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From the Editor - November 2021
Here on British Columbia’s We(s)t Coast where I live, we’re now sliding from a blazing summer straight into the grip of winter. I’m not sure which is harder to take - the blistering heat of the past summer or the almost incessant rain that we’re now experiencing. I have no doubt that the summer of 2022 will remind me forcibly of the heat option as unchecked climate change continues to advance. The pace of our Covid-19 infection rate in British Columbia continues at near-peak levels as more and more people seem to have decided to surrender to the pandemic and just take their chances, unfortunately dragging others along with them, whether willing or not. This of course guarantees that Covid 19 will be with us for the long haul and that new and possibly more virulent mutations are bound to appear. Unfortunately, government is going along with this surrender mindset. Quite apart from those who will become avoidably infected with Covid, both in its present and future mutant forms, others are already suffering as a result - my brother-in-law who has been diagnosed with cancer was recently given the boot from his hospital ward to make room for a bunch of these Covidiots who had filled the other wards to overflowing. These people clearly don’t give a hoot about the suffering that they inflict on others through their irresponsibility. Their presence in our midst shames our society. If they'd been around in 1955, polio and smallpox would still be with us.
However, the best news of all was the fact that these visits came from a very substantially increased 3,737 unique visitors - yet another new high mark for the site, and the third straight month in which the number of unique visitors has exceeded 3,000 individuals! Between them, these visitors accessed a significantly increased total of 26,021 pages (an average of over 4 pages per visit). I seem to be attracting a high and growing level of reader interest - a good sign for our hobby! These figures confirm that despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying 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 quite active. I heard from quite a few of you during October, including (in no particular order) Luis Petersen, Tim Dannels, Peter Valicek, Peter Rathke, Ingemar Larsson, Bengt-Olof Samuelsson, Maris Dislers, Gordon Beeby, Bob Christ, Tom Coletta, Mel Lyne, David Burke, Derek Butler, Dean Clarke, Alan Strutt, Allan Brown, Peter Scott, Miles Patience, Alistair Bostrom, Bill Wells, One valued contributor whose earlier communication somehow fell off the table was my good English mate Miles Patience. Some months ago, Miles sent me some fascinating details of a mega-rare sand-cast prototype of the FROG 175 spark ignition model. This find My good mate Maris Dislers of Glandore, South Australia has been busy restoring a rare Kubicek 1 diesel for eventual inclusion in an article to appear in “AeroModeller” magazine. The engine is now a fine runner, as seen in the accompanying image at the right. I’m really looking forward to reading all about it in “AeroModeller”!! As I’ve stated previously, if you’re not an “AeroModeller” subscriber, you’re missing a lot of good reading!
Although published in Sweden, a good proportion of the content is presented in English, besides which the non-English content is readily translatable using widely-available translation software. The magazine is produced to a very high standard, with lots of high-quality colour illustrations and interesting articles by very knowledgeable individuals from many countries. Even articles by Yours Truly appear in the pages of LINA from time to time - I’ve said many times that not all of my writing appears on this website! In fact, I have another one coming up in the next issue of the magazine! After a bit of a hiatus, I was very pleased to hear again from Rhodri Dafis, the nephew of Hefin Davies of Davies-Charlton fame. Rhodri had been planning to provide some background information regarding his uncle’s antecedents and personal life, but some pressing family issues have arisen which have prevented him from finding the opportunity to do so. He assures me that he still intends to add his comments to the story, although this will be delayed by his ongoing family preoccupations. I look forward very much to adding Rhodri’s comments to my present article on this website in due course.
Next month will see the release of the December edition of this website. As usual, I plan to make it a bit of a Christmas Bonus issue, with not one ….. not two …… not three …….but …………wait for it …………. four articles for your reading pleasure!
I’ll also be including the results of some experiments which I conducted to determine how far short of its potential the production version of this engine fell. Suffice it to say that my findings clearly demonstrated that E.D missed a golden opportunity in releasing this model in a form which stifled its potential almost completely. Fascinating stuff, I think you’ll agree!
