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From the Editor - October 2021
In the coastal area of British Columbia in which I live, we're finally done with the summer heat at long last. During September we’ve actually had some very welcome periods of rain, which have contributed significantly towards ending the awful forest fire season with which British Columbia has been afflicted this year. However, I’m sure that climate change isn’t done with us - next year will likely prove to be just as problematic. As those of us who understand the climate change issue know all too well, 2021 was the coolest summer of the rest of our lives ………. too bad that the politicians and their supporters are choosing to ignore the very clear evidence. Improving weather conditions have done nothing to cool the pace of our Covid-19 infection rate in British Columbia. Coupled with recent government attempts to “open things up” in defiance of logic, the presence in our midst of so many anti-vaccsers, anti-maskers and belligerent contact seekers has combined to send our infection rates right back up to peak first and second wave figures, with hospital ICU’s at overflow levels. My wife and I are still well hunkered down, not wishing to contribute to the problem. The only glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is that fact that our government, which has previously been in denial and bleating pathetically about getting things “back to normal” (without defining what “normal” is now) by re-opening almost everything, has now been forced to openly recant, resuming stricter controls on citizen behaviour with more restrictions doubtless on the way as our health care systems teeter towards collapse. Our neighbouring Province of Alberta, an early proponent of “opening up”, is now in a full-blown state of emergency. Others pursuing similar paths are bound to follow suit.
Our ongoing problem is that far too many people are still refusing to think for themselves, choosing not to understand that just because the govenment allows certain behaviours doesn't necessarily make them appropriate - government is driven by a different agenda. Please continue to take all available precautions, whether or not your government requires this, 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 interests of society both shame themselves and I’ve been deriving some wry amusement from the emerging evidence that a significant proportion of the male vaccine refusers are regular Viagra users. That widely accepted magic carpet is manufactured by Pfizer, the same folks who developed and produce one of the most widely-used vaccines that these morons won’t take! The attached Pfizer advert says it all far better than I can …………… All stupidity aside, 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 September 2021 show that the increase in the level of interest which I've reported over the past few months has continued unabated! The 531,153 hits in September were substantially up from the These figures confirm that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political myopia, 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 very active. I heard from quite a few of you during September, including (in no particular order) Luis Petersen, Tim Dannels, Tahn Stowe, John Brown, Don Imre, Peter Valicek, Maris Dislers, Jim Dunkin, Ilya Leydman, Tony Daye, Tom Coletta, Alberto Parra, David Burke, Dean Clarke, Bob Allan, Alex Phin, Alan Strutt, Sten Persson, Alistair Bostrom, Marc Bird, Chris Ottewell, Olle Eriksson, Bill Pudney, Dave Zwolak and Neill McRae. Apologies to anyone whom I may have inadvertently missed in the crowd, and apologies also to anyone whose messages went unanswered. The blog site has continued to justify its existence by contributing a small but steady flow of relevant traffic - thanks for that.
Check out the accompanying comparative images of one of this month’s subjects, the O.S. Max-D 15 diesel (see below). The upper image was shot with the camera very close to the engine, while the lower image was shot with the camera several feet away. Notice how in the upper image the engine appears to bend away from the camera at both ends. There’s also a detectable amount of vertical bending, although this is less obvious. In the lower image, no such bending is evident. This kind of distortion is really easy to avoid - just shoot the image with the camera at some distance from the subject. The other helpful tip that I can offer is to pose your subjects against a smooth homogeneous background, thus avoiding background details that can distract from the image. Small points perhaps, but they can really help to enhance the representative quality of your images. That said, however you shoot them, please keep the images coming! I have one other request to make. I often receive requests for information on engines or ranges which are already well covered in existing articles. Before sending any such inquiries my way, please review the Gallery section of my site! The chances are pretty good that the subject of your inquiry is already covered! My time is stretched pretty thin...........
