OS 15 and 25 LA (Silver)

Ian, do you run engines or just collect them. I see no marks even indicating they've been mounted. I somewhat do that myself. I have quite a collection of 1/2A combat and big block screamers. One day I will compile them into a album. Ken

I do both.

I collect small (tiny) (minute) engines but restore and run larger engines.

These two are pre-emptive purchases. They are new and have not been run.

The "25" is earmarked for a Stuka Stunt model. The "15" is earmarked for the Aerobat I am building but that is undecided. I am always drawn to diesel but the PAW 249 I have is a "Contest Special".

The Rt. Hon. John Goddard has still got two of my PAW 249s but he seems to have gone quiet on flying.

I find that there are many bargains available. A lot seem to sell unused and "never been taken out of the box" engines on Ebay. They don't get anywhere near what they paid, especially for engines that are still widely available from Model Shops.

I've noticed that too. Getting the parts for converting to CL cost about $20 so it is worth buying these engines up if you plan to use. (although I am not seeing the venturi and spray bar for the 15, I know it can be had)

Phil

I've found that the RC engines with throttles wired wide open work fine in CL. The plane may not look as elegant, but it works.

I've noticed that many of the mail order outlets have discontinued the smaller engines smaller than a .25, they are almost non-existant new. I'm a little hesitant to buy used engines on E-Bay. Although I have had mostly good results, I bought a few that were misrepresented by the sellers. One was a K&B .20 Sportster. It was run hot and chromed piston was badly scuffed with no compression. Fortunately Dennis from Brotherhood of the Ring sent me two parts engines, one of which had a good piston/cylinder set, which I was able to repair it. Another was an Enya .15-III TV with no compression. I bought a parts engine for a song and was able to salvage it. An Enya .35-III TV was a good purchase, but the seller had the wrong prop thread nut on it and it was loose, couldn't tighten, although it looked good in auction photos. Now I understood why few were bidding on his stuff, so I got it cheaply. I stopped by the local nuts and bolts place, an employee gave me 4 7x1mm nuts for free, which fixed it.

Dennis from Brotherhood of the Ring  is a very knowledgeable and generous person. He's also a amazing builder. The amount of planes he's produced in the past year exceeds anything I've done in ten. I suppose being retired does have it's advantages. I've enjoyed many flying sessions with him not to mention phone calls. Dennis has stated to me many times that now would be the time to gather some of the desired OS engines we use. The .15 and the .25 LA. I tend to agree that these engines are not long to be in production. We both agree that electrics have essentially bombed nitro back into the stone ages. OS has already pulled the plug on some of the LA engines already and these smaller mills have had their time. The LA .15 has been my staple engine in clown racing . Our rules state as many laps in 7 minutes not to exceed 140 using 1 oz. fuel tanks.  The 140 lap time was moved to 140 laps when a Moki .15 rear exhaust dominated the circle. This left the already challenged LA sport engine which was considerably down on power to try and even come close. Many of us considered this a challenge including myself. I had taken the loser circle for the past 4 years. My continuous efforts playing with props and plugs not to mention head clearances finally paid off this year. I was disqualified for exceeding the 140 lap. I went from 131 laps to 146 laps. This had heads turning and several looking at my equipment. This also had many believing that this was an error in counting which now several other insisted I do it again. I did do it again and even with two not so good pits left me with 142 laps.

 We turn a exceptionally small prop on break in on the LA .15. We break the engine in at 24K for 2-3 minutes. This practice can result in a LA .15 that doesn't always want to run again so I don't recommend this for those with personal attachments to their engines. The .25 LA is a staple engine to us in the Northeast using Phil Cartier planes. They run exceptionally well on 8x4 props and just take one heck of a ground pounding. While some are not fond of the plastic backplates, I found them to be quite reliable . I use two specifically for speed limit and the others for stunt. They really have a wide variety of useage. Ken

Sweet!! Ian1954 as usual you have some very nice engines and thank you for sharing. I guess when the swap meet comes around again I will be keeping my eyes open for these along with others , There is this one man there at ever one I've been too that only has engines and there cheap most need cleaning but that s no problem when there 15-20$ 

Ken Cook wrote:Dennis from Brotherhood of the Ring  is a very knowledgeable and generous person. He's also a amazing builder. The amount of planes he's produced in the past year exceeds anything I've done in ten. I suppose being retired does have it's advantages. I've enjoyed many flying sessions with him not to mention phone calls. Dennis has stated to me many times that now would be the time to gather some of the desired OS engines we use. The .15 and the .25 LA.

