lookie what the mailman brought me!

[quote="rogermharris"]finally!  i have been trying to win one of these on ebay for quite a few weeks and finally didn't get snipped at the last second!!

now tell me what i need to know about tee dee's please... quote]


The best engines of their class...I know many members here will protest, but this is my subjective opinion based on hundreds of hours flying TD051-s...

Cribbs74 wrote:Roger,

Externally the one pictured looks like an .051. Since carb bodies can be swapped the real sign is a single groove around the lower piston skirt and a #5 stamped on the exhaust flat or cylinder face.

thanks cribbs!

this grove and #5

Yep, looks like an .051.

Now to answer yoir second question the TD series represented the best Cox had to offer in the rotary valve series.

The .051 was nothing more than a small bump in displacement to allow the user to compete in class A simply by bolting that engine on in place of an .049.

Performance wise there is not enough difference between the .049 and .051 TD to say one is better than the other.

The TD also does not pull fuel from a hard tank very well although, it can be done. Many opt to use pressure bladders on TD's to enhance the run.

Enjoy it.

Make ssure you avoid a lean run that often occurs with old needle valves that allow air bypassing the thread...pull a silicone tube over the needle valve

balogh wrote:Make ssure you avoid a lean run that often occurs with old needle valves that allow air bypassing the thread...pull a silicone tube over the needle valve

thanks! i have seen that done on bee's i will have to pick up some fuel line

Cribbs74 wrote:Yep, looks like an .051.

Now to answer yoir second question the TD series represented the best Cox had to offer in the rotary valve series.

The .051 was nothing more than a small bump in displacement to allow the user to compete in class A simply by bolting that engine on in place of an .049.

Performance wise there is not enough difference between the .049 and .051 TD to say one is better than the other.

The TD also does not pull fuel from a hard tank very well although, it can be done. Many opt to use pressure bladders on TD's to enhance the run.

Enjoy it.

thanks for the info!! guess i will look into a bladder once i'm ready to decide on a plane design for it

My sole TD .051 is my best Cox engine. It's bolted to my 9 ounce R,W,&B Baby Flight Streak and I fly it on 40' lines. A couple of people with pitch meters have it at about 22k rpm in the air with a MA 5.5x3 prop. It does have a bored venturi to accommodate the increased fuel flow from a bladder.

The nice thing about bladders is that you can't easily hurt it with a lean run. If it gets lean enough to sag, the fuel inflow outpaces the engine, flooding and cooling it and it, so recovers until it sags again. If you hear this surging, you know to just tweak it a click richer the next run. This self limiting ability improves with more nitro, as it refrigerates the crankcase more quickly.

Mine has a lot of flights on it and I bought it used, so it's wearing down on compression a bit. I think I'll feed it some of the new 35% nitro Glowplugboy ,98% castor fuel, so a little varnish might rejuvenate it. The only indication of low compression in flight is that it slows a bit during hard turns. I could use less prop. 5.5x3 is about the biggest traditional prop I'd use on a C/L Tee Dee. The exception being a 6x2 APC.

The thing about sprinkler venturis on suction is that one or two of the three sprinkler holes around the venturi usually gets most of the fuel flow while the other(s) cavitate. Pressure from whatever source eliminates that problem.
Rusty

I flew 1/2A Proto and Proto Profile for years on Perfect and homemade hard tanks. They are really easy to start if one uses the right compression and fuel as well as a handy electric starter (which I never had until I started flying them again in the 90's with my oldest son). I start with 25-30% nitro and three to five thin head gaskets and creep down from there if more power is desired. The Cox competition 5x3 is a really good all around prop for it, used for years by all of the Stunt guys in the 70's that flew miniature 1/2A Stunt models of their full sized stunters, most with hard tanks, flying 250 sq in models weighing about 7 to 9 oz on .008 solids about 40 feet long.
Chris...

