and aids in fuel draw. When I removed the choke components the needle valve had to be turned out to over 5 turns and would never tune correctly.

If there is one thing I have learned tearing these radials down, is I will never again second guess Saito engineers.

Heli-NuBee

Hey Tom in cincy, thanks for your input. My Bad, I did remove the choke on my engine. Also, my engine was used so the carb could have been rotated. Can you provide a picture or some info on the correct position of the carb? Mine does run at full throttle but seems to run slightly less rpm than at 3/4 throttle. I can't tell if it is running leaner or richer but it will not tune any better than I have it right now. It is turning 6450 rpm static on 10% Omega fuel using an APC 22 x 10 prop. This combination flies the Gilmore quite well. Thanks again for your help.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

wheels

I run my 450 in a su-31, 1300 rpm idle with no glow and it never drops a cylinder. 6200-6300rpm static with a vess 24a. Mine ran like garbage till I found advice here and started cranking in the low end needle... I can't remember for certain how far I had to turn it in from factory setting but it was a LONG way (over a full turn I believe). Now it's the best running/starting glow engine I've ever owned.

If your engine is losing rpm from 3/4 to full throttle my guess would be that you a running WAY rich and you're seeing the drop in rpm when you pass your on board glow limit and the plugs are no longer being heated. If you haven't already, tune your engine to run with no glow on, I only ever use my glow system for starting.

affas

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM5xVUEEBd8&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

This is my third flight with the Saito 450 conerted to gas by Adrian at www.ch-ignitions.com
Starts very easy and runs smooth.

Can only get 5500 with 24x10, but more than enough for my TF FW 190 which is going to have this engine installed

SrTelemaster150

The Saito Radial Engine Manual lists 1200-6800 as the recommended RPM range for the FA450R3D


Sigh.... Cool Power is a specified fuel for Saito engines.

I've been running exclusively for many years in my Saitos W/O a single issue.

Heli-NuBee

I put a couple of more flights on my Saito 450 radial engine powered Gilmore Red Lion racer today. This is turning out to be a great combination. The plane and engine are awesome.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

Heli-NuBee

A sad day for me. My Gilmore Red Lion went in today at full throttle. I lost control of the plane near the end of the second flight. Everything is distroyed, batteries, plane, servos, receiver and the engine is badly damaged. I'm not sure I will have the engine repaired because it is no longer in production and it would be a costly repair. I could not even reduce the throttle setting so I suspect the receiver battery failed or became disconnected or there was a switch failure. I am very sorry that I lost that great flying plane and great running engine.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)