I think that about does it for this edition. All being well, I'll be back to you with another edition on or about December 1st, 2021. Meanwhile, please accept my best wishes for continuing to make your way through the present pandemic situation and accompanying political myopia to get the best of what life has to offer under present circumstances. Take care and stay well - pay attention to the doctors and scientists, watch the numbers, minimize your contact with the Covidiots, get vaccinated, continue to exercise caution and trust your own informed opinions rather than those of the politicians and their uninformed self-serving supporters!! Your well-being and that of your family and friends 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 November 2021! Still getting used to being 74 years old, but I’d better do so fast because as one ages, time flows by with increasing speed - I’ll be 75 before I turn around twice! The first bit beats the alternative, but I could do without the accelerated journey to the next marker! 
All stupidity and irresponsibility 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 October 2021 show that the pace of the upsurge in the level of interest which I've been reporting over the past few months has continued unabated! The 620,618 hits in October were substantially up from the corresponding September figure of 531,153, along with an accompanying increase in the number of visits to 
Steve Hainsworth, Ben Kleikamp, Paul Smigelski, Chris Ottewell, Rhodri Dafis and Neill McRae. Apologies to anyone whom I may have inadvertently missed in the crowd, and apologies also to those whose messages went unanswered. The 
was so revealing of the manner in which the FROG 175 was developed that I agreed with Miles that it was well worth putting up on this website. Accordingly, the 
My valued English friend and colleague Peter Scott sent along an image of a really weird spark ignition engine which neither he nor anyone else has been able to identify. It's owned by a friend of Peter's in California. Even the ever-knowledgeable Tim Dannels is stumped! Tim comments that the spark plug has a distinctly eastern European look to it, while the method of securing the cylinder harks back to the FROG “bicycle spoke” series. Tim’s suggestion that it’s most likely a Russian or Polish effort from the 1940’s carries a certain logic with it, although that’s about as far as any of us can go. If any reader can shed any light on this, please get in touch!
A very welcome contact came from my Swedish friend Ingemar Larsson, who shares responsibility with Niklas Löfroth for putting out the bi-annual 
Turning now to this issue’s lead articles, we return to Europe to look at a little-known engine from the Netherlands - the 
The MEN transfer article for this month covers the seemingly related 
To begin with, I’ll finally get around to responding to numerous reader requests by presenting a detailed review of the iconic E.D. 2 cc sideport models first introduced by E.D. during 1947 - the Mk. II and the Comp Special. It was the positive reception of these models that got E.D. off to a good start in the model engine manufacturing field. The article will record the numerous detail design changes which the engines underwent along the way, together with test results and comments on performance improvement. I’ll also be covering a certain amount of controversy which swirled around these engines on occasion. I think you’ll find it to be quite interesting!
The “
The first planned Christmas Bonus article stems from a contact from my friend Sten Persson of Sweden which I mentioned several months ago. Thanks to the very authoritative information provided by Sten, I’m able to present the full story of the BOMA engines which were the only model powerplants ever to be produced commercially in Indonesia. It’s a somewhat bittersweet tale which reflects enormous credit upon the individual behind the BOMA series, Mr. Tan Hien Tjong. I find it to be an inspiring testament to enthusiasm, dedication and determination against the odds which is well worth recounting. I hope you’ll agree.
And last but by no means least ……..yet another contribution from my good Aussie mate Maris Dislers, who recently had an opportunity to sample a very fine replica of an early pioneering diesel from Italy - the Ercolino 2 cc model from La Spezia on northern Italy’s west coast. This was one of a number of Dyno-influenced early Italian models which appeared while WW2 was still raging. Original examples are scarcer than kangaroos in Katmandu, but Maris was favored with an opportunity to examine and test a superb replica made by the noted Italian engine builder Alberto Dall’Oglio. He’s been kind enough to prepare an article which will be presented here next month for your reading pleasure. Big thanks to Maris! | |