Chris, that sounds like a fun sport. I wouldn't mind getting some sort of racing going with my Huntersville friends. 1/2A would make it easy and inexpensive. I've got a bunch of small mostly new Perfect tanks.

I'd never used tanks until recently, 2011 or so, and had bad luck with them as I didn't know all the little things about setting them up. I got coaxed into bladders before I went totally mad by RC Groups members and our own Fit90 Bob. He really got me kick started with a goody box bladder starter kit. Including the first Tee Dee I'd ever seen. It's the one that hauls my Li'l Satan now. I won the "Best Flight" Pilots' Choice award at 1/2A day with it last year.
Rusty

Good tanks are hard to get. Bladder is pretty easy, non-pressure comes from a bag of party balloons, and pressure from Texas Timers. I've about sworn off hard tanks.

Phil

Well I'm open to any and all possibilities for tanks or bladders and what sort of bird to build for it.

rogermharris wrote:Well I'm open to any and all possibilities for tanks or bladders and what sort of bird to build for it.

What kind of models do you like?

Whatever you build it's going to move it pretty quick.

Cribbs74 wrote:

rogermharris wrote:Well I'm open to any and all possibilities for tanks or bladders and what sort of bird to build for it.

What kind of models do you like?

Whatever you build it's going to move it pretty quick.

Something sporty. Maybee a full fuse mustang instead of a profile build...

For me I like to use the 1 oz plastic clunk tanks for RC flying.
TD's have had no trouble pulling in fuel with a RC carb or with a throttle sleeve.

For best needle settings for flying:
- warm up the engine level
- point the engine straight up and peak the needle  
- back off 1/8th to a 1/2 turn your ready to fly.
- if need be pinch the line stop the engine and top off the tank prior to flying.

Bladders are fine too, I have used both. R/C tanks work well, a lot of Scale guys use them. I use them in Stunt a lot for bigger models, never tried with 1/2As though.
Chris...

Roger,

RSM makes the Pinto. I have heard and read good things about it, but no one I know has built one. It is really just a scaled down Oriental. Anyway, it was built around a TD.

Cribbs74 wrote:Roger,

RSM makes the Pinto. I have heard and read good things about it, but no one I know has built one. It is really just a scaled down Oriental. Anyway, it was built around a TD.

I Like It!! and someone here is building one!! maybee they will share the plans
https://www.coxengineforum.com/t8163-homemade-fuel-tank

rogermharris wrote:

Cribbs74 wrote:Roger,

RSM makes the Pinto. I have heard and read good things about it, but no one I know has built one. It is really just a scaled down Oriental. Anyway, it was built around a TD.

I Like It!! and someone here is building one!! maybee they will share the plans  
https://www.coxengineforum.com/t8163-homemade-fuel-tank

Fuel tanks area easy. They take clean cutting and accurate folding of the metal, and clean surfaces for soldering. Building a wooden plug to form around is really better than forming in air, but it is up to you.

bottom of the page is an image file. Redraw it or poke it around in some image manipulating software or word processor (yes, kludgy)
http://www.aeromaniacs.com/Tips.html

There are other shapes that are even easier to form too. A number of my links are broken today
Phil

Nice engine Roger , I have tried the bladder but not enough to get it down pat. as to install and fly there are some threads here in the search box that will bee of a lot of help here's a couple https://www.coxengineforum.com/search?search_keywords=bladders

Nice Roger.
I just got my first Tee Dee too, an .049, last weekend.  Couldn't wait to crank it up, and man does that thing scream.  As Rusty put it, "I wanted to dive under my bench for cover".  I learned not to stand in the plane of the prop rotation !  My first test run the Tee Dee clocked 18,200 RPM!  Geez! That was with a 6x3 TD Cox prop.

I didn't see it mentioned in this thread yet... Rusty made a how to video on simple bladders and a follow up video of how to start and tune the engine.  A surgical tube bladder is surprisingly simple to install and as he said, once you try it you'll never go back to a tanked engine.

