I admit it. I have ADHD!

batjac Fri Jun 06, 2014 6:55 pm

Well, I’m man enough to admit to my faults. I have ADHD. Airplane Derived Hobbyist’s Disdorder. I work on one project, and then easily get distracted by another project. Last night, I sat down to my desk to work on an airplane, but decided it was too late to get really involved, so I switched to a quickie side project.

A couple of weeks ago I saw an auction for an incomplete TD .049 engine. It was missing the venturi, needle, and needle body, the venturi body, the collet nut, and the drive plate. I have everything but the collet nut in my spares box, so I figured I’d throw out a $10 bid and if it won, okay. If not, okay also. Well, I did win it, and it came a few days ago. When I unboxed it, I just dropped it in a jar of glow fuel to soak until I had time to get to it. So, last night I got to it. I fished it out of the jar and pulled the cylinder off. What to my surprise, but this sight greeted me on the piston of my fixer-upper .049:
I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1894_zps417a4416

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1894_zps417a4416

And, checking the cylinder that I hadn’t bother to look at too closely, it was indeed stamped “5”.
I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1886_zpsc2486f99

So, my fixer-upper .049 is actually a fixer-upper .051. A nice little surprise. Makes up for the $5 Testors .049 engine I got at the same time. And, my luck is still holding. Hooking up my starter battery showed a nice orange glow from the glow head. I think I’m still about 9/10 on working glow heads with my eBay engines. Unfortunately, the venturi body I have is black instead of red, so I’ll have to find a way to mark this engine so I don’t mistake it for a standard TD .049. But then, I also have a sleeper .051 in .049 clothing.

The only disappointment on the engine is that the previous owner had taken a hacksaw or file to the backplate for some reason. It’s still good to use, but I guess I’ll order a new backplate at the same time that I order a collet nut.
I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1896_zps8f2e3123

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1896_zps8f2e3123

After I got it completely disassembled, I dropped the parts back in the jar to soak a few more hours so the residual gunk could soften up. Then it’s reassembly and test run time. So, the question is: reassemble it as is with the new parts, or use the left hand crank that I got a couple of weeks ago.

The Disordered Mark

**Cribbs74** Fri Jun 06, 2014 7:13 pm

Good find Mark!

I think we both know why the backplate was sawed on. The factory cut outs aren't deep enough and the wrench slips off easily.

The proper TD wrench helps, but it still isn't perfect.

Hope you get it all sorted out!

Ron

**RknRusty** Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:44 pm

batjac wrote:I admit it. I have ADHD!

I have exactly the opposite. I start a project and get obsessed with it and can't switch my attention to anything else. If I could, I'd be building a Skyray and an Oriental at the same time. It about killed me to stop working on the Skyray wing to fix up the Satan for the Traveling Engine.

Mark I hope your Tee Dee .051 turns out to be a good one. I love mine, but I've flown it to death and now it's getting a new .049 P/C with my Reed Speed winnings. So I'll have a red hot .049. If you want my old red carb body, PM me your address and I'll send it to you.
Rusty

P.S. Looks like your crankcase has been pressure tapped on the front end.

batjac Sat Jun 07, 2014 12:19 am

RknRusty wrote:
batjac wrote:I admit it. I have ADHD!

Mark I hope your Tee Dee .051 turns out to be a good one. I love mine, but I've flown it to death and now it's getting a new .049 P/C with my Reed Speed winnings. So I'll have a red hot .049. If you want my old red carb body, PM me your address and I'll send it to you.
Rusty

P.S. Looks like your crankcase has been pressure tapped on the front end.

Cool! Thanks for the offer. I thought they all had that port open, so when you drilled out the plasstic nipple in the body, it had a port for case pressure. Maybe I'm wrong?

