Fuel Blends

Hello,
What are best fuel blends for sport flying Cox .049 Bees & Widows, a TD .049, and a TD .09. How do I break-in these engines. I am just now returning to flying Cox engines since the early 1960's.
Thanks
Robert

Hello Robert,

many topics address these issues here. In a nutshell, the minimum lube content  is 20% that you need to blend in a COX engine fuel, of which at least half should be castor. I, for one, prefer all-castor lube and avoid synthetic oils. This is true for all COX engines with balljoint between the piston and rod. Nitro may vary between 5% up to even 50% or higher, but that may take its toll on the engine longevity. I usually run all my COX engines on 20%castor/20%nitro /60% methanol blend, with the only exception of the smallest 010 TeeDees that get 30% nitro on 20% castor and 50% methanol.


For running in, while COX advertised their finely fitted engines are ready for service once out of the box, some people begin with a few short runs of 1 minutes each, with rich fuel-air mixture, letting the engine run slow, in a "4-stroke "  manner. Restart after cooled down and repeat a few times, when you finally set the engine speed to max by leaning the fuel air mixture with the needle valve setting accordingly. This is not just a mechanical "lapping" process, but also a thermal stress-relief of the machined cylinder and piston mating surfaces, where finally everything will drop in its place with best compression and minimum friction.

Old stock, taper bore cylinder and piston combos are good for hundreds of hours of dependable service, thanks to the fantastic production accuracy of COX manufacturing in its heydays, as well as to the self-healing effect of castor that leaves varnish in occasionally inflicted wear patterns by dirt, scratched in the cylinder wall..