Tach Race 2012...The Wrap Up...and Class Photo !

After sorting out my problems from the previous day, I got my gear out and ready to go around 10:30am. The temp was right at 40 degrees F, and pretty much stayed there all day. All the engines were kept in my kitchen overnight and moved to the shop once it was heated up.

I had 9 Unlimited Entries to run, and Susie showed up just in time to help me with the record-keeping and swapping out the engines.

I ran Bernie and Xena’s engines first. I had a little hassle getting a good contact with the glow plug clip on Bernie’s “Crazy Bee”, but it finally lit up and I ran rich it for a while to let it settle in. When I peaked it, it jumped to 18840 and wavered there. Xena’s cast-case “Pink Panther” walked right up to 18400 and stayed there.

Next I ran “Mudhen”s “Nosebleed Special”…named for it’s leaky aft bearing. It was the most difficult one of the bunch to start, and seemed to easily flood with the lightest prime. When it DID start, it went right to peak, and then back to rich on it’s own. I let it run a bit, then took it to peak at it’s 19500...with plenty of fuel streaming down it’s side!

Mark Boesen’s Red Unlimited came with it’s own sheet metal mount, and went right up to it’s peak at 18500.

All the way from Greece to my back yard, Sotiris Reizis’ Gold and Red Unlimited started very easily and ran 18360 with little surging.

Paul Gibeault’s “Franken Motor” was a challenge for me to keep running as it spit it’s sealed fueling tube from it’s pressurized tank every time it started. I finally replaced the silicone tube with a plastic one and it stayed put. The engine’s shaft seemed very loose, and I only got it to peak at 17740.

Matt’s “microflitedude” “Killer Bee by MFD” Unlimited entry was another easy starter and, after it’s little warm-up, peaked at 18500.

Paul Westcott’s Unlimited “Space Hopper” also made life easy by starting right up, peaking at 15100 on it’s vintage Tatone engine mount.

Matt’s “ExmodelEngines.com” Golden Unlimited was another easy starter and cranked up to peak at 18240.

So, it came out that “Mudhen” was first place in Unlimited and recipient of Bernie’s Black Killer Bee engine, donated by Cox International !



There were 6 Mouse Class Engines, and I started running them around 2:00.

First up was Bob Dickerson’s “Dkrsn” “Tribute to Joe Klause”, which started easily and ran up to 17500.

I then tried Mark Boesen’s beautiful “Blue Mouser”, but could only get runs of a few seconds out it. It seemed to have a fuel draw problem as I had the needle WAY out, and the engine still would mostly only burn out it’s prime. During one of it’s short runs, it peaked at 14100.

Douglas Veasey’s “crankbender” Black Widow Mouser was ready to run and went to 18780 after it’s warm up.

Sotiris Reizis Black & Red Mouser, another easy starter, came in at 17940.

Paul Gibeault’s “Crown Royal” Mouser tried to pull my test stand across the table with a steady run at 19280.

Paul Wescott’s never-run Black Widow Mouse ran at 15750, and will probably run a lot faster with a little more break-in time.

The First Place Entry in Mouse Class goes to Paul Gibeault and his fire-breathing “Crown Royal” Mouse. His placing earns him another colorful character for his bench…Bernie’s Cox International-donated “Crazy Bee” !


There were three entries in the Novis Class, and they placed in the order I received them:

Ron Cribb’s “cribs74” Texas Product engine came in first at 17280.

Doug Vesey’s “Crankbender” Florida engine ran 16290.

Paul Wescott’s never-run Babe Bee was run a bit to help it loosen up before peaking at 14400.

All three engines started up very easily, and were the most consistent RPM -holders of the group. I think Paul’s Babe Bee might turn up a little faster with some more run time.

As First Place Winner in Novice, Ron receives a Sure Start engine for his continued experimentation !


“Missing in Action” was our entry from London England, Indra’s Unlimited entry. Mailed two and a half weeks before the original Tach Race date, it still has not appeared. According to other folks who’ve had this situation, it’s not too unusual for packages to show up a month or so later. I’ll keep watching for it. Sorry, Indra. While it’s certainly not a replacement for Indra’s engine, he will receive a Sure Start engine for his efforts to compete, and I hope it’s some small consolation until his other engine on comes home.

Our Longest Distance Winner, Sortiris Reizis, from Thessaloniki Greece, also receives a Sure Start engine for sending his Unlimited and Mouse entries such a long way ! Thank you for competing Sotiris !!!!

Lastly, I was left with the “Pink Panther”, donated by Xena at Cox International, and since it IS a pink engine, I thought it might be a gesture of encouragement to send it to Eline in the Netherlands in recognition of her being the first female member of the Cox Engine Collectors Forum. She can use it to power the Sig Staggerwing she’s building!

All of the engines were wiped down, and given a couple drops of Xenalube (until I ran out, and went to Hobbico Afterrun Oil). We wrapped them in paper towels and carefully returned them to their packages, doing a double check on everything to make sure they were all matched to their owners.

I’m gonna punch out for a day, then start getting everyone’s engines on their way home. This was a real treat, and I once again thank all you guys for sending your engines to compete on a little hill way out in the wilds of Missouri !!