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From the Editor - September 2022
As a result of the elevated temperatures and extreme dryness, our wildfire season is now in full swing, with almost 300 new fires having been started in the past week. Currently some 90 fires remain out of control. Sadly, some 23% of these were the result of irresponsible actions by persons. As recent politically-motivated actions have demonstrated, some of us have a lot to learn about responsible behaviour…………. most of the balance were caused by lightning strikes The Covid pandemic is continuing to run its unchecked course, albeit mostly ignored now thanks to the legions of people who have “had enough” (of what?!?) and are refusing to maintain any level of precautionary behaviour. Even more disturbing is the sudden re-emergence of polio in our societies. This awful malady was essentially eradicated years ago, entirely thanks to the universal use of vaccines, but it now appears to be starting a comeback. As they’ve done with Covid, the anti-vaxers will ensure that efforts to contain it are far less effective than they were first time around.
In that context, I don’t often share words of appreciation from others for my own efforts, but I thought that it might be appropriate to include the following quote from Ukrainian resident and model engine manufacturer Alexandr Matusha, who makes the Redfin and Parra engines. Writing to Alex Phin of Redfin, Alexandr included the following sentence: “Give my gratitude to Adrian Duncan, although he is far from Ukraine, he understands the situation correctly, what a threat to the whole world the Russian federation poses”. Powerful supportive testimony from one whose life has been directly impacted by this inexcusable aggression. The courage and determination with which the people of Ukraine are meeting this catastrophe puts our collective inability to respond appropriately to Covid, monkepox, climate change and the like to shame. 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! My statistics reporting system has now settled back to reporting far more rational visitation figures than it was doing for a while. Even so, I’m refraining from reporting the numbers here until I’m sure that what I see as an artificially-induced “bulge” has settled down. My IT guys tell me that the system saw these as legitimate visitors, but I really can’t believe that they were. They admit that the system is not particularly discriminating. For my part, I’m convinced that a good proportion of them must have been robot visitors on phishing trips. Hopefully a lack of response has dissuaded them from further attempts.
Despite the many distractions now before us, I still heard from quite a few of you during August, including (in no particular order) Peter Valicek, Jesus Ortega Delgado, Roger Cooper, Peter Wallis, Gordon Beeby, Dennis Merwood, David Burke, Maris Dislers, Bob Christ, Andrew Boddington, Randy Linsalato, Olli-Matti Karhunen, Ingemar Larsson, Dean Clarke, Brian Hampton, John Brown, Alex Phin, Alberto Parra, Larry Davidson, Peter Rathke, Simon Young, Dave Hipperson, Kevin Richards, Miles Patience, Alistair Bostrom, Bob Osann 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. As mentioned in previous Editorials, Alexandr Matusha’s model engine manufacturing business in Kharkiv, Ukraine (source of the Redfin and Parra engines) has become one of the many casualties of the shameful and unjustified war currently being prosecuted by Russian despot Vladimir Putin against both Ukraine and the rest of the world. Alexandr has suffered considerable damage to his factory as a result of a shot-down Russian aircraft taking out part of the building. And it goes further than that - there’s a human cost as well. One of Alexandr’s employees, a lady named Anna, is the highly-skilled operator of Alexandr’s precision grinding machines. Anna’s house was shelled in the early days of the invasion. Although Anna and her husband were both outside the house when the shell struck, she was buried in rubble, forcing her husband to dig her out with his bare hands. Having suffered severe burns to her hands and arms as well as cuts to her head, Anna was taken to hospital, where she remained for 5 months. On release, she returned to Alexandr’s workshop where despite her still-bandaged hands she insisted on resuming work. Since she has nowhere to live following the total destruction of her home, she is staying in the workshop while her husband is living with neighbours to keep an eye on their remaining property. And we have the nerve to complain about the “inconvenience” connected with efforts to limit the spread of Covid and monkeypox…………….. shame on us. Alexandr has expressed his very sincere appreciation for the financial assistance that has been provided through Alex Phin’s appeal launched last month. That appeal is still very much ongoing - donations may be made through Alex Phin’s alex@redfinengines.com PayPal address. My own donation went in right away - I hope that others will follow suit. Alex tells me that the response to the appeal has so far been quite positive, although more help is still urgently needed. Give what you can ……………
The engines which Alberto now has on hand (pending his final inspection and assembly) include the following: - Parra T4 - 2023 combat (3.2 cc) - STALKER 46 SE and 51 RE included mufflers (F2B engine) - SV Hawk engine 2.5 cc TR - Parra T3 - 2023 combat (2.5 cc). Details regarding Alberto’s current offerings may be viewed on his website. He’s a great guy to deal with - I’m a recent customer myself!
