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From the Editor - August 2021
Welcome to August 2021! We’re now well embarked upon our shared journey through the second half of 2021, which is turning into another year to either remember or forget, depending on your mindset. For my part, I plan to remember it, since it has taught so many lessons to those of us who are listening. I'm still learning .......... The “heat dome” that gave rise to record-shattering high temperatures here in Western Canada has moderated a little, albeit still leaving us with significantly higher-than-usual temperatures for July in our area. A tragic legacy of these conditions is a far more serious-than-usual forest fire season - we have fires all over the Province of British Columbia. Whole communities are threatened - already the village of Lytton is no more, having been completely destroyed by fire. The recent full-blown tornado that caused so much damage and human suffering in Barrie, Ontario (one of 5 such occurrences to hit Ontario that day) is yet another symptom of the rapid advance of climate change, in the face of which we appear to be collectively paralysed or still in denial.
The governments concerned are all well aware of the implications of their actions, but have openly expressed themselves as being OK with an ongoing pandemic because it's "only the older people" who will die (actually not true). Well, I'm an "older person" myself, as are many of my valued readers, so statements of this kind do not resonate with me - this is age discrimination of the most virulent and terminal kind. It appears that we don't matter despite our past and ongoing contributions to our respective societies. Immorality aside, such actions and attitudes do not reflect medical or scientific realities, such as the clearly demonstrated fact that the current vaccines are less than fully effective against the Delta variant which is now becoming dominant, nor does the protection that they do provide last indefinitely. Moreover, it's not "only" older people who die. The implications of the Lambda mutation which is now also spreading (it’s arrived in the USA and Canada) are still unknown, and there will be others. Such inconvenient facts along with a seeming increase in public refusal to cooperate with measures intended to enhance their safety and that of others (epitomized by the wearer of the above T-shirt) guarantee that the pandemic will continue for some time and will almost certainly evolve into further new strains. Accordingly, PLEASE continue to take all possible precautions, including getting vaccinated as soon as it’s offered and continuing to wear a mask when appropriate. I truly value my readers - I want you all to be safe!
These figures confirm that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political shenanigans, a significant number of folks are clearly remaining very much engaged with our hobby. Further confirmation comes from the fact that the mail box has remained quite active. I heard from quite a few of you during July, including (in no particular order) Luis Petersen, Ingemar Larsson, Tim Dannels, Tahn Stowe, Peter Valicek, Peter Rathke, Maris Dislers, Ilya Leydman, Don Imrie, Dave Zwolak, Tom Coletta, Steve Hainsworth, Stewart McLaren, Ross Purdy, Richard Bould, Andrew Boddington, Gordon Beeby, Derek Butler, Marcus Tidmarsh, Rob Jenkins and Neill McRae. Apologies to anyone whom I may have inadvertently missed in the crowd, and apologies also to those whose messages went unanswered - there's only one of me, and I do have other lives! The blog site has continued to justify its existence by contributing a small but steady flow of relevant traffic - thanks for that.
For those of you who don’t know, MECA is an international association of enthusiasts interested in miniature powerplants. MECA has remained strong through the years due to the selfless dedication of its volunteer officers and regional directors, as well as the loyalty of its members. The Dave tells me that MECA plans to hold a “Collecto” (a gathering to buy/sell engines and exchange information) on September 5th, 2021 in Muncie, Indiana in conjunction with the start of the Society of Antique Modellers (SAM) Championships. As a special deal announced through this website, MECA is offering a trial subscription to new members. The offer consists of a half-year membership (three issues of the bulletin/swap sheet) for $20 print in the US, Canada, and Mexico; $30 print all other countries; and $10 digital/internet access only worldwide. What a deal!! Interested parties should access the membership application/Join Tab online at www.modelenginecollectors.org, and specify interest in the half-year membership. I urge all of you who are not current members to take advantage of this offer - you won’t regret it!
