K 150 1.5cc Diesel

Hi Rod,

The engine I posted is the Aurora K 150 and so is yours!

Some engines are difficult to identify and I was a little remiss in not titling it as an Aurora - the K does almost definitely refer to Kumar.

Manufactured in India by Aurora Model Manufacturing Co Pvt Ltd of Calcutta, India. Aurora was owned and run by Calcutta businessman, Suresh Kumar. He had acquired the Mills .75 and 1.3 rights, along with those for the Taplin Twin and Allen Mercury range. None of the latter were produced by Aurora, but the Mills and Taplin certainly were,  a worthwhile and earnest enterprise by a man with a genuine affection for the engines, let down sometimes by poor quality control.

With the Aurora engines, you often come across somewhat unjustified negativity. They gained a reputation for having weak crankshafts but, as with many other posts that I have read, there is a tendency for "posters" to concentrate on negativity.

After cleaning this engine I test ran in and although it wasn't a PAW or Oliver Tiger Diesel, it fired up and ran well. Better than my DC equivalents. However, when I took it off the stand to clean it - I made the classic model diesel engine error. I flicked it one more time for good luck. It fired and left my hand bounced nose down, broke the prop and catapulted into the fish pond.

I retrieved it expecting the worst and it hadn't suffered at all. Crankshaft still true! I re ran it and it was fine. Now cleaned and stored. That one didn't have a weak crankshaft.

There is a collector, J M Rojo, and he has an excellent website. I often glean information from his catalogued collection.

http://www.rojobcn.com/listmot_diesel.htm


Here are the two 150s from his collection.

Thanks Ian.
It's a little difficult when two completely different looking engines have the same model designation.

I was very fortunate to find the engine on Webstore (as opposed to Ebay). I was the first and only bidder and won it for $8 US. Then, the seller informed me that he couldn't find the engine, which I thought was rather "convenient" when he got so little for it at auction, and that he would refund my money, which he did. He eventually located the engine and sent it to me at no cost, although I insisted on paying the postage at least.

The engine was clean and possibly unrun. I have had it running but only on some of my 35 year old can of Aeroflyte "Superblast 400" diesel. I have just managed to blend up some fresh diesel but I'm yet to try it out. It should improve its running if I got the blend right. I used Jet A-1 which I understand it suitable.

At around the same time I picked up an early (the better model) Chinese Silver Swallow 1.5 as well, not the later CS type. It has had some use but seems quite good also.

Because Ether is so hard to get I won't fly any of my diesels but I'll at least bench run as many as will run on the little fuel I've been able to produce.

Rod.

I glad that you verify that diesels do run on ether. I never knew for sure.

I related on another post that my first model engine was a diesel and that my mother (back in the fortys) went to the local drug store and bought some. I don't imagine that can happen any more. Is there an alternative to ether?

I never did get it to run and it was probably tossed.

To be accurate, a model diesel doesn't actually "run" on ether, but it runs on kerosene. The ether, which has a very low flash point, is there to help light the kerosene under the heat of compression. Fuel is equal parts Kerosene, ether and castor oil, with a small amount of DII added to stabilize it all.

To be even more accurate, they're not even really correctly termed a "diesel" as they don't operate under Rudolf Diesel's principle of injection, but are more correctly called compression ignition. Basically, glow engines are also really compression ignition, which relates to our other conversation on head shims in Cox engines. Less shims, more compression, advance the ignition timing. More shims, less compression, retard the timing. Same deal with the compression screw on a diesel.

Rod.

First of al, sorry for resurrecting (another) old thread, however this is the engine that I need a replacement NVA for.

I acquired one of these similar to the last pictured.  It has a broken spray bar.  Other than that, it runs great.

I am in the process of getting back into control line after a 10 year+ break, and have decided that I'd like to give diesels a bit more of a go.

Any ideas on where I might source a replacement spray bar?

Cheers,
Mike

Mike,

Hope you have already found the part you are looking for. If not, you may want to try Mr. Ed Carlson. All his info is available at his website: carlsonengineimports.net. He is a great guy and really knows his stuff.

Good luck,

Bob

Thanks for the reply Bob,

I've tried contacting Ed a couple of times but no reply yet.  He may be away at the moment.  His web site indicates that he may have some spares left, so maybe I'll be lucky.

I previously started my K150 using the NVA from an OS Pet, but I have since broken that NVA and also need to replace it. Probably harder to replace the OS than the Aurora.

