Babe Bee age identification

mitchg95 Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:56 pm

just picked up a babe bee .049 at my lhs for $10. No camera on me at a moment so maybe i can describe it so that someone can help me find out when this was made
ok,
babe bee has a thin wall cylinder w/ 1 bypass work. no # stamped anywere on the cylinder
thin tapered crankcase
normal 5cc tank without "*thimble*drome*" inscribed on the tank
no screen in the opening on the metal backplate, also the backplate doesnot have "made in usa" stamped into it''

thanks, pictures tomorrow, hope the description can help find the age of the engine
P.S. engine needs a good cleaning, but other than that the crankcase end play is perfect, along with the play in the ball ans socket joind on the connecting rod and piston is perect, and engine has near perfect comperesion but produces bubbles when piston is slowely turned to tdc

Mark Boesen Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:02 am

Sounds like a early one for sure, it's hard to get an exact date, but usually within a couple years.

mitchg95 Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:09 am

thanks Mark, i looked and it does not have a 3 piece piston like Joe Cecere's
mabe 1960? well pictures will definetly help, also the gentelmen that i bought then from has 2 more engines for me to look at Smile

hopefully they are in this kind of condition or minty Razz

i cant wait Smile

John Goddard Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:23 am

Is the 3rd fin on the glow slightly smaller than the bottom
2?

**Admin** Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:43 am

Would you describe the color of the backplate to be a brassy color or a dark copper color? From how it sounds, I would guess you have a mid-late 1957. I also look at details on the crankcase such as the curve of the crankcase neck, groove or no groove for the spring starter and so on... We really should put a table together that shows the differences between a 1956 Babe Bee and a 1957 Babe Bee and shows when different details came about like the "Made in USA" and the pressed screen in the backplate.

mitchg95 Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:59 pm

John Goddard wrote:Is the 3rd fin on the glow slightly smaller than the bottom
2?

yes it is slightly smaller than the 2 below it, then there is a smaller fin above that

Jacob, the backplate is a darkey copper color.

**Admin** Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:09 pm

a dark copper... probably is a 1958

**Admin** Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:58 pm

wait wait wait...you said no "Thimble Drome" on the tank, it has to be 1957, perhaps some of the last before the Thimble Drome was added. There is always the chance that the tank was replaced.

mitchg95 Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:24 pm

yes there is that chance, maybe made from parts (hope its all origonal)
ill try to get some good pics of it later today, i would have posted some last night but my dad took the sd card out of the camera to look at some pics that i took at the airshow that went through last saturday, there was a Fokker d8, Spad S.E.5.A, B-17, the "909", a B-24, and a P-51 mustange Smile

Mark Boesen Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:24 pm

Hi Mitch,
You got to remember may of these engines were sold to kids like me that loved to tinker, when I was in grade school I had 1/2 doz. Babe Bees that I would constantly tear down and reassemble swapping parts as I go. I've found the best examples of original engines come from basket case plastic RTF's (eBay sales) where some kid smacked a plane in forty years ago and it got tossed up in the attic till it ends up on eBay.

mitchg95 Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:28 pm

Mark Boesen wrote:Hi Mitch,
You got to remember may of these engines were sold to kids like me that loved to tinker, when I was in grade school I had 1/2 doz. Babe Bees that I would constantly tear down and reassemble swapping parts as I go. I've found the best examples of original engines come from basket case plastic RTF's (eBay sales) where some kid smacked a plane in forty years ago and it got tossed up in the attic till it ends up on eBay.

i do the same thing lol
i had the thing running with a glow head adapter with a old testers gold glow plug, it started first flip Smile

it definetely runs sloooooooooooower than my golden bee or other babe bee's with duel bypass ports (this babe bee has only 1) i love it, it has a more throatier sound than they other .049 engines that i have Smile

fuel was power master 30% race fuel with 20% caster oil

**Cribbs74** Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:50 pm

That's a lot of nitro for that old bee...... Although the head was not original. Too many runs with high nitro and bye bye glow plug.

mitchg95 Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:52 pm

cribbs74 wrote:That's a lot of nitro for that old bee...... Although the head was not original. Too many runs with high nitro and bye bye glow plug.

i would have used 20% but i ran out using it in my golden bee Sad

do you think 15% will work or should i pick up more 20%?