I’ve stated many times that contacts from my valued readers having engine stories or insights to share are always most welcome! In that regard, I heard from reader Marcus Tidmarsh of London, England, who had been perusing my articles on Davies-Charlton and Alan Allbon. Marcus was good enough to apply his own considerable experience of business management to the development of a very credible theory regarding the nature of the agreement by which Alan Allbon was brought on board with Davies-Charlton in early 1953. I’ve added Marcus’s insights to the sections covering the merger in both articles. My very sincere thanks to Marcus! Marcus also discovered some very interesting information preserved in Isle of Man (IOM) corporate records relating to the corporate affairs of Davies-Charlton and that company's relationship with Alan Allbon during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. I’ve added my comments on these findings to both articles at the appropriate points. Suffice it to say that it’s fascinating stuff which opens up fertile fields of speculation ………! My valued Swedish friend Ingemar Larsson, editor of the wonderful LINA control-line magazine, advises than he’s trying to create some more room in his work area by disposing of some surplus engines in his possession. He’s open to reasonable offers on these engines. The list may be reviewed here. If interested, please contact Ingemar directly at ingemar.larsson.vis@telia.com
It’s been a while since I published my review of the various Mills replicas produced by numerous makers around the world. Australia stood high on that list! In that regard, I heard from Ilya Leydmann of the Sydney-based Macheast company which played a significant role in the development and marketing of the later Doonside and Macheast replicas back in the 1990's. Ilya’s comments have allowed me to update the Australian section of that article quite considerably. He has my sincere thanks.
Having revised my entry for the Australian Mills replicas thanks to Ilya’s comments, I was inspired to get stuck into writing up a review and test of the various Elfin 149 replicas from the same country. The engines marketed primarily by Macheast are quite well-known - what seems to be far less well-known is that prior to the appearance of those units, the legendary Ivor F of Doonside fame spearheaded a serious attempt to produce an Australian-made Elfin 149 replica of very high quality. The production of components for these engines was farmed out to various individuals, but sadly the coordination of this effort fell short of what was required. As a result, many of the components wouldn’t fit together, although they were beautifully made. In the end, fewer than 100 examples were assembled, and then only after a considerable amount of work on each individual unit. These replicas are consequently mega-rare today.
Still speaking of Australia, I can always rely upon my good Aussie mate Maris Dislers to come through with some new information every month! Maris has recently been trolling a variety of old Czech modelling publications. He shared a series of images of a number of Czech “wotizits” which appeared in the July and August 1990 issues of “Modelar” magazine - thanks, mate! I’ve added these to my long-neglected “Wotizit” pages as a group under the heading “Czech Wotizits”. Have a look and let me know if you can identify any of them! Any newer readers who haven’t already done so should have a browse through the entire Wotizit collection ………….you never know!
Another good mate of mine from Australia, Derek Butler, came through with an additional serial number for the unexpectedly well-made and fine-running T.Y.C. 2.5 cc diesel from China. I’ve added Derek’s information to the existing article on this website, with my very sincere thanks. Yet another Aussie, Gordon Beeby of Melbourne, contacted me through the blog site (which definitely has its uses!) to report having found a few advertisements which clarified the advertising history of the A-M .049. I’ve added Gordon’s information to that article, again with my sincere thanks. While he was at it, Gordon also reported the results of his major trolling of FROG advertisements in “Aeromodeller” magazines from the 1963-72 period during which A. A. Hales took the lead in marketing the FROG range after International Model Aircraft (IMA) ceased manufacture. In 1964 Hales assumed outright ownership of the marque and transferred the production of the FROG engines to Davies-Charlton Ltd. on the IOM. The information gathered by Gordon has done much to clear up some key details of that final chapter in the overall FROG story, including nailing down some key dates. I’ve made some changes to my existing articles on Davies-Charlton and the FROG 1.5 cc models, also incorporating Gordon’s information into both of this month’s lead articles. Much appreciated, mate!
