Johnson SS any good

Stuka Stunt Main Forum · 9 of 9 known posts recovered

Bob Reeves · Jun 12, 2001 01:17 PM

Hi all,

Ran across an old Johnson I forgot I had. It is a NIB Johnson 35 SS and was wondering how these things ran. Wondering if it is worth hanging onto for that OTS plane I will build someday.. better/worse than a Fox... Sell it, keep it, fondle it???

Bob

currell · Jun 12, 2001 03:06 PM

#1 source

This is a very nice engine, although I prefer the Johnson S in the small case (yours is large case). It will put out a bit more power vs a Fox. It is a bit heavier, too.

Had one on a Shoestring last year.

Break it in and enjoy. Currell

The Kiwi · Jun 12, 2001 04:11 PM

#2 source

Like all of the Johnson engines other than the S model, it tends to run better when treated as a "1-speed" stunt, like most GH Torps - when you set it to break, it tends not to want to drop back into a 4-cycle - or if it will break both up and down again, the rpm variation is strong enough to make aerobatics look herky- jerky because the break comes on so hard.

Run it in a rich two-cycle instead, and expect some serious fuel usage. My recollection is that the Johnsons used up fuel faster than any of the other popular engines. (Torps were thirsty, but Johnsons out-drank those!)

Elsewhere you should've spotted warnings about using Nitro in any Johnson. They are rather fragile in that regard. 10% is about as strong a nitro mix as they will tolerate; any more, and they tend to come apart.

Kiwi

Steve Helmick · Jun 12, 2001 07:22 PM

#3 source

I only had one Johnson, a 36bb, which I didn't like very well. One bad feature of all of 'em was the fiber head gaskets. You should be able to replace them with some sort of aluminum or copper gaskets from somebody's parts bins, or make your own. If the break is too powerful, add a shim under the head. Agree on the low nitro fuel, 5% would be my choice. Try 11-5 props, this engine was supposed to be a very strong runner. Also, RJL/Mecoa is supposed to own the tooling and may have some NOS parts. Steve

Currell · Jun 12, 2001 11:04 PM

Thirsty engines...#4 source

My K & B .29S

Norvel .061

Currell

The Kiwi · Jun 12, 2001 11:41 PM

RE: Thirsty engines...#5 source

I can't compare the 29S and 45 with the old GH Torps that I once had & used, because while I intended to hold onto them, a burglar had other ideas. During the earliest few years of the 1960's, I was getting back to flying some stunt after a couple of years of no flying and two years before that of combat only, not even any sport flying. I still had some of the Torp 35's left, and used them as sport engines, but not in a stunt run as such.

I had only my second stunt Fox, a 35, and compared its fairly abstemious drinking habits with everything else. The Fox could fly almost 9 minutes on 4 ounces, fairly easily, in a plane weighing less than 42 ounces (a modified Nobler wing in a Warbird-looking fuselage). The same friend had both a Johnson and a Tigre 35 baffle piston (plain bearing) model that on the box claimed to be a "stunt" engine.

Neither the Johnson SS nor that Tigre would run in the then- very dominant 4-2-4 stunt run. And neither came anywhere in the same range of the Fox for fuel consumption. The Johnson literally guzzled the four ounces down in 4 1/2 to 5 minutes, I think; the Tigre was about as thirsty, I think, as the Torp 35's - 6 to 6 1/2 minutes for a four ounce tank (?) - I probably am way off on the recollection. It's nearly 40 years ago!

Kiwi

Bob Reeves · Jun 13, 2001 12:19 PM

#6 source

Thanks for the info guys..

Sounds like I would be better off with an OS 35 S.. Humm think I would trade it for a NIB OS 35 S.. Any takers?

Bob

The Kiwi · Jun 13, 2001 12:52 PM

#7 source

LAST EDITED ON Jun-13-01 AT 12:56 PM (EST)

>Thanks for the info guys..
>
>Sounds like I would be better off with an OS 35 S..
>Humm think I would trade it for a NIB OS 35 S.. Any
>takers?
>
I might suggest offering it to a collector type for the NIB Max-S, as well as a backup beater Max-S for parts! Collectors have driven the Johnson engines' price way beyond its practical worth to a non- collector modeller, and a great many Max-S's were sold right up until about 15 years ago, but with RC throttles, and a lot of those are still around, with plenty of life left in them, as witness a recent eBay auction in which one such topped out at only $28 something!

The K.

UCFlier · Jun 14, 2001 03:34 PM

#8 source

Bob:

Email me off-list ([email protected]) for NIB 35S trade.

Thanks,
Bruce