As it stands, this blog site is set up so that I’m the only one who can post a new topic for discussion. I suppose this is fair enough, since it’s my blog site and I’m the moderator. So I should have full control over content, and I do!
Problem is, what if some reader out there would like to see a new discussion topic posted? Well, here’s the answer! Just submit a comment in response to this post suggesting the topic, and I’ll look at it. If I agree (and I will not be arbitrary or unreasonable on this!), the post will magically appear, with the name of the person who suggested it included. Hope this resolves the issue!!
Hello Adrian
I trust that your health is improving and that your tumor-reduction medication is working.
I have been reading your online engine articles and information for many months and am a keen collector of Mills and Mills replica engines.
I had been trying to find an original “Doonside” Mills for my collection and they are hard to find. I found one of the Russian “Zeus” Mills in a collection and a brand new Kumar Mills 1.3 so I decided to buy them both. In the collection there was also a Zeus Elfin 149 engine and a Gordon Burford 249 Elfin so I purchased them as well. I was aware of the Zeus Mills not being a “Doonside”. It did have a card in the box with the number but no Ivor F hand written note. On the other hand the Zeus Eflin 149 (number 139) did have a hand written note by Ivor F. (I believe it might be one of the 500 ABC versions). The Zeus Mills (number 021) box has the same style and typeface as others I have seen on the web.
I also think that it could be one of the 100 ABC models that were supplied to Ivor F from the Russian factory.
I did try a magnet on the piston and as it did not stick I expect they are both ABC versions. I got the Zeus Mills running the other day and it turned a Master Airscrew 8×4 at 6500 rpm (using Model Technics D-1000 fuel). The Zeus Elfin 149 turned a 9×4 GF prop at 9400 rpm using the same fuel.
The other engine, is the Gordon Burford Elfin 249 which was not in any original box but came with a letter from Gordon. I have not yet had a chance to bench run it. I seek your advice on this: do you run them with the fuel/air inlet to the top and the cylinder upside down or should the cylinder be upright and the throttle mechanism be upside down?
I will try it with a few standard APC props and see what speed it runs at compared to the values in your Argo report.
So please do let me know if you would like me to take any high-resolution photos for you to add to your excellent engine articles on these engines.
I have attached the photos I got from the seller when I purchased the engines (I don’t hold any copyright over these but I can ask him if you can use them).
Happy to take more photos and for you to use them as you wish. Please just let me know.
Sounds as if you’ve called it right, Eddie! Those ABC Mills engines actually run very well.
I’ve always run my Elfin 249’s upright – port priming gets plenty of fuel into the cylinder. Apart from filling the fuel line, there’s no point in choking these updraft engines.
Cheers,
Adrian
I hope you get over your health issues. When you feel better, would you be interested in evaluating a Saito G60? Known for 4-strokes today, in the 1970s they introduced a two-stroke ignition engine in four versions.
Certainly sounds like an interesting piece to evaluate, Tom! I never knew that Saito made 2-stroke ignition enginess! Thanks for the contact!
Cheers,
Adrian
Dear Sirs,
I am a retired aeromodeller living in Lucknow. I am looking for servicing of some model aircraft glow engines. I have the following engines-
– cox 0.049
– Fox 0,15
-McCoy 0,29
-Osmax 40FP
I am having starting difficulty with these engines, although I have ensured that the glow pugs are red hot. I am is using 16% nitro break in fuel.
Please let me know if you can service these engines for me, estimated cost if possible, and time required. I need the engines to be returned to me within one month.
Best regards
Akhilesh agarwal
Ps- I will be visiting Vancouver, Canada from 10 July to 25 Aug, and would be grateful for your help.
Nice to hear from you, Akhilesh! Unfortunately, I don’t undertake engine repairs or trouble-shooting – I just don’t have time. I wish that I could help, but time simply doesn’t permit this. At present, I’m also dealing with a medical situation which keeps me in isolation, so I won’t be able to meet you when you’re in Vancouver – sorry about that!
Do your engines have good compression when turned over with a plug installed? All of the models that you mention are generally quite good starters if there are no leaks.
Cheers anyway,
Adrian
Not sure how to send a private message to you but I hope this message of well wishes and good luck with your health problems gets to you. As a devout fan of your website, previous articles on the MEN site, and even the reruns in Free Flight Quarterly, I hope you continue for many more years. As a resident of the USA I grew up in Northern New Hampshire and many times walked or rode my bicycle into Canada with never a problem and it was great, tons of Canadians streamed south in foliage season and probably made our stores and restaurant owners rich with their slightly different dollars. Better times, certainly happier times. You Canadians were very happy and we Americans were much less embarrassed than some of us are now. I served proudly in the US Navy, always vote, pay my taxes, and generally feel pretty patriotic, but I have to admit that it is becoming very difficult. I hope you understand that we don’t all fit into the Trump mold. I don’t ever remember being embarrassed about being an American but it’s a little difficult to hold my head up sometimes.
Well, enough of that for now! I really enjoy all your engine articles and the recent one on the Enya .06 diesel took me back many, many years. You said in that article that your .06 glow model was too worn to get a good test on and doubted that you would ever find parts to repair it. Well, I happen to have an .06 glow engine that as far as I know has never run which I bought for the princely sum of $2.95 from America’s Hobby Center I think, probably in the middle 1960’s but it has a ruined crankcase and rear cover which will never be run (it’s a very long story) but has been sitting on my 1/2A engine shelf with the bad side hidden for years. Anyway, if you would like to have it to make a complete engine for testing purposes and expanding your article, it’s yours for the asking, just email me your mailing address and I’ll box it up and send it to you. Hopefully we can get it done before the Muskrat gets to the postal system!
Many thanks, Jim!! I know very well that many Americans are very much at odds with the Agent Orange philosophy. You guys are welcome up here any time – it’s your so-called “leadership” and its supporters that are the problem.
I’d love to have that Enya that you mention! I’ll email you directly as requested.
Cheers, and thanks for writing!
Adrian