Saito 56 and wierd runs problems fixed a...

For those few that attended the Arlington, Washington contest a few weeks ago, you may have noticed that I was having some problems with my Saito 56. Racing, lugging, uneven runs along with very hard starting and just general weirdness.

Well, the plane has been out of commission for a bit while a corrected a design fault (man, I knew those elevators just weren't going to be big enough) and just got the plane back in the air today. While it was down, I increased the vent area in the cowl by a bunch. It now sports a stylish new slot in the bottom to increase the exit area. and Viola!, great engine runs have returned.

So, the moral of the story is: design the amount of airflow through the cowl you think you need , then like Grummann, double it. Even though I know that you need a 1 to 2 ratio (inake area to exhaust area) to get good flow, somehow I managed to brain dump it. It has it now and all is well.

For those who have lost their dance card, this admission of a very basic error from current author of the Stunt News design column is illuminating. As it is the second time, over a period of less than a month, where Randy has had to admit to a lack of cooling being the cause of funny engine runs. Once with a two-stroke, now with a four-stroke.

I mention this for a couple reasons. 1) It's great to poke Randy with a sharp stick. 2) As previously mentioned by myself someplace, this is an honest guy: He'll tell you what he did and why, this always entertaining as he frequently does off-the-wall stuff. But where a great many of us will place emphasis on the positive, Randy merely shrugs, admits to what didn't work, and why.