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From the Editor - September 2021
Naturally, the scorching weather that we’ve experienced this summer did nothing to moderate the intensity of the record-setting forest fire season that we’ve been enduring here in BC. Thanks to all of you who have sent along your good wishes! The effects of rapidly advancing climate change are now so blindingly obvious and such an increasing drain on the global economy that the fact that there are still so many people in denial on the issue (our own Canadian government included) leaves me speechless. You’d think that all of the unmistakable evidence coupled with the recent UN report to the effect that we’re more or less out of time on this issue would have drawn some reaction from our governments, but amazingly enough they seem to be ignoring it completely and carrying on with business as usual. Don’t they have children and grandchildren …..?!? Talk to an intelligent 15-year old - they're way ahead of the politicians on this issue, knowing that it's their future that is at stake. However, they can't vote ..........
Things would improve a lot if more people would just think for themselves and realize that their government allowing certain behaviors doesn’t necessarily make them appropriate. People have to take responsibility both for their own well-being and that of their fellow citizens! Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said it better than I ever could. Please continue to take all available precautions and keep both yourself and others safe! If you don’t do it, who will ?!? Those who refuse to do their part to further the Mind you, the anti-vaccsers and anti-maskers do prove one valid point - there’s clearly no vaccine for stupidity or irresponsibility. There’s irony in the fact that the various political parties who have embraced the denial route are only just beginning to wake up to the fact that it’s now overwhelmingly their supporters who are being taken out of the voter pool as a result of their rhetoric. Moreover, they’ve realized that they're wide open to lawsuits from people who have suffered as a result of following their ill-considered advice. I ask you ...... cow and sheep worming mixtures.....!! They'll take those, but they won't take a proper medically-developed vaccine. Chickens certainly do have a way of coming home to roost …………. 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 August 2021 show that the increase in the level of interest which I've reported over the past few months has continued unabated! The 493,100 number of hits in August was little changed from the corresponding July figure of 499,857, but that didn't prevent the number of visits from rising significantly to 5,351 from the July total of 4,729. Indeed, this is the very first time ever that this site has attracted over 5,000 visits in a single month! However, the best news of all was the fact that these visits came from a very substantially increased 3,012 unique visitors - yet another new high mark for the site, and the first time ever that the number of unique visitors in a given month has exceeded 3,000 individuals! Between them, these visitors accessed a somewhat reduced total of 25,080 pages (still an average of almost 5 pages per visit), but that takes nothing away from the other numbers. I seem to be attracting a high level of ongoing reader interest - a good sign for our hobby!
There are a lot of engine-related items to talk about this month, so I’d better get to it! I’ll start with a respectful request to those ever-helpful and enthusiastic readers who send in material to add to the site. While I value all of my readers, those who actually pass along information in their possession which has escaped my attention are particularly appreciated because they don’t merely read the material presented here - they contribute to it. There’s only one of me, and my database is limited. This being so, I’m bound to miss a lot of relevant material, making me immensely grateful to those who have my back. However, I have a request to make - if at all possible, please send in any material in jpg or Word format rather than pdf. This is because my site platform is set up to work with jpg illustrations and Word text as insertions into my articles. I can used pdf documents as attachments, but have to link them in the text rather than insert them directly into the article as text or illustrations. So I have to extract illustrations from a pdf document and convert them to jpg format. This also applies to text sent along in pdf format - in order to be able to paste it into an article, I have to convert it to a Word document. Most of the time, when I receive a pdf document, the first thing that I have to do is spend some time converting the illustrations into jpg format and the text into a Word document.
Now on to the fun stuff! My good mate Peter Valicek sent me a link to a video of a lovely recreation of the very rare pioneering 1944 Dutch Nova 1 diesel which was constructed by Olli Karhunen from the Jef Lemmens plans and castings with some help from Peter. Plans for this engine are also featured in the Motor Boys Planbook which is available on this website. What a lovely engine - have a look! Olli has a number of other fine videos as well - check them all out! An unexpected treat came in the form of a message from British free-flight great and regular "AeroModeller" contributor Dave Hipperson. Dave had some nice things to say about my various engine articles, also sharing some personal impressions regarding a few designs about I also heard once more from my valued friend Ingemar Larsson of Sweden, editor of the outstanding LINA control-line magazine. He passed on the information that the engine collection of the late Mats Böhlin is now being offered for sale for the benefit of his two daughters. The list may be perused here. Interested parties should contact Bengt-Olof Samuelsson by email at bengt-olof.samuelsson@lottingelund.se Many details of Mats Böhlin’s outstanding achievements may be found in my earlier article on his remarkable K&B Team Race Specials. Another repeat contact came from Tahn Stowe of Australia, who was the source of two fine Doonside Elfin 149 replicas, one an original all-Australian production (of which very few were completed) and one of the later ABC Doonside engines produced by Macheast and certified as Series II Doonsides by Ivor (examples not certified by Ivor are not Doonsides). A detailed article on those models will appear here in due course.