I'm not sure if there is a generic part, like the ST46 NVAs that are compatible with so much, that I could use as an alternative.

Cheers,
Mike.

Mike. I would suggest that it's better to phone Ed than contact him by email. He has told me that phone is his preference & struggles with emails. I would think that an NVA from a P.A.W. engine of similar size would probably be suitable. Ed should have these although you can probably order them on-line direct from P.A.W.

Rod.

Thanks for the suggestion Rod, but phoning from Australia is not easy for me.

You did, however, prompt me to go to the P.A.W. website and check out their spares.  It appears that their .049 all the way up to their .19 all use the same NVA and that reminded me that I have a P.A.W. 19.  I checked the fit and the diameter is OK, however, the engine would need to be modified slightly to get the hole in the spray bar lined up in the middle of the venturi. The hole in the spray bar is also a lot bigger. This is a good second option, however I'll see if I can get the correct part first.

This K150 is really just a sports engine that I'm trying to get going so that I can build a plane for my sons and I to play with, something like a mini peacemaker.

Outerlimits Plan of Mini Peacemaker

Cheers,
Mike.

Sorry Hawk, didn't know you were one of us. Yes, I see your point about phoning from out here. It can be a bother. I did actually explain that to Ed and he expressed a preference for a fax rather than an email. I inadvertently rang him while trying to send a fax & he picked up in the wee small hours. Ooops. I have a K150 as well. If you need some specs I can probably measure up my NVA.
Rod.

Oldenginerod wrote:

Because Ether is so hard to get I won't fly any of my diesels but I'll at least bench run as many as will run on the little fuel I've been able to produce.

Rod.

you can get ether from the john deere starting fluid it has %80 ether in it the rest is propellant

cox24711 wrote:

Oldenginerod wrote:

Because Ether is so hard to get I won't fly any of my diesels but I'll at least bench run as many as will run on the little fuel I've been able to produce.

Rod.

you can get ether from the john deere starting fluid it has %80 ether in it the rest is propellant  

Greg.  Due to our warm climate I don't think John Deere sell their high ether fluid out here.  The highest % ether starting fluid I have found is "Master" brand at 50%.
I can get pre-mixed fuel in Melbourne and you can buy ingredients closer to you from R/C Fuel Supplies in Loganholme. sales@rcfuelsupplies.com.au  PH 0403 99 77 42. Maybe someone at your club can get ether if you want to give diesel a go.

I'm just starting to play with "compression ignition" engines and now you've got me worried that when I run out of the small amount on very old fuel I have, I may not be able to buy anymore.

That ether that's used, is it dimethy-ether?

Mike

Hawk wrote:I'm just starting to play with "compression ignition" engines and now you've got me worried that when I run out of the small amount on very old fuel I have, I may not be able to buy anymore.

That ether that's used, is it dimethy-ether?

Mike

I think they talk about di-ethyl ether, but I don't know the difference. Maybe one is a medical grade & one is a solvent grade.
Where abouts in Aus are you? As I mentioned to Greg, I know a couple of sources. Also, the "Master" starting fluid I mentioned is in my local parts store. Looking at the spec sheet, I reckon if you invert the can and gas off the propellant, what you have left is about 50-50 ether and heptane. The heptane will probably do as an alternative to the kero in the blend, so measure what you have and add about half the volume in castor oil & I think you'll be about right.
Rod.

Oh, just noticed you're in Adelaide. Not sure over there, but because it's the original home of Gordon Burford's engine business, I'm sure there's a few clubs around who run classic Burford diesel classes- Taipan, Sabre engines etc. They should be able to help. Maybe contact Adelaide Aeromotive. http://www.aamotive.com/
They reproduce and repair Taipan engines and may be able to direct you to a club or society who use diesels.

Rod.

Thanks again for the reply Rod.

I got in touch with someone I used to fly with to find out where he sources his diesel fuel from and it turns out I can buy it from Model Flight, a local hobby shop. There's still a few diesel flyers over here, so I could even get the components if I wanted to mix my own.

I got my K-150 started today using the P.A.W. NVA, however it would not close off fully, and the spraybar is too large, I think causing it to starve when I tilted it to simulate climbing. Couldn't find a setting that would allow it to run vertically. The Aurora original spraybar has the centre turned down slightly to improve the air flow.

Although this doesn't give an original appearance - for "up and running" and adjustability, it should be fine.

Peter advertises these regularly.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/model-aircraft-engines-universal-NVA-/291712528258?hash=item43eb6bef82:g:pVMAAOSwstxVFt4a