On you next order, mention Cox Engines Quarterly and you will receive a free 5-piece gasket kit for Cox.049 Reed Valve engines

Transcription

1 Page 1 May 2016 See page 8 for the story behind this treasure-trove of Cox goodies On you next order, mention Cox Engines Quarterly and you will receive a free 5-piece gasket kit for Cox.049 Reed Valve engines (Offer valid until June 30 / 2016) What's the difference between a pilot and a pepperoni pizza? A pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four.

2 Page 2 May 2016 From the Editor It has been a crazy few months, with the acquisition and subsequent listing of very large lots of OEM Cox parts that we were lucky to find. Lots of work, lots of fun and lots learned but finally done and time to enjoy the summer! In this issue: In the 1950 s By Kim Stricker Tee Dee Engine Disassembly - By Joe Cecere Parts Matching - By Paul Gibeault How to Build a Winning Engine By Rod Boreham Cox Treasure Trove - By Bernie Poor Little Kit - By Theresa From the Store Manager It is newsletter time again! Over the years it has been our pleasure to work with Larry Rice from Black Hawk Models. As many of you may know, Larry has decided retired from the business. Larry has shown remarkable generosity by donating hundreds of kits to kids in need, homes for battered children, orphanages and to programs for underprivileged youth. Black Hawk Models will continue, as the company has been acquired by Trillium Balsa, located in Ontario, Canada. Trillium hopes to start producing some of the Black Hawk Kits this summer. We hope you enjoy our newsletter and wish you Happy Flying! Bernie We will miss working with Larry and we hope you all join us in sending best wishes to Larry for a very happy retirement! Cheers! Theresa

3 Page 3 May 2016 In the 1950 s By Kim Stricker In the 1950's, the Scientific Model Airplane Company started a line of simple, control-line model airplanes that could be built (with an excellent chance of success) by junior pilots of the day. Designed pretty much exclusively by Walt Musciano (one of my heroes), many had their fuselages shaped from a single block of balsa, and became to be known as 'Hollow Log' models. The entire plane (depending on the version) often consisted of 8-9 pieces of balsa and plywood, and could be built in one evening, left for a day for the glue to dry (a rule often ignored), then painted and flown. The Golden Hawk was (is) one of the most popular, and seems to be very nearly the flagship of the line. My Uncle Wayne had one back in the day (1968 or so), painted with green Aerogloss Dope (yes that's the Old School Term for this type of paint), that I never saw fly. Fortunately a company called 'Black Hawk Models' started making repro Scientific kits, and I was able to add one to my collection. As a kid, I built a lot of Scientific Models, but this is my first Golden Hawk. As I worked to get Uncle Wayne's Wittman Buster painted, the nearly-finished Golden Hawk got taken down, dusted off, and masked, and ALSO became a target of my paint gun. I'd painted it overall yellow, and chose to trim it in green Brodak Dope. The flat firewall of the model allows easy swapping of different types of engines, so I plan to use it to showcase some of my collection of castor-slinging noise makers! Got just a little more trim and finishing (including the seating of some 'Celebrity Pilots' in its open cockpits), and it, along with the Buster and Mud Dabber, will again take to the skies!

4 Page 4 May 2016 Tee Dee engine disassembly By Joe Cecere I get requests from time to time asking for information on how to take a Cox Tee Dee or Medallion engine apart. This is how to do it yourself. To get a piston to free up if it's frozen remove the glow head and place a prop on the engine and tighten real tight. Place the engine in front of a blow dryer set on medium and heat for 5 minutes or so. Hold the engine with a towel, squirt s little fuel in the exhaust port and slowly turn the prop. The heat will melt the Castor oil locking up the engine. You can also put the engine in boiling water with 3 or 4 drops of automatic dishwasher detergent mixed in and follow the above instructions. These methods will work for all Cox engines. Clean the inside of the cylinder with fuel and a cotton swab. The cheap ones at your local dollar store work the best. Once you get it to move add some more fuel to the inside of the cylinder and continue spinning the prop until it is loose. Excessive castor build up can be removed with a.45 cal brass gun brush and some Hops Gun cleaner. You remove the drive plate with a Cox tool. Remove the prop. There are notches around the silver collet behind the gold drive plate that the semi-circular part of the wrench fits on. Turn the silver collet until the drive plate and gold prop plate come off. It will turn hard, but it will come off. Heat up the carb body to loosen with the blow dryer and remove. It's always a good idea to clean the engine parts with fuel or alcohol before putting it back together. Put on the new carb body using some after run oil to get it to slide on as far as it will go then screw on the silver collet to seat the carb body all the way back, using the Cox tool to tighten.