I’ve prepared a clear-type transcript of those pages, which Tahn has been good enough to check for adherence to the original handwritten text. Although there are a few inconsistencies and anomalies in Ivor’s comments, Tahn and I both agree that it’s worth making the document freely available to all as an insight into the thinking of one of aeromodelling’s truly great characters. It may be viewed through this link, warts and all - hope you enjoy it! In the course of my further research into these engines, during August I had the pleasure of speaking with Ed Carlson of Carlson Engine Imports in the USA. I was delighted to find that Ed is still very much in business! Although he is now in the process of winding down his remaining stocks, he is still able to supply New-in-Box examples of a number of Russian engines as well as the Macheast Elfin 149 replicas, which he sells at a very reasonable price of US$55. Ed’s website is no longer functional, but he’s always happy to chat. Give him a call at 602 - 863 - 1684 or email him at carlsonengines@juno.com - a call with Ed is always fun!
Dave came through with flying colours, as always - the only way that you can distinguish his reproduction from an original is the fact that it carries a serial number, which the originals constructed by Les Saxby do not. The entire batch of 9 engines has been spoken for, so don’t bother asking Dave to sell you one at this point in time. My good mate Maris was among the other lucky recipients. Staying with information from Australian sources, I also heard from my valued friend and fellow Enya-phile Bob Allan. Bob and I share a special fondness for the fine engines produced over the years by the Enya Metal Products Co. of Tokyo, Japan. My article about the early years at Enya is available to be read on this website.
The value of such a reference cannot be overstated, placing me under an obligation to share it with others. Accordingly, I've made it available to all of my valued readers, with Bob's permission. If you're at all interested in the Enya range, checking out Bob's Enya Model Aero Engine Compendium is a must! As it happens, I have two more Enya articles in the works at present - watch this space! During the month I heard from Chris Ottewell that the much-travelled Redfin "Fly The World" motor was on the way to me from its previous recipient, fellow Canadian Barry Fletcher of Ontario. Happily the engine arrived safely just as I was putting the finishing touches to this Editorial! I had told Chris that I had nothing in which to fly it, besides which my flying activities have been put Now yet another entry into the "Whodunnit" category! My good mate Alan Strutt of England sent along some fascinating information on a Chinese engine that I’d never even heard of - the R-2 glow-plug motor of 4.86 cc displacement. Alan advised that Peter Chinn included a reference to this "new" model in his "Latest Engine News" column in the January 1966 issue of "Model Aircraft". This seems to date the introduction of the engine to 1965. The engine's name is clearly displayed both on the box and on the engine. So we know what it is, but it’s presently unclear who actually made this engine. All that we can say is that it was made in Shanghai - the location is cast in relief onto the left side of the crankcase. There are indications that it may have been associated with the Yin Yan/Silver Swallow engines also from Shanghai. Super Tigre influence is clearly indicated, although there are some interesting internal departiures. When time permits, I intend to share such information as Alan was able to pass along in a short article on this website. Before I do so, I'd greatly appreciate hearing from any reader who is able to contibute his own knowledge to this subject. If any reader knows anything at all about this engine, please get in touch!
This month’s all-new lead article concerns a subject which may surprise many of you - the Gilbert glow-plug models from 1960’s America. Already I hear a deafening
The MEN transfer article will cover the other classic O.S. diesel, the O.S. Max-D 15 of I think that about does it for this edition. All being well, I'll be back to you with another edition on or about October 1st, 2021. Meanwhile, please accept my best wishes for continuing to rise above the present pandemic situation and political myopia 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 informed opinions rather than those of the politicians and their 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 |
Welcome to September 2021! Our shared rollercoaster ride through 2021 continues, with no letup in sight. In our part of the world, we’ve continued to experience periods of intense heat, thankfully increasingly punctuated by all-too brief but very welcome periods of somewhat more moderate temperatures and even a little rain just lately. And we’re one of the more temperate areas of the world ............. I can barely imagine what people living in hotter regions have been going through. 