Anyway, Peter’s exemplary efforts put me in a position to add a full bench test of the Byra 1 cc diesel to my previously-published article on the Byra range. The expanded Byra article may be perused elsewhere on this website - the new section is about a third of the way down. My most sincere thanks to Peter for making this possible! I’ve also added a Byra entry to the Gallery listings, a step which I had somehow overlooked previously. I mentioned last time that I had just received the “Fly the World” SAM 50 Redfin diesel engine from its previous user, Barry Fletcher of Ontario, Canada. Hoping not to delay the little beauty on its world travels, I promptly set it up in the test stand to put it through its paces. I would have liked to fly it, but I had nothing built in which to do that, The little engine did itself proud, starting with almost casual ease and running superbly. I am not stretching the truth one bit when I report that it became the first engine in my long testing experience to start first flick on every one of the half-dozen or more runs through which I put it! It’s true that on the very first attempt straight out of its travelling box it disgraced itself by starting backwards on the first flick, but that still counts as a one-flick start! All kidding aside, this is a wonderful little diesel which does great credit to Alex Phin and his associates! I’m certainly glad that I invested some time ago in my own example! The globe-trotting engine has since resumed its travels, now being in the hands of Tony Daye of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The mail also brought some very informative reading in the shape of issue no. 263 (Volume 45 - #5) of the every-enjoyable “Engine Collectors’ Journal” (ECJ) edited as always by my good mate Tim Dannels. This issue is unusual in that it features articles by two regular contributors to this website - my own piece on the very rare Rauch 3.2 cc stationary diesel from Germany and Maris Dislers’ excellent article on the START 1.8 cc and START Junior 2 diesels from 1950's Czechoslovakia (as the Czech republic was then). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - by no means all of the writing that Maris and I produce appears on this website. If you aren’t an ECJ subscriber, you’re missing out! An important contact came from Ilya Leydman of Australia, owner of the Macheast company and Zeus trade-names through which a series of both Mills .75 and Elfin 149 PB replicas were produced in the 1990’s at the instigation of the iconic Aussie modelling legend Ivor F (his full legal name!). The intent had been to market these under Ivor’s highly-respected Doonside trade-name, but as matters In the past, these returned uncertified engines marketed by Macheast rather than Ivor have often been referred to as “Russian replicas”. Moreover, some of them have been (in my view) incorrectly marketed as Doonside models despite their lack of certification as such by Ivor. Setting that somewhat controversial issue aside, Ilya points out that the manufacture of these engines was by no means confined to Russia - various components were actually produced in Russia, the USA and Australia, with final assembly taking place in Australia, making the “Russian” designation quite misleading. The engines should properly be referred to as “Zeus replicas”, since that was Ilya’s own trade-name under which he marketed a number of original designs in addition to these replicas. This is consistent with the fact that the replicas in question (both Elfin and Mills) all bear the letter Z stamped beneath one of the mounting lugs.
Last month I reported that my good mate Maris Dislers had drawn my attention to a new venture by master New Zealand engine builder Dean Clarke, whose Cre8tionworx company offers an amazing array of mouth-watering custom-built model engines ranging from conventional single-cylinder models all the way up to an astounding supercharged V-12 model called the Wraith. I contacted Dean directly to learn more, the upshot being that he’s now completing one of his 5 cc single cylinder twin ball-race stunt diesels to send my way. He’s also tackling an interesting restoration project for me - stay tuned for further details! Maris Dislers was back in touch in September, supplying some very useful information regarding the 2 cc E.D. sideport models - the Mk. II and the Comp Special. This was very timely, since I have an article in the works recounting the full start-to-finish story of that well-known series along with a healthy helping of user experiences and recommendations to help you get the best out of one of these units. Watch for it - I hope to have it published here quite soon now. As reported last month, my good mate Alan Strutt of England sent along some fascinating information on a Chinese engine from 1965 that I’d never even heard of - the R-2 glow-plug motor of 4.86 cc displacement. By way of a bit of a bonus read this month, I’ve now prepared a brief article describing the engine and its various David Burke of Australia sent along a few eBay images of an interesting reed valve V-twin that appeared recently on eBay from an Australian source. It’s designated on the case as an RC Tech .098 model. It’s clearly built around two Cox piston/cylinder assembles with the conrods acting upon a common crankpin. The case is undoubtedly an original production. I’ve never encountered this manufacturer before - can anyone out there shed any light upon this engine’s origin and date? I was very pleased indeed to hear from Sten Persson of Sweden. Sten is one of Sweden’s most prominent and knowledgeable model engine enthusiasts, having amassed a significant collection over many years. He has provided valuable information in connection with a number of my earlier reviews. He noted my comment in last month’s Editorial regarding the Indonesian BOMA 2.5 cc diesel. This was a close copy of the Russian MK-12S unit which had been previously covered in detail on this website. I mentioned that I’d expanded my earlier article on the MK-12S to include a reference to the BOMA 2.5 near the end.