**Admin** Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:15 pm

35% Sig! Look at that glow!!! It was ran off 35% because I had no more 20%.

mitchg95 Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:18 pm

Admin wrote:

35% Sig! Look at that glow!!! It was ran off 35% because I had no more 20%.

wow runs great, what kinda rpm's were ya getting?

Mark Boesen Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:46 pm

Coxes and most 1/2a engines are happy with higher nitro, 35% is ok to use if you think you need it, maybe add a gasket, too lean is hard on any head regardless of nitro. You could alway blend it with 20%. I always like 25%, 15% is ok if you not looking for max power. I used 35% on my Tee Dees when I used to pylon race and never had a problem, but it probably does shorten the plug life a little.

**Cribbs74** Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:55 pm

Admin wrote:

35% Sig! Look at that glow!!! It was ran off 35% because I had no more 20%.

That's pretty bright for a daylight run. Very Happy

**Admin** Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:02 am

I was only getting in the 13-14K range for rpm. This engine could use some work, the reed is worn and has a line as if it was bent at one time, plus it was used by my friend's dad just about every few days back in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. I have not rebuilt it with new parts yet just because it still runs. It looks like it is glowing more on the video but when you are just looking at it in person, it doesn't seem to be as much in person, go run one at night!

**Cribbs74** Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:07 am

Admin wrote:I was only getting in the 13-14K range for rpm. This engine could use some work, the reed is worn and has a line as if it was bent at one time, plus it was used by my friend's dad just about every few days back in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. I have not rebuilt it with new parts yet just because it still runs. It looks like it is glowing more on the video but when you are just looking at it in person, it doesn't seem to be as much in person, go run one at night!

I ran one in less than stellar lighting conditions once and it wasn't near as bright as that clip. I was using Sig 15%

I need to run one in the dark now......

**Admin** Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:14 am

i think you can see all of my engines glowing in each of my videos LOL. Some people were telling me that I was seeing the combustion but if you bend down low enough, you can the element is clearly white hot (yes caused by combustion and the reaction of the fuel causing heat) but it is the element in the head glowing and reflecting off the piston, not an explosion in the cylinder creating that glow.

gcb Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:27 am

I remember when I ran my first Babe Bee back in 1956. It was a lot more powerful than the engines I had been running. We had no trouble with the power available because we would build planes to use that amount of power. I never ran high nitro fuel because it cost more, and for a kid in those days...it mattered. I even ran a Cox engine on Fox Superfuel (once) that I had for larger engines. I'll have to admit that it didn't needle well...but it worked.

IMHO it is not necessary to grab the last bit of power and RPM...just build a plane accordingly. Of course, if your niche is competition, then it does matter.

George

andrew Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:43 pm

gcb wrote:
IMHO it is not necessary to grab the last bit of power and RPM...just build a plane accordingly. Of course, if your niche is competition, then it does matter.
George

I like my engines to run well and start easily, but, like you, they don't have to run flat out. I classify myself as a "Sunday Flyer", ala Ken Willard, where building and tinkering make up a big part of the hobby for me. Burning a tank of fuel hanging on the prop is just not my cup of tea, although I do like helis.

Having grown up fooling with rubber, freeflight (tow, handlaunch and powered), C/L and later R/C, I didn't have the resources for high-end engines, so most of my time and effort was directed to building and flying, not guiding a missle around.

Realistically, I'll leave the "hair on fire" flying to the younger guys, especially since I don't have much hair to burn nowdays. Very Happy

gcb Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:46 pm

andrew wrote:...especially since I don't have much hair to burn nowdays.

Tell me about it!... :-)

George

mitchg95 Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:14 am

as promised, here are pics of the engine in question
babe bee - Babe Bee age identification Sam_2017

Mark Boesen Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:54 pm

Here again, assuming no parts have been swapped out and it's all original. It’s got the darker color 'brass' plated backplate (‘58 into), no starter spring groove on case (’61 intro) and no ‘THIMBLE DROME’ on tank (’59 intro). I'll say it's was probably made sometime in 1958/59...about the same time I was ;^ (..

P.S.
A little BRASSO metal polish will make that backplate look new!

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