Equally amazing is the widespread government response, or lack thereof, to the irrefutable evidence that far from being done with the Covid pandemic, we’re just getting started on the next wave. The anti-vaccsers, mask refusers and defiant group-huddlers have made this inevitable, and governments seem unable or unwilling to stand up to them, although our Provincial government here in BC is just now beginning to show vague signs of re-considering its headlong moves to “reopen” things in the face of infection numbers which are rapidly climbing back up to peak first-wave levels. 
Naturally, if this poses a problem for any contributor, please send the pdf anyway - I’d far rather have the material than not! I can deal with it - just takes time, which is in short supply. I do not wish to imply any lack of gratitude here - please keep the contributions coming regardless of format! It’s just that I thought it appropriate to indicate my own preference. Anything that saves me even a little time is very helpful.
which I’ve written. Turns out that we share soft spots for a few of the same engines! It was a real bonus to be in communication with an individual who is a legend in the free flight community and for whose accomplishments I’ve always had the greatest respect. 
In order to inform my forthcoming article more completely, Tahn also shared a few surviving handwritten pages from the diary of his father Ivor F, the instigator of the Doonside Elfin project. Although Ivor’s surviving account is sadly incomplete, it nevertheless affords us an invaluable insight into some of the challenges which Ivor met during the course of these initiatives. 
Reader Bob Parry sent along an image which highlights a common problem for collectors of antique toys and model engines. He shows us a FROG 175 marine flywheel which has succumbed to the dreaded “Mazac” disease. The name 
I can always rely upon my good Aussie mate Maris Dislers to provide some content for each edition, and he came through once again. He drew my attention to a new venture by master New Zealand engine builder Dean Clarke, whose 
Speaking of mega-talented model engine builders, the mail brought another treat from Down Under in the form of a beautiful reproduction of the lovely little Saxby Gnat 0.13 cc Mills mini-replica. This was made by Dave Jones of Queensland, Australia to his usual impeccable standard. I played a small part in this venture by lending Dave my original Saxby Gnat to serve as a guide, receiving his engine no. 1 as a token of thanks. 
Many years ago now I started to put together a timeline for the various Enya models based on a review of advertisements and media references. However, I didn't get very far with it myself. Bob took it over and spent literally years ferreting out just about everything that can be gleaned about this iconic range, with considerable assistance from Pat King. He now reckons that he's taken it just about as far as he can and has passed it along to me to serve as a reference. 
on hold by the Covid situation. He decided that I should be on the list of those who have run it, even if I can't fly it! So ..... one series of test runs coming right up - update next month! After me, I gather that it's heading down into the USA............ 
chorus of “why is he wasting his time on those throwaway paperweights”? Well, first off, these are technically-unusual and surprisingly well-made little units which perform at a far higher level than their popular reputation might suggest. This should come as no surprise, because it turns out that both their design and manufacture have gilt-edge pedigrees. As the last-ever all-new sideport designs to enter large-scale commercial production anywhere, they mark a very significant technological boundary which richly deserves recognition. Moreover, they’re highly unusual in being genuine 60-year old classics which remain readily available today in New or As-New condition. I think that many of you will be quite surprised at the level of respect which these little motors actually merit!
The MEN transfer article for September is another review which is in the process of going AWOL as the MEN site slowly deteriorates and which I consider to be too important to allow to slide off the table 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 back to the past. As such, they are well worthy of our respectful remembrance. 
Next month will see a return to Japan for the first time in a while to tackle two related subjects - the two diesels manufactured by the famous O.S. company of Osaka, Japan during the classic era. The all-new text will focus on the very first O.S. diesel - the O.S. 1 cc model which was produced in small numbers during the early 1950’s. This was a fairly close copy of the Series 1 E.D. Mk. I Bee, albeit exhibiting a few detail modifications. As the very first model diesel to be produced commercially in Japan, it is a significant design which deserves not to be forgotten. The article will include a full bench test of this very rare engine.
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