Staying for the moment in Sweden, I was delighted to hear from Swedish reader Olle Eriksson, a good friend and former professional colleague of my long-standing Swedish kindred spirit Lars Gustafsson. Olle saw the image of a Nova 1 diesel which Olle also sent along an image of a lovely little 0.6 cc Dyno replica that he had made. The casting was produced using a permanent mold which formerly belonged to the late Arne Hende. The beautiful laminated wooden airscrew was also made by Olle using his CNC milling machine. Fine work, Olle - thanks for sharing! During September I enjoyed a very pleasant telephone conversation with my long-standing friend Ed Carlson of Carlson Engine Imports in Phoenix, Arizona. Ed tells me that he is now selling down his stocks and will not be replenishing them - once his present stock is gone, he will wind up the business after 40 years in operation. Even so, he hopes to have his long-dormant website back up and running very shortly, at which time his remaining stocks will be readily scrutinized. He still has some good stuff - among other offerings, he retains good stocks of New-in-Box examples of the previously-mentioned Zeus Elfin 149 replicas Another welcome contact came from Alistair Bostrom of Hawaii. Alistair sent along the accompanying image of an unusual spark ignition motor which I'm unable to identify. Alistair reports that the engine looks a bit scruffy and appears to be missing a prop driver, but it is actually quite nicely made where it counts and turns over very smoothly. Although he hasn't measured it, he estimates its displacement as being somewhere in the 2 to 3 cc range. The engine is interesting in combining a rather "pioneer" style bypass cover with FRV induction. With the other side having just a standard exhaust stack, the aforementioned bypass cover is perhaps the most distinctive feature of the engine. Does any reader have any idea what this is?!? If so, please get in touch!
The MEN transfer article covers the other classic 1950's O.S. diesel, the O.S. Max-D 15 of 1959-60 which was initially reviewed in September 2008 on MEN. The O.S. company put a Consequently, the O.S. design was not a success, being produced in very small numbers by O.S. standards. The engine is one of the rarer O.S. models today, being matched in that category both by its 1 cc diesel predecessor covered in this issue's lead article and by the 1948 O.S. 29 sandcast sparkie reviewed earlier on this site. The revised article includes a full bench test of this interesting and in many ways rather unusual engine.
I think that about does it for this edition. All being well, I'll be back to you with another edition on or about November 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, minimize your contact with the Covidiot crowd, 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 ___________________________________ 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 October 2021! This is the month that sees me turn 74 years old! It was only yesterday that I used to talk about the "old guys" in my club - now that's me! Makes me realize that we enthusiasts are getting older all the time, just like the model engines that we love! Still, in my case advancing age has by no means diminished my fascination with these little mechanical marvels, and my flicking finger remains in excellent shape! 
