Engines back from rework.

Occasionally I get a card in the letterbox saying that I have a package to be collected at the Post Office. Normally I find this quite annoying, as I do enjoy getting parcels, and having to wait an extra day for them is no fun. This Monday such a card appeared and I had a reasonable idea that it was a couple of free-flight engines back from the attention of Bob Mattes. And so it was, slicing open the box revealed an nicely oily Cox TD .020 and OS .29 III.

The Tee Dee is destined for a 67.5% Dixielander for 1/4A Nos Gas. I had long been searching for an .020 is reasonable condition but the prices were more than I was willing to pay. Eventually I was able to find one online for a moderate amount, and shipped it to Bob to have him apply his magic. He does some internal work, and machines a new head to accommodate a GloBee-style drop-in plug. I'll be using Merlin-branded equivalents of these flat-coil plugs. Bob provides complete details of the rework and test running, by the time he got done with it the TD was turning an APC 4.2x2 prop at a little over 25K rpm on 65% fuel.

The OS came from the generous heart and home of Larry Davidson, though to be fair he did steal it out from under me at a swap shop. Hardly my fault that his experienced eye and treacherous nature snagged it before I could figure out what I was looking at. Nevertheless, it's mine now and will find a good home in a B Nos Dixielander. Perhaps one day the scales of justice shall tip a little in my direction and I will use it to beat the socks off him. Bob machined a Nelson-style head for it in addition to some internal cleanup. In the interest of longevity this is a relatively mild build, after rework it spins an APC 9x4 at 16,800 rpm and will probably be nearer 18K once fully broken in.