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From the Editor - July 2022
The growing awareness of the threat to the global community stemming from Putin’s totally immoral war in Ukraine has pushed other issues like the irresponsible Freedumb convoy protests aside to a large People are finally waking up to the blindingly obvious fact that the impact of Putin’s war together with the effects of ongoing climate change seriously threaten the global food supply. Indeed, Putin’s main goal appears to be to gain control of that supply in order to hold the rest of the world to ransom. Accordingly, this is no longer Putin’s war against Ukraine - it’s Putin’s war against all of us. The appalling simultaneous escalation of community gun violence is doing nothing to enhance the general sense of security in our societies. Neither is the now-endemic threat from the Covid virus, against which control efforts appear to So ……. difficult and very worrying times. For now, I’m doing my best to carry on even in the face of these deeply troubling developments, although I confess to finding it to be a growing challenge. It really does help to know that there’s still a continued interest in model engines among my valued readers - that’s what keeps me going! Unfortunately, my statistics reporting system appears to be back to the aberrant behaviour that it was displaying for a few months - it’s reporting far higher visitation figures than I can readily believe. So once again, I’m refraining from reporting the numbers here. My IT guys say that these appear to be legitimate visitors, but I really can’t believe that. I’m convinced that a good proportion of them must be robot visitors on phishing trips ............... Whatever the legitimate numbers, it appears that despite the now-endemic Covid-19 situation, the Ukrainian disaster, the unchecked trend towards total climate catastrophe and the ongoing societal dysfunction, a significant number of folks are clearly remaining very much engaged with our hobby. Confirmation comes from the fact that the mail box has remained quite active. I heard from quite a few of you during June, including (in no particular order) Roger Cooper, Dean Clarke, Gordon Beeby, David Burke, Ed Holly, Miles Patience, Maris Dislers, Bob Allan, Larry Davidson, Peter Scott, Tim Dannels, Dave Zwolak, Tony Eifflaender, Johnny Shannon, Bill Wells, Lee Hamilton, Alan Strutt, Chris Ottewell, Don Imrie, Bob Galler, Trevor Boundy, Alistair Bostrom, Paul Maeder, Bob Beaumont, Chris Coote, Peter Rathke and Neill McRae. Apologies to anyone whom I may have inadvertently missed in the crowd, and apologies also to anyone whose message(s) went unanswered - things do slip through the cracks, especially when I’m distracted! The blog site has continued to justify its existence by contributing a small but steady flow of relevant traffic - thanks for that.
Mentioning the Pacemaker brings up a far less happy topic - a highly unsatisfactory experience on eBay which some of you may have shared. In support of my research on the Pacemaker, I actually bid on a very nice example of the second variant - engine no. 2520. Since offers were invited, I made an offer which was accepted by the seller, who acted throughout in a completely responsible manner. Tracking followed the engine’s steady progress in my direction, and I was eventually advised that a delivery to my address was imminent. So far, so good …………..
To sum up the situation, Pacemaker 59 no. 2520 was delivered to someone other than the addressee (me). That person has failed to take steps to re-direct the package correctly. Engine no. 2520 must therefore be considered stolen. It may well have ended up in the trash once the unauthorised recipient realized what it was. However, if it shows up on eBay or elsewhere, please report it! Since I have my money back, the engine remains the property of the seller.
For next month, I plan to go back to my recent pattern of putting up two articles on the same subject! The MEN transfer article will deal with the well-known Nordec racing engines from Whyteleafe in Surrey, England. The original edition of this article was one of my earliest efforts when I first got into the model engine In their day, the Nordec engines earned a reputation as extremely well-made and sturdy powerplants which fell considerably short of delivering a true racing performance. The all-new article for next month will examine the potential for performance enhancement of the Nordec design through appropriate modifications. This was made possible by my acquisition of a very competently-tuned example of the engine which I was able to tear down for inspection and then turn loose in the test stand. The results show that the Nordec undoubtedly had the potential to be a far better performer than it was in standard form! I think that about does it for this edition. All being well, I'll be back to you with another edition on or about August 1st, 2022. Meanwhile, please accept my best wishes for continuing the process of learning to live with the now-endemic Covid threat, the increasingly difficult climate and the accompanying societal dysfunction to get the best of what life has to offer under present circumstances. Take care and stay well - continue to exercise discretion and trust your own informed opinions rather than those of others whose focus is entirely on themselves, not on you. Ignore them, make up your own mind based on authoritative current information and act accordingly! It’s your future and that of your kids and grandkids .……….don’t let others having conflicting agendas decide it for you and for them! 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 |
Greetings once again! Hope you’re all doing OK! Here in British Columbia on Canada’s Wet Coast, the weatherman has been trying to decide between spring and summer modes. Until recently, temperatures in general were somewhat lower than usual in June, with only the odd break of sunny weather in between the periods of rain which kept us honest and reminded us where we live! However, things have warmed up in the past week or so, with temperatures now trending towards unusually high figures on days when it doesn’t rain. Our mountain snow-pack remains lower than ideal, raising the possibility of looming problems relating to our summer water supply and the well-being of our fish resources. 
extent. They’re still whingeing despite seemingly no longer knowing what they’re whingeing about, but no-one’s listening. They’re reduced to trying to attract attention by sending death threats to judges and other decision-makers who reach decisions with which they disagree, thus making it pretty clear where they’re coming from. The good ship “Anarchy” is on the high seas ……………… 
Last month I mentioned that I’m researching the story of the Pacemaker 59 sparkie from New York. I noted that in order to tell the complete Pacemaker story, I needed help with respect to serial numbers. I was genuinely amazed by the response - I now have serial numbers coming out of my ears!! I’d like to thank each and every one of you who responded - this kind of assistance makes my life so much easier when it comes to adding authority to my articles!
The transaction went sideways when the carrier, Intelcon Express, circulated an email to all concerned stating that the engine had been delivered. Trouble was, it had 
I was hoping that whoever received the engine in error might take steps to re-direct it to my address - any of my immediate neighbours who know me well would have done so, as would any honest person at a more distant location. However, it has not shown up. eBay eventually accepted my argument that the so-called “proof of delivery” was valueless and refunded my money through their Buyer Protection Program. So I came out all right, although I’d far rather have the engine! Sadly, I suspect that this refund came out of the seller’s account - very hard on him, since he did absolutely nothing wrong. Anyone else have a parallel experience?!?
Now on to happier things! Despite a sizeable backlog of engines requiring testing in support of my research, I’ve been too busy with other matters to do much testing. However, I did treat myself to one very brief test session, mainly as a stress-reliever! This was a pristine example of the 1946 Cameron 23 sparkie from Chino, California. What a sweetheart of an engine - dead easy to handle and a surprising amount of grunt for its vintage and design configuration. It’s also extremely well made. If I was looking for a sideport sparkie of this displacement to fly, I’d look no further. New-in-Box examples are still available from 
This month sees me finally taking long-overdue action to complete my coverage of the more popular British model engine ranges. Looking over my past efforts, I’ve become aware that the only noteworthy consumer-grade British model engine range that I’ve never covered at any time is the 
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history game, having been published in June 2008 on MEN, where it may still be perused. I think you’ll find that I can do better now! As with the Rowell story, I see the Nordec saga as too important to risk its loss, hence its re-publication here on my own site. | |