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From the Editor - December 2021
Here on British Columbia’s We(s)t Coast where I live, we’re well and truly into the grip of early winter. The issue is not temperature - if anything it’s warmer than usual - rather, it’s the amount of excess water sloshing around as climate change tightens its grip. Many of you will have become aware from the news that British Columbia has been experiencing record rainfall and early flash snowmelt events, flooding a number of residential and agricultural areas and causing a far higher-than-usual incidence of washouts and slides affecting major transportation routes, thus seriously disrupting essential supply lines. A number of entire communities have had to be evacuated due to the flooding. As you might expect, there have been a number of associated fatalities, while the livestock losses have been staggering. Lorna and I are OK - we live on high ground well away from any watercourse. Others have been far less fortunate ……… My sincere thanks to the many readers who sent their best wishes for a safe passage through these troubles. Means a lot to me .......... The increasing frequency of such events worldwide is an inevitable (and predictable) result of ongoing climate change. British Columbia isn't being singled out by some malignant influence - it's just our turn ......... Since the recent Climate Change Conference in Glasgow has confirmed that the global response to this problem is going to fall well short of what’s required, I suppose that we’d better get used to it. I truly pity our grandchildren …………
As always, the anti-vaccser anti-masking crowd are being their usual mindlessly vocal selves, protesting measures which are now primarily aimed at saving their lives given that the majority of deaths and hospital cases (but sadly not all) are now among the unvaccinated. Ironically, those protesters are the very people who are primarily responsible for the need to impose the restrictions to which they object so vociferously - by spreading the virus and facilitating the evoulution of new strains, they're killing themselves and taking some of the rest of us with them. Their current campaign of harassment of parents bringing their kids to vaccination centres utterly shames them. For me, the last straw was their recent invasion of a number of Remembrance Day ceremonies on November 11th - they couldn’t have shown their total lack of respect for others more clearly. The attached parable sums up my contempt for these people's reasoning abilities very well.
However, there was still good news! I was encouraged to note that these visits came from a still very healthy 3,345 unique visitors, making this the fourth straight month in which the number of unique visitors has exceeded 3,000 individuals! Between them, the November visitors accessed a slightly reduced total of 24,490 pages, which still represents an average of almost 5 pages per visit. I seem to be maintaining a high level of ongoing reader interest - a good sign for our hobby! These figures confirm that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying societal dysfunction, 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 An extremely informative contact came from my good friend Mike Noakes of Launceston in Cornwall, England. Mike has done some in-depth research on the history of the original facilities of the E.D. company on Villiers Road in Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, England. He was able to provide a capsule history of the site up to the point at which E.D. commenced operations there, also locating several air photos of the E.D. facility (the large rectangular white-roofed building with the multiple skylights). I’ve added this material to my E.D. article with my very sincere thanks to Mike.
Peter is currently working on a couple of important restorations for me which will eventually lead to several very interesting articles on a few unusual topics. When I started this website way back in April 2014 I used to wonder how long I'd be able to keep coming up with new topics for presentation each month. Well, here we are 8 years on heading into 2022, and there's still no end in sight! I suspect that the list of potential topics may well outlast me!!
It was a great pleasure to hear from Bjorn Baal, who took over Frank Bowman's piston ring-making business some years ago and is still going strong under the trade-name RMJ Machine Worx. Bjorn has rings in stock for most of the more widely-used models and can supply rings for models for which he doesn't have specifications - just send him a few accurate measurements, and back comes a perfect set of rings! My example of the Mikro 5 cc racing engine has Bjorn's rings fitted, and it's a great performer. I've heard from a number of more recent customers that his work continues to be of the very highest quality. So don't give up on that clapped out old ringer - get in touch with Bjorn and give it a second life!! I have a candidate myself which will soon be receiving Bjorn's expert attention. I was delighted to hear once more from Ingemar Larsson of Sweden, who tells me that he is hard at work on the next issue of the wonderful LINA control-line magazine. Ingemar reports that this issue will have a strong focus on model engines - it will include my As always, the latest issue of “AeroModeller” magazine was a welcome arrival in my mailbox. I’ve said many times that if you retain any level of interest in “traditional” aeromodelling, you need to be an “AeroModeller” subscriber! The magazine has been running a capsule history of the E.D. range from its earliest beginnings up to the present day - issues 1013 and 1014 for October and November 2021 respectively presented the first Speaking of E.D., the December issue of "AeroModeller" also features a test by my good mate Maris Dislers of the two lovely little Redfin Mini "B" and Micro "B" diesels which I mentioned previously in my October edition. These beautiful little creations are based on the classic E.D. Bee 1 cc model but feature a whole slew of improvements, including twin ball-race crankshafts. Maris's review does them full justice. I’ll say it again - if you’re not an “AeroModeller” subscriber, you’re missing out! The same is true of Tim Dannels’ ever-informative “Engine Collector’s Journal” (ECJ). The latest edition (issue 264) arrived in my mailbox, providing some interesting reading as always. This issue features two pieces by Yours Truly - my “favourite dozen” model engines and, just to present a balanced view while rattling a few skeletons, my “least favourite half-dozen”! Once again, you need to be an ECJ subscriber to get all of my writing and that of some of my valued colleagues!! Quite apart from that, Tim’s outstanding efforts to keep ECJ going over the decades since its establishment 60 years ago (!!) richly deserve the support of everyone retaining an interest in model engines. If you haven’t already done so, get on board!!