To any rational individual outside government circles, it’s been blindingly obvious for a long time that the ongoing presence of the anti-vaccsers and denialists would inevitably lead to this outcome - we have them to thank for the continuing impact of this pandemic. The fact that most of the deaths are now among their ranks gives me little comfort - they may be selfish, irresponsible and unthinking, but they’re still my fellow citizens. One of my vociferously anti-vaccine anti-masking neighbours is now fighting for her life in a local ICU………both tragic and avoidable. 
endanger others. If we end up failing to knock this thing on the head (which is increasingly looking like a probable outcome), it will be entirely down to them. 
I’ll begin this month’s discussion with a suggestion directed towards those highly valued readers who contribute to this site by sending in images for publication. I’ve repeatedly mentioned how much I appreciate such contributions. However, I do have a tip - when taking pictures which you plan to send to me for publication, please do what you can to minimize image distortion due to parallax issues. Such distortion typically results from the camera being held too close to the subject when taking the picture.
Now on to the real fun stuff, of which there’s an unusually large amount this month! Some time ago my mega-talented mate Peter Valicek of the Netherlands sent me a beautifully restored example of the vanishingly-rare 1952 Byra 1 cc diesel from Barcelona. It was one of the very few radially-mounted models which apparently never made it past the prototype stage to enter series production. Peter even made a superb replica box complete with 70 year old aging patina. Honestly, if I didn’t tell you, you’d undoubtedly take this for a LNIB example! What a craftsman!!
besides which Covid concerns have put my flying life on hold. So unfortunately a bench test would have to do. 
Speaking of 
As is so often the case, the mailbox brought other good things last month. First, I received a pair of test stands which I had bought from 
turned out Ivor accepted only a relatively small proportion of these engines as meeting the standards required for sale under that designation, testing and certifying each such engine. The rest were returned uncertified to Macheast, thus remaining Macheast’s property to dispose of as they saw fit. Ivor’s reasons for doing this remain the subject of some dispute even today. Regardless, Macheast marketed these uncertified engines all over the world, as was their right - I have 6 examples myself! 
I’m most grateful to Ilya for setting me straight on this. I ask that all my readers re-set their mental data banks accordingly. I’ve amended the Australian section of my existing article on the 
relatives. My sincere thanks to Alan for making this possible. If any reader can add to our knowledge regarding this engine and its companions, please get in touch! Also, if anyone knows where I can get my oily paws on an example to test, please let me know (oops, there I go backsliding again!).
It turns out that Sten had long ago established a positive personal relationship with the Indonesian maker of the BOMA engines, one Tan Hien Tjong. As a result, he possesses a considerable amount of knowledge about these engines, including the two subsequent models made by Mr. Tjong, the BOMA 150 and T.S. 35 diesels. With Sten’s help, I’m preparing an article about these units, which remain the only model engines ever to enter series production in Indonesia. Watch for it! Meanwhile, I have added a 
Turning at last to this issue’s lead articles, this month sees us returning to Japan for the first time in quite a while to tackle two distinct but directly related subjects - the two diesels manufactured by the famous O.S. company of Osaka, Japan during the classic era. The all-new text focuses on the very first O.S. diesel - the rare and little-known 
For next month we’ll return to Europe to look at a little-known engine from the Netherlands - the 2.47 cc Thuella Favoriet diaphragm-valve diesel of 1960. Thanks once again to the splendid efforts of my good mate Peter Valicek I’m in possession of a fine LNIB example of this excellent and unusual engine, of which only some 105 examples were produced in total. Indeed, the last 5 or so units were produced years later by Mike Crisp using a handful of surviving original components. Mine is actually the last of those examples - engine no. 105. The engine showed itself on test to be a good ‘un, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading its rather unusual story!
The MEN transfer article for next month will cover the seemingly related early post-WW2 Foursome and Kalper engines from Brighton in Southern England. Since publishing my original article on MEN in July 2008, I’ve amassed a great deal more knowledge about these fascinating and relatively rare engines. A considerable proportion of this information has come from my good friend Miles Patience of England, to whom my very sincere thanks are due. The publication of a comprehensively revised version of the article has allowed me a much-needed opportunity to bring the story up to date, including the addition of some updated test results. | |