The Grateful Mark

Ken Cook Sat Jun 07, 2014 8:47 am

Hello Mark, the cases were not factory drilled from Cox. The drill bit required to drill the proper size hole in the case was quite small. This was somewhat of a tedious process and Cox suggested that you performed this with the engine assembled. While the information they provided did work, it's a bit crude and the swarf from drilling wasn't always essentially removed from the engine without dismantling the engine. This type of pressure known as timed crank pressure is a very poor choice. It works horribly and the engine generally surges and it's most susceptible to leaking which really fouls things up. No fuel tubing known to man stays on the inferior nipple they provided and this makes it even more problematic. Your engine won't run properly unless this hole is sealed. I tried to epoxy mine and that was very short lived. While I'm sure JB weld would do much better, I drilled my case out using the proper tap drill and installed a 2-56 wheel collar set screw in the case. I sealed it using Loctite and made sure that it didn't project into the crank journal. This was the only guarantee I had in making sure this was sealed. The engine just ran horribly prior to my fix. I prefer bladders over crank pressure as it's a much more reliable source with no tank height issues and just about the simplest thing you can do.Ken

**Cribbs74** Sat Jun 07, 2014 8:57 am

I'll second what Ken said. I used JB weld on a .010 case that had been drilled and it worked well. That hole looks larger than what Cox recommended so I imagine you will have problems for sure if it's not covered up.

The drill bit required to drill the hole per instructions is about the diameter of a regular sewing pin. I have the correct bit if you wish to see it.

Ron

andrew Sat Jun 07, 2014 1:29 pm

I don't think you'll need to mark the engine to identify it; just run the piston to TDC and check for the ring on the bottom of the piston thru the exhaust port.

**RknRusty** Sat Jun 07, 2014 1:51 pm

andrew wrote:I don't think you'll need to mark the engine to identify it; just run the piston to TDC and check for the ring on the bottom of the piston thru the exhaust port.

Yeah, I spotted that before I even read the post. Always a ring designating an .051.
Rusty

**Cribbs74** Sat Jun 07, 2014 2:07 pm

Mark,

One last thing and then I'll shut up Laughing

The power difference between .049-51 is so negligible that you would never notice the difference.

In fact it's so much so that either cylinder is allowed in the tach race.

batjac Sat Jun 07, 2014 2:57 pm

Thanks for all the advice, Guys. I'll get out the 4-40 tap and tap it this afternoon. I should have a few small 4-40 set screws. I'll lock-tite it in, ensuring it doesn't protrude into the case, and then file it down to match the outer case profile.

Ron, I know it's negligible on the power output, I was just being facetious. As seen by the Reed Speed contest results, I'm not an engine tweaker by any means. I just like them to run reliably.

The Tapped Out Mark

batjac Sat Jun 07, 2014 7:32 pm

Okay. This should get it. I tapped for 4-40, because it was a pretty large hole and the 4-40 was just right. Then I put a 4-40 set screw in with green Permatex sleeve retainer. Then I filed it down to the case profile. That sucker's not ever coming out.

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1902_zps433be48b

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN1902_zps433be48b

The Tapped Out Mark

**RknRusty** Sat Jun 07, 2014 7:38 pm

Good work. Now you got yerself a Tee Dee. I hope the crank and case are in good shape.
Rusty

Ken Cook Sat Jun 07, 2014 7:44 pm

Mark, you were meant to own this engine. Good luck with it Ken

batjac Sat Jun 07, 2014 8:32 pm

RknRusty wrote:Good work. Now you got yerself a Tee Dee. I hope the crank and case are in good shape.
Rusty

Internally, the case is excellent. The crank had a little corrosion on it where it was exposed to air through the intake slot, but burnished out with a light buffing. Compression is great on the cylinder head. Should be a great runner once I get the remaining parts. Now to figure out what to build for it. I want something different for this one. Built up wing. Maybe a full fuselage. Definitely an old timer of some sort.

Thanks, Ken. I guess I luck out on these engines that call to me.