5 Page 5 May 2016 Parts matching - By Paul Gibeault Those of you following my performance articles, may recall that my method of obtaining a superior engine involved a good deal of "Parts Matching". So, in order to determine what parts are what, I find it most helpful to mark them so that I can determine just what I have from the exterior markings. In no particular order: 1. With a Dremel polishing point I put a polish mark on the aft end of the connecting rod. Some rods/ ball-sockets may be out of perfect alignment & therefore are "freer" when installed one particular way & "less free" when installed 180 degrees. A polish mark ensures I always re-assemble it with the best orientation. 2. I bottom tap (2-56 tpi) a few more threads in my crankcases to ensure the tank screws don't bottom out & place a punch mark on the crankcases L/H forward edge. 3. If I'm using a Killer Bee crank I may engrave the case with something like "KBC". 5. I make a double punch mark (from a pin-punch tool) on the forward edge of the crankcase to indicate if I'm using a bronze-bushed crank case. 6. Cylinders are engraved with what they are (i.e. BV = Bernie Venom ) or TD pylon, etc. 7. Tanks will be engraved with the venturi diameter such as Tank back hole diameter marked such as 80 (=.080"). Note: It is thought that a slight step between the tank back & tank venturi hole diameters may give better fuel draw than the two being the same, but my testing of that parameter has not been conclusive yet... I will often name my engines. My two favorites are "Jewels" & "Larry".

6 Page 6 May 2016 How to build a winning engine without even trying By Rodney Boreham Many of the readers here would be familiar with the Tach Race held by members of the Cox Engine Forum and.049 Collectors group. In 2014 I plucked up enough courage to send two of my precious Cox engines half way around the world to our willing contest director, Kim Stricker. Being new to this sort of competition, I wasn t completely clear on the classifications and what engines fitted where, so I ended up sending a nice looking Golden Bee for the Mouse Class and, for Unlimited Class, I had put together what I thought would be a reasonably fast engine. (Little did I know!) I started out with an ebay purchased Silver Bee or Stunt Bee or whatever it was. I don t think those two models actually formally exist but it was a later wide necked crankcase with hex drive plate, narrow slotted exhausts and stunt tank with metal backplate. I had a spare P-40 cylinder so I installed that to give it SPI and twin by-pass ports and stuck on a Tee Dee high compression head. At that point I knew nothing about adding and removing head gaskets to maximize performance so I just put in one gasket and it seemed to run pretty well. Like always, prep time was running low so I cleaned it up, packed both engines up in a box and sent them on their long journey from Australia to Kim s Skunk Works in Missouri. Well, needless to say, my engines performance was dismal compared to the other well prepared engines. My Golden Bee, which runs quite well, came in last in Mouse and the Super Silver Stunt Bee came second last in Unlimited. Mmmm... me thinks I d better do a little more preparation next year. Thanks to a very generous fellow competitor who obviously appreciated the distance that my engines had to travel, I was pleased to receive a gift voucher from Cox International. My first thought was to invest in some hop-up parts for next year s race s race date came around all too quick and I was once again ill-prepared. With my gift voucher I decided to get one of Bernie s Tee Dee reproduction cylinders to install on my Super Silver Stunt Bee. Just to be sure, I thought I d reset the con-rod socket as it had a little detectible slack in it from new. I don t know what happened but somehow I managed to crack the new piston s skirt. Knowing that most Cox pistons are a near-perfect fit in most Cox cylinders, I scrounged another piston from my parts box (probably the original) which seemed to be a good fit. I also fitted a new no-drag drive plate as well, but in my haste it installed crooked and I couldn t get it straight, so I scrounged up another crankcase assembly with a round drive plate already fitted. By now, it was looking like the only thing left of the original engine was the tank, backplate, piston, spinner and the Tee Dee head that I had fitted the previous year. After reading Paul Gibault s Mouse engine building tips, I went out and bought the right size drill bit to enlarge the venturi of my engine, only to find that it was already at the recommended diameter. I also opted to try three head gaskets, which seems pretty standard for using 35% nitro fuel with a Tee Dee head. Why do 747s have humps? So the pilot can sit on his wallet

7 Page 7 May 2016 How to build a winning engine without even trying By Rodney Boreham (Part2) Time was running out after all my little mishaps. I mounted it up and got it running only to have it stop with a crunch- the reed retaining clip had popped out and jammed the crankshaft. In with a new Mylar reed and clip from Bernie. It seemed to turn up pretty good numbers, but I didn t have the 35% fuel that was to be used in the race, or a nifty little APC prop, so I really didn t have a clue what it would do. Once again, a quick clean-up, whacked it in a box with a random Babe Bee and off it goes to Missouri. This time I opted to enter it in Mouse Class, with the Babe Bee going in the new class for stock single by -pass tanked engines (Babe/Golden Bee). Well, do you think I was surprised? My Super Silver Stunt Bee went straight to the head of the class with 24,100 RPM, winning me a very nice Black Widow (which actually came 3rd). Even the untested Babe Bee came in a respectable 3rd in its class. The moral of the story is, even when you mess up, keep trying. I messed up my engine a couple of times in preparation, but somehow things worked out well because I persisted and didn t quit. Sometimes you can over-plan and theorize about things when all you need to do is have a go. I did nothing special, but came out on top. I guess I got lucky. I must give credit to Cox International s high performance Tee Dee reproduction cylinder. With little else really done to get the engine running faster, this must have been the key to the exceptional performance. Sometimes everything works together just right, which it clearly did in this case. Thanks to Kim for all his work, the sponsors who supplied great prizes and all those who wished my Aussie Super Silver Stunt Bee well on its travels.