For this month’s all-new featured lead article, I’ve finally got 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 designs that got E.D. off to a good start in the model engine manufacturing field. The article records the numerous detail design changes which the engines underwent along the way, together with test results and comments on performance improvement. I’ve also covered a certain amount of controversy which swirled around The MEN transfer article for the month keeps the E.D. theme going by covering the companion model in the early E.D. line-up, the 2.49 cc E.D. Mk. III rotary valve unit. The original article which was prepared with the invaluable assistance of E.D. guru Kevin Richards remains available on MEN, but I’m able to add considerably to the story at this point in time. Once again, the detail changes which were progressively applied to this model are fully described, along with performance data. I’ve also included 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 demonstrate that E.D missed a golden opportunity by releasing this model in an under-developed form which stifled its potential almost completely. Fascinating stuff, I think you’ll agree!
For next month, we’ll head back across the Pacific Ocean to Japan for a long-overdue look at one of my personal all-time favorites - the Enya 15D The MEN transfer article will focus on one of the most enigmatic model engine ranges ever to appear in Japan - the STRONG range of 1964-65. The name has nothing to do with the engines’ structural or performance I think that about does it for this edition. All being well, I'll be back to you with another edition on or about January 1st, 2022. Meanwhile, please accept my best wishes for steering a path through the present pandemic situation and accompanying social dysfunction to make the very best of the coming festive season. Take care and stay well - pay attention to the doctors and scientists, watch the numbers, minimize your contact with the Covidorks, get vaccinated to the max, continue to exercise caution and trust your own informed opinions rather than those of the Covidolts and their uninformed self-centred supporters!! Your well-being is not on their priority list - put it on 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 |
Season’s Greetings - welcome to December 2021! Another year drawing towards its close, and it’s certainly been a weird one! What with the ongoing pandemic, the disturbing levels of ongoing political and social dysfunction and the continuing and growing impact of climate change, it’s certainly true that we live in “interesting times”, as the old Chinese proverb has it! 
The pace of our Covid-19 infection rate in British Columbia continues unabated at near-peak levels as the widespread surrender to the pandemic has continued. There’s now no doubt that thanks to the anti-vaccsers, anti-maskers and quarantine-breakers, Covid is here to stay - the recent massive surge in infection rates in Europe and the speedy arrival among us of the Omicron variant have clearly demonstrated the effects of relaxation with so many unvaccinated and irresponsible individuals running around. Several countries are re-introducing restrictions, with more set to do so. At least some governments are finally starting to act as if they recognise the seriousness of this problem. About time ……….. I just got my third shot, but that of course is no guarantee of immunity, nor does it prevent me from picking up and spreading the virus, even if I don't present symptoms myself. 
But Peter isn't done for the month yet! He also sent along the attached image of a diesel of around 1.5 cc displacement which neither he nor the owner can identify. This one has been driving me nuts - I know that I've seen it before but can't put a name to it. That oversized web beneath the main bearing is quite distinctive, as is the rearward bend in the fuel pickup nipple. Can any kind reader put me out of my misery?!?
own article on the Komet sideport models from Sweden as well as a piece by Maris Dislers on one of the Bušek-FROG models from Czechoslovakia (as the Czech Republic was then). As if this wasn’t enough, there will also be a contribution from Gianmauro Castagnetti and Gianni Mattea on the subject of Rossi prototype work in the 1960’s. Finally, there will be a how-to piece on taking care of your Webra Record diesel for the Weatherman category. There’s still time to 
Turning now to this issue’s lead articles, this is the Christmas Bumper issue, which always means a bonus article for your holiday reading pleasure! However, one way or another we’ve all had such a challenging year (which is not over) that I reckoned that my faithful readers deserved a little something extra in the Christmas stocking! So this edition features not one ……… but two extra bonus articles to go along with the usual new feature article plus a “
these models on occasion. I think you’ll find it to be quite interesting!
The first 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 
And last but by no means least ……..yet another contribution from my good Aussie mate Maris Dislers, who recently took advantage of an opportunity to sample a very fine replica of an early pioneering diesel from Italy - the 
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