The Buff Mark

**RknRusty** Sat Jun 07, 2014 9:49 pm

Baby Flite Streak. Finest 1/2A flier there is. Build it box stock and maiden it nose heavy, then work back from there. It will go wherever you point it on tight lines. Watch me fly mine,and consider my skills were only just beginning to develop when I made these movies.
Rusty

This one has the finest $32dollar eBay TeeDee .051 ever!
I admit it. I have ADHD! Baby_f10

I'm bashing my new big skyray into a Full sized Streak.

batjac Sun Jun 08, 2014 12:38 pm

RknRusty wrote:Baby Flite Streak. Finest 1/2A flier there is. Build it box stock and maiden it nose heavy, then work back from there. It will go wherever you point it on tight lines. Watch me fly mine,and consider my skills were only just beginning to develop when I made these movies.
Rusty

This one has the finest $32dollar eBay TeeDee .051 ever!

I'm bashing my new big skyray into a Full sized Streak.

Well, I do already have the Baby Flite Streak plans already printed out. Maybe I will do that one next. If I do, any suggestions on modifications to the build? Longer or shorter nose? Shortened or extended tail? I was meaning to build one sometime, but I was also wanting to build something obscure, also. Hard to decide. And, I actually need to get out and FLY the ones I've already built, too. Airplane

The indecisive Mark

**RknRusty** Sun Jun 08, 2014 1:26 pm

The BFS hits the fun fly bullseye. I would not want to shorten the tail, it's already an extremely responsive plane, and any more so would be too much. You barely need any appreciable elevator deflection as it is. A shorter nose will cramp your fuel tank placement and make balancing more difficult. Leave the front end all there until it's finished and painted, then balance it as close as possible with engine placement. If it still needs a slug of lead, it won't take as much as if you'd chopped the nose. The only change I would make is to have dual landing gear. I'm not a fan of the single wheel LG.

Here's my build thread:
https://www.coxengineforum.com/t2293-baby-flite-streak-build-thread
Be wary of anything I say and do, just look and judge for yourself. I had not learned the things I know now. That being said, it's the first 1/2A plane that made me feel like I was flying a real plane and not just a toy.
Rusty

getback Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:23 pm

Well Thanks again...needed info. from Mark, Ken, Rusty..Didn't know how slack the pressure would bee and was thinking about tring it at another time , also the ring around the 051 is good to know I did not Shocked

Stuff; I bought a baby clown instead of an flight streak ,, but still working on some stupid stuff I keep doing , like glueing the hinges to the same piece of wood DAMMIT!

what a disappointment I have done this twice now No I wasn't drunken

at the time Beer Cheers

Getback

batjac Sun Jun 08, 2014 7:57 pm

getback wrote:Well Thanks again...needed info. from Mark, Ken, Rusty..Didn't know how slack the pressure would bee and was thinking about tring it at another time Getback

I've thought about using it from time to time. Larry Renger tells how to tap it properly over in a couple of threads on Stunt Hanger. He uses a 2-56 tee nut on the plastic nipple of the TD, or a 4-40 tee nut on the Medallion engines. The tee nut is just filed down until the nub is just right for fitting a fuel tube over. He says it works to an extent. I don't think I'd do it on C/L, but maybe on an R/C I'd try it.

The Nubbin' Mark

batjac Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:59 pm

She’s an .051 again! Thanks to a very generous care package from Rusty, I’ve got the correct venturi body, and she’s back together and ready for test run. And, Rusty must have been paying attention to my earlier posts, since his care package included a “personal field repair kit” in the envelope. A.K.A., a Snoopy Band-Aid.

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN2126_zpsf856288c

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN2126_zpsf856288c

I admit it. I have ADHD! DSCN2127_zps94fb11cd

Since I have so much going on right now, cutting out another kit from scratch would fall low on the list, so I think I’ll just break down and order a BFS kit from Brodak. You have no idea how long I agonized over that decision…

Thanks again, Rusty!

The Grateful Mark

1/2A Nut Fri Aug 01, 2014 2:30 pm

looks like the older thin walled cylinder?

**RknRusty** Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:38 pm

You're welcome. That's a good looking engine. The red makes it go fast.
Rusty

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