The new company is focused on the goal of guaranteeing absolutely top quality in their products, with a strong commitment to innovation and research to serve an ever-evolving specialist marketplace. As they get up to speed, their first products are glow plugs, pipes and manifolds, with engines also reportedly becoming available this month. More details on those products are available on their excellent website. I wish them every success!
Turning now to the lead articles for this month, we remain in England to comment on two of the better-known model engine marques from that country. Following the publication of my earlier article on the M.E. range from the Isle of Man, I was reminded that there’s still one well-known British range which I have yet to review. This is the iconic P.A.W. range from Macclesfield in Cheshire.
However, several of my somewhat younger readers have commented recently that while I’m old enough to have “been there” when the range first came to prominence and to have been an enthusiastic user of the P.A.W. engines almost right from their introduction, others were not so favoured. To them, the early years of the P.A.W. range are just as obscure as the start-up periods of most other classic model engine marques, hence in their view fully meriting documentation. OK, fair comment - it's a wise Editor who listens to his readers! Accordingly, this month’s lead article covers the early years of the P.A.W. range up to the mid 1960’s, by which time the basic P.A.W. design had been more or less fully developed in various displacements. It turned out to be a far more interesting story than I had been expecting - I was glad to have been pushed into doing it!
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, 2022. Meanwhile, please accept my best wishes for continuing the process of learning to live with the now-endemic Covid threat, the pernicious effects of Putin’s war, the increasingly difficult climate challenges and the growing societal dysfunction to get the best of what life still has to offer under present circumstances. Take care and stay well - keep yourself informed from credible sources 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 muddling along despite the craziness which increasingly surrounds us! Here in British Columbia on Canada’s normally Wet Coast we’ve been suffering through an extended period of above-average temperatures with minimal precipitation which has really dried things out. Our homes are not designed for this kind of heat - they’re built for winter warmth. So we’re poorly equipped to manage this situation. 
Whatever the legitimate numbers, it appears that despite the now-endemic Covid-19 situation, the Ukrainian disaster, the unchecked trend towards climate catastrophe and the growing levels of accompanying societal dysfunction, a significant number of folks are clearly seeking an escape by remaining very much engaged with our hobby. Confirmation comes from the fact that the mail box has remained quite active. 
Alberto Parra has advised that despite the challenges arising from Putin’s aggression, he has recently received a number of engines from Alexandr. He understands that most of the parts were completed prior to the onset of the war, and Alexandr and his associates have now managed to complete the engines.
As some of you may know, the famous Italian firm of Novarossi, best known for their competition R/C car engines, ceased operations last year. David Burke of Australia has kindly drawn my attention to the fact that a new company called Nova Engines has emerged out of the ashes of Novarossi. This is a collaborative effort between a group of R/C car enthusiasts and former employees of Novarossi led by former top Italian R/C road racer Stefano Colombini. 
Speaking of talented model engine constructors, I was delighted to hear from Olli-Matti Karhunen of Espoo, Finland. Having obtained one of the few remaining Motor Boys crankcase castings for the 
My long-standing failure to cover the P.A.W. engines has absolutely nothing to do with any negative perceptions of the range on my part. On the contrary, I’ve been a completely satisfied P.A.W. owner and user for over 60 years now - more of my models have been powered by P.A.W. engines than by any other. My previous omission of any coverage of those engines was based solely on my seemingly incorrect perception that this famous range is so well known and so familiar to model diesel engine enthusiasts that I wouldn’t be able to find anything to say that wouldn’t be “old hat” to most of my readers!
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Looking ahead to next month, it seems appropriate to continue the process of filling in standout omissions from my coverage to date. Reviewing my various articles on classic 10 cc racing engines, a name that keeps cropping up in those articles is that of the Orr Tornado 65 from Michigan, USA. It’s always my preference when mentioning a given engine to include a link to detailed information on that unit. However, no such information on the Orr has hitherto been available on line. Time to remedy that! Accordingly, next month’s all-new article will feature full coverage of the Orr Tornado 65 racing engine. I think that you’ll enjoy it!
Next month’s MEN transfer article will stay with the 10 cc racing engine theme. We’ll be heading back to England for an in-depth look at the 1066 Conqueror racing engine from Worcester. Reviewing my | |