That is true, he's an amazing person. Recently he let me know that the best engine for the Ringmaster Jr. is the OS LA-10 or FP-10. These This engine s were was discontinued some time back by OS. They still occasionally show up on E-Bay.

I tend to agree that these engines are not long to be in production. We both agree that electrics have essentially bombed nitro back into the stone ages. OS has already pulled the plug on some of the LA engines already and these smaller mills have had their time. The LA .15 has been my staple engine in clown racing . Our rules state as many laps in 7 minutes not to exceed 140 using 1 oz. fuel tanks.  The 140 lap time was moved to 140 laps when a Moki .15 rear exhaust dominated the circle. This left the already challenged LA sport engine which was considerably down on power to try and even come close. Many of us considered this a challenge including myself. I had taken the loser circle for the past 4 years. My continuous efforts playing with props and plugs not to mention head clearances finally paid off this year. I was disqualified for exceeding the 140 lap. I went from 131 laps to 146 laps. This had heads turning and several looking at my equipment. This also had many believing that this was an error in counting which now several other insisted I do it again. I did do it again and even with two not so good pits left me with 142 laps.

I am unfamiliar with the 140 lap races. Sounds like you made the LA into a sweet powerful engine.   Tower Hobbies discontinued carrying the LA .15 CL version a while ago. They still continue carrying the LA .25 CL, I imagine that is for their ARF Flite Streak and Nobler. They don't seem to continue to carry an item when sales slow, so I imagine it is just a matter of time.

We turn a exceptionally small prop on break in on the LA .15. We break the engine in at 24K for 2-3 minutes. This practice can result in a LA .15 that doesn't always want to run again so I don't recommend this for those with personal attachments to their engines. The .25 LA is a staple engine to us in the Northeast using Phil Cartier planes. They run exceptionally well on 8x4 props and just take one heck of a ground pounding. While some are not fond of the plastic backplates, I found them to be quite reliable . I use two specifically for speed limit and the others for stunt. They really have a wide variety of useage. Ken

I am told the LA .25 is a good replacement engine for the older lapped baffle piston Fox, McCoy, K&B .35's. I've got enough Testor McCoy .35's and other engines, that I haven't had the need to invest in an LA .25 yet, as fine of an engine it may be.

I have somewhat mixed feelings about the OS engines. They are easy to use but their liner coatings seems to be thinner or weaker somehow compared to the competition. Here is what an OS .10FP looks like on the inside after some use, the compression is still fairly good but the nickel is falling off.... ;

Surfer_kris wrote:I have somewhat mixed feelings about the OS engines. They are easy to use but their liner coatings seems to be thinner or weaker somehow compared to the competition. Here is what an OS .10FP looks like on the inside after some use, the compression is still fairly good but the nickel is falling off.... ;

What fuel blend are you using? I ask because I have a pal who has similar nickel peeling on a 15 and he had been running 15% nitro, synthetic oil (no castor). My other pal who has been running 5% nitro, 10% synthetic and 10% castor - his motor is pristine even though he admits to leaning it out on a couple of occasions and not being too careful running it in.

I run powermaster 10/22 1/2 and 1/2 lube in all my FP's and they like it.

The engine in the pictures was bought used, and had the issues shown when I got it, so I don't know anything about the history of it. I have never seen this problem from any other engine manufacturer though...

Personally I run full castor in all plain bearing engines.
I have run fully synthetic fuel in an ASP .12 for several years, it is ballbearing with a true ABC construction, and it is still like new inside.  

I've heard there were quality control issues with the ABN plating on some batches of the FP. So far I haven't had any problems with the OS 15FP-S that I have on my Ringmaster Jr. That I bought new 20 years ago. The used OS 40FP RC that I bought used on E-Bay has tight compression and intact cylinder plating, it bench ran fine. I'll know more once I put some mileage on it, got it mounted on the front of my Flitecraft J-3 Cub ARF. I am running at least 20% oil of which half is Castor in all my plain bearing engines. The venerable Testors iron piston in a steel cylinder, I'm running 25% oil of which most is Castor.

The OS 46FX was notorious for having a peeled liner. It is a process issue no doubt and is well documented on various RC sites. The good thing is there is an ABC drop in replacement for the 46FX piston/liner from Hobbyking.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__12957__ASP_S46H_Cylinder_Piston_Set.html