So this month’s primary lead article covers the full history of the series of FROG 2.5 cc engines marketed by IMA and their successors. We go from the 1950 appearance of the FROG 250 right through to the final examples of the FROG 249 BB “Modified” unit produced by Davies-Charlton for the A. A. Hales organization in the mid to late 1960’s. The article includes the results of a very interesting tuning experiment which I conducted to test a pet The "Model Engine News" (MEN) transfer article for the month stays with the FROG theme. One of my earliest articles on MEN way back in 2008 was a piece on one of my personal favorites - the FROG 349 diesel. Reviewing that article recently, I was struck by its relatively poor organization as well as the indifferent quality of the illustrations. I can do far better now! Accordingly, this month sees the appearance on this website of a comprehensively reorganised and updated article on the FROG 349. I may be biased, but I truly believe this to be a story well worth preserving! For next month, I plan to tackle a subject which may surprise many of you The MEN transfer article for September will be what I consider to be another review which is too important to allow to slide into oblivion - the 1947-48 Aerol engines from Liverpool, England which were the direct predecessors of the far better-known Elfin range. The Aerol engines were immensely significant in pointing the way ahead for British model diesel design rather than looking I think that about does it for this edition. All being well, and if I can stay clear of COVID through the present spike, I'll be back to you with another edition on or about September 1st, 2021. Meanwhile, please accept my best wishes for continuing to rise above the present pandemic situation and political ineptitude and getting the best of what life has to offer under present circumstances. The heady aroma of diesel fumes, sparkie smoke or burning nitro may be more challenging than usual to experience safely, but I hope that at least some of you find an opportunity to get your fume fixes, as I intend to do! Take care and stay well - pay attention to the doctors and scientists, watch the numbers, get vaccinated and trust your own well-informed opinions rather than those of the politicians and their equally uninformed self-serving supporters!! Your well-being is not their highest priority - make it yours! Cheers, Adrian Duncan British Columbia, Canada ___________________________________ Note regarding material to be found on this site - unless specifically otherwise noted, all images and text which appear on this site are my own work, and I hereby assert my right to be recognized as the originator of this material. For the record, this material is made freely available to all upon two firm conditions:
Adrian C. Duncan British Columbia, Canada |
Despite the current moves by various governments to “reopen” things, we are very far from being done with the COVID pandemic. The UK's recent "freedom day" came at a time when almost 5,000 new infections were being recorded daily in Britain, making a renewed spike inevitable and encouraging the evolution of further mutations of the virus. Same goes for the recent "post-pandemic" free admission day at the Calgary Stampede, which has caused a huge infection spike in the Canadian Province of Alberta. We now have a major spike here in British Columbia as a result of the moves to "reopen" things. 
Meanwhile, life goes on at various levels, as indeed it must. For my valued readers, this very much includes a continued interest in model engines! Indeed, the site usage stats for July 2021 show that an increasing level of interest has been sustained despite competing distractions. The numbers for July 2021 showed an encouraging upsurge of activity on this site. The July total of 499,857 hits was well up from the June figure, as was the number of visits at 4,729. However, the really good news was that these visits came from a substantially increased 2,675 unique visitors - a new high mark for the site's monthly readership! Between them, these individuals accessed an increased total of 30,363 pages. I seem to be attracting a high level of ongoing reader interest - a good sign for our hobby! 
A very welcome piece of news worth sharing was the notification that a regular reader of this website and one of my valued correspondents, David Zwolak, has become the new President of the 
A welcome arrival in the mailbox every month is the latest issue of “
We might almost call this the Australasian Edition of this website, because the balance of this month’s key contacts all came from that part of the world! First up, a much-appreciated communication came from the mega-talented engine builder Ross Purdy of New Zealand. Having read the entry in my 
To support my research, Ivor’s son Tahn Stowe was kind enough to send me a collection of unassembled components for such engines. After a bit of a struggle (apparently typical!), I was finally able to assemble a perfect example of this very exclusive replica for evaluation and testing. The results will appear in my forthcoming article - watch for it! I’ll only say for now that this is by far the best-made Elfin 149 that I’ve ever encountered, and that includes a substantial number of the original Aerol products. My very sincere thanks to Tahn for his generous gesture!
Speaking of lead articles, this month’s all-new offering sees the final completion of a long-term project that I initiated way back in 2007, namely the complete documentation of the British FROG range of model engines produced initially by International Model Aircraft (IMA) and latterly by Davies-Charlton Ltd. Reviewing my earlier work, I found that the only series of engines in the FROG range which have not been covered previously were those in the 2.5 cc (0.15 cuin.) displacement category. Time to complete my coverage by presenting the full history of that series!
theory of mine. I think you’ll enjoy it! I should mention that my present database of FROG 2.5 cc serial numbers remains relatively sparse, so any additional numbers which readers can supply will be very much appreciated.
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