The videos are posted in a sticky in the Models and Modeling section.

Since I'm just getting back into the hobby myself, I'm parking the Tee Dee for awhile until I get my sea legs with my Baby Bees and new-used Golden Bee.  I just scored a couple Medallion .09's but they have not arrived yet and those are for some time down the road too.  Looking forward to runni9ng them on the stand though.

Greg

Congrats on the first TeeDee .051

Grab a TD piston and cylinder from Bernie in .049 if you want to preserve the very hard to find .051 set

Many Cox addicts, once they learn the TeeDee often find all their reed Coxs gathering dust

I might suggest a trip over to Texas Timers http://www.texastimers.com/

Look for the Tab on the left side for "Needle Valves" and order one or more:
Precision Cox NVA for TD 049/051. (Complete) Price: $15.00 ea.

Then explore his Bladder section for making up pressure tanks.... There are better materiel and fittings but hell you are already there and his stuff does work

For competition many of us use other bladder tubing

Rusty likes one way valve at rear of bladder for easy filling, some folks just tie a knot in the end

keep your eye out for a few other TeeDees the damned things are so addicting

Paul Gibeault has some for sale that are part of his stash of go fast speed racing experimenting
http://flyinglines.org/gibeault.ad.pdf

fredvon4 wrote:Congrats on the first TeeDee .051

Grab a TD piston and cylinder from Bernie in .049 if you want to preserve the very hard to find .051 set

Many Cox addicts, once they learn the TeeDee often find all their reed Coxs gathering dust

I might suggest a trip over to Texas Timers  http://www.texastimers.com/

Look for the Tab on the left side for "Needle Valves" and order one or more:
Precision Cox NVA for TD 049/051.  (Complete)               Price: $15.00 ea.

Then explore his Bladder section for making up pressure tanks.... There are better materiel and fittings but hell you are already there and his stuff does work

For competition many of us use other bladder tubing

Rusty likes one way valve at rear of bladder for easy filling, some folks just tie a knot in the end

keep your eye  out for a few other TeeDees the damned things are so addicting

Paul Gibeault has some for sale that are part of his stash of go fast speed racing experimenting
http://flyinglines.org/gibeault.ad.pdf

thanks Fred! good info. sounds like a plan to order up an .049 top end. i will check the other sites out as time permits. i love my reed valve engines! i only ran a couple larger non cox engines as a kid and enjoy 1/2A. i'm looking forward to playing with my first and hopefully not my last tee dee. go to get them at the right price which for me is as close to zero as possible. from what i can see a was lucky to get this one at $30

Sig Skyray wrote:Nice Roger.
I just got my first Tee Dee too, an .049, last weekend.  Couldn't wait to crank it up, and man does that thing scream.  As Rusty put it, "I wanted to dive under my bench for cover".  I learned not to stand in the plane of the prop rotation !  My first test run the Tee Dee clocked 18,200 RPM!  Geez! That was with a 6x3 TD Cox prop.

I didn't see it mentioned in this thread yet... Rusty made a how to video on simple bladders and a follow up video of how to start and tune the engine.  A surgical tube bladder is surprisingly simple to install and as he said, once you try it you'll never go back to a tanked engine.

The videos are posted in a sticky in the Models and Modeling section.

Since I'm just getting back into the hobby myself, I'm parking the Tee Dee for awhile until I get my sea legs with my Baby Bees and new-used Golden Bee.  I just scored a couple Medallion .09's but they have not arrived yet and those are for some time down the road too.  Looking forward to runni9ng them on the stand though.

Greg

thanks greg!

i have actually watched Rusty's videos already. well done rusty! don't know what way i will try first once i get something built for the tee dee. this too will most likeky be a fall winter project. i have a my original golden bee and black widow that i bought back in 73-74 to build planes for. i think the golden bee may end up on my stunt trainer and the black widow back on a babee ringmaster with flaps. that is where it lived all those years ago.