8 Page 8 May 2016 Cox Treasure Trove - By Bernie Towards the fall of last year we received an from a fellow named Tom in Western Canada, who stated that he had stumbled upon a substantial cache of Cox items in a warehouse, and asked if were interested in buying them That got our interest!!! A subsequent phone conversation revealed that this was merchandise from a former Cox repair facility and Tom estimated the total volume as being several pallets. All in original Cox packaging, almost exclusively airplane and car parts and all from the 1970 s and 80 s. He followed up with a spreadsheet of the items, as well as quantities and noted that many boxes did not have part numbers on them. After perusing the spreadsheet we negotiated what we believed to be a fair price; with the understanding that, should the lot prove to be more valuable than believed, we would send additional funds. Theresa and I could barely contain our excitement, as we had never been given the opportunity to acquire such a large lot of original Cox airplane and car parts. After pre-paying the lot we began to organize transportation and give thought as to how we could store so much merchandise in our modest office space. Then came the day the delivery truck showed up. Two 4x4x8 feet pallets, nicely shrink-wrapped, were dropped off at the main door of our building. As the pallets did not fit into the elevator, we cut open the shrink-wrap and loaded up the elevator several times, merely throwing everything out of the elevator at our floor. Had to take a picture of me amongst the boxes :) Then came the opening of the boxes; whereas many contained countless smaller boxes. Christmas three months early does not come close to accurately describing the joy we felt. It was simply overwhelming! Then the real work began. Weeks and weeks of identifying and cataloging the parts, followed by taking pictures and listing the items on our website, week after week. What did not help speed up the listing process was another Cox lot we received in between; over 1,000 Cox.010 to.15 engine parts, all in original packaging; which we prioritized for listing. Finally, at the end of February of this year, the last item was listed. Sales were brisk and approximately ¾ of the items have found new homes in the meantime. Next project? About 3,000 packages on non-cox items, in original packaging, from manufacturers such as DuBro, Sig, Goldberg, Dave Brown, Sterling, Ernst, Klett, Pylon, Guillows, Banner as well large fuel tanks, large spinners, large wheels, large wooden props, etc, etc A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and therefore we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax -- OH MY GOD!" Silence followed and after a few minutes, the Captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm so sorry if I scared you earlier, but while I was talking, the flight attendant brought me a cup of coffee and spilt it in my lap. You should see the front of my pants! A passenger in coach said, "That's nothing, he should see the back of mine!"

9 Page 9 May 2016 Poor Little Kit - By Theresa In our last newsletter I told you all that I was very excited to be starting work on my first airplane kit. Under Bernie s watchful eye we unpacked and laid out the plans for a A6M2 Zero kit. I carefully read all of the instructions and prepared to undertake the build. We laid out all of the supplies needed to complete the build and organized everything in our workroom. The instructions for my airplane were pinned to the building board.. We then received two pallets of original Cox merchandise including airplane parts, engine parts, and car parts. As we tried to find room in our office for all the new goodies my poor airplane kit was moved aside. Boxes were piled in every corner of the office. Hours and hours were spent identifying, counting and cataloging all of the parts. Once counted and cataloged we had to find places to store these parts so that each part could be easily identified and pulled for shipping. This meant a complete reorganization of product we already had to make room for all of the new parts. Meanwhile, over in the corner, the instructions for my airplane are still pinned to the building board... We finally managed to organize this giant supply of Cox items and then came the photographing and completing listings for our website. During this process we happened across another huge lot of engine parts with a ton of fantastic treasures. All of these items also requiring identifying, counting and cataloging. Again, the challenge of finding enough storage space for all of these goodies in our little office. Meanwhile, over in the corner, the instructions for my airplane are still pinned to the building board... Each of these new items brought its own challenges. Original Cox boxes came in a variety of sizes, none of which seem to comply with Canada Post shipping standards. This means that each box needed to be cut down or reshaped, repacked and stuffed with materials to keep the boxes from bending. Each item weighed and measured to find the most cost-effective way to ship without damaging these marvelous little treasures. Meanwhile, over in the corner, the instructions for my airplane are still pinned to the building board... We are happy to say that these items have been selling well. The boxes are only piled chest-high in the storage room now and we can actually see small sections of the floor. Perhaps this will be the week that I get to start on my kit. Oh, wait, we still have huge boxes of non-cox items that need to be identified, counted and cataloged. Meanwhile, over in the corner, the instructions for my airplane are still pinned to the building board.. Maybe I can finish the airplane before the next flying season. :) Basic Flying Rules: 1. Try to stay in the middle of the air. 2. Do not go near the edges of it. 3. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space.

10 Page 10 May 2016