Any Stalker users out there?

Was wondering if anyone has any direct expierence with the 4-2-4 .61 verses the 2-2-2. Does one have any more ponies than the other?

Thanks,
Bob

Hi Bob,

I know John Sunderland used a Stalker .61 and really liked it. I run a .51 RE and its run characteristics are great. I have an older .61 (new) and have replaced the head at the recommendation of Chulan Weeresinghe. I have not run the engine but expect the same nice operation I get with the .51

I ran a Stalker 61RE (with purple head and venturi) for about a year and and a half. Good power but took awhile to figure out how to make it happy. They sure don't like a lot of oil in the fuel.

Might also ask Keith Varley (he hangs around here from time to time). His Stalker 55RE and 61RE ran killer. Second coolest sounding stunt run I've heard. Dave Royer and the Merco are still the champs on cool sounding.

Bob: I've run my .55 with both heads. But only on a bench. The 2-2-2 head (dark one) seems to have slightly more ponies on the bench than the gold head. But, that is on a bench. With no dyno. So, I guess I don't have an answer to your question.

Hi Bob ; My Stalkers ,both 61, are a source of delight to me having way over 1000 flights on them but alas mine are only the 2-4-2 ones and I have no experience with the 2-2-2 ones. There was a complete article on the 2-2-2 ones in stunt news a couple years ago but I dont remember too much except the author was happy with his .Derick Pickard from Australia has experience with both and wrote in Stunt News about them. They are nicely made and last a long time and use little fuel.Not the power of the tiger 60 but dont make that oily mess either. The rear muffler is real clean . Keith V

Keith,

I thought one of yours was a .55. Hmm, been wrong before.

The whole story.... Several years ago I acquired two Stalker .61's in a multi engine deal, one Rear Exhaust and one Side Exhaust. The SE was new, the RE was well used but seemed to be OK. Both are early production, the RE's head wasn't even anodized and the SE had the Blue head.

My first experience with either engine was last summer when I stuck the SE in an old Magnum for the in-flight video. I might add that I ordered a Gold head for the SE and acquired a few 13 - 5.25 three blade CF props through Igor Burger. I was really impressed with the way the Stalker handled the overweight Magnum so built my Legacy around the Rear Exhaust engine.

After about 8 flights on the Legacy for what seemed no reason the Stalker started acting up so I pulled the engine to check things over. I discovered a considerable amount of rod slop and pulled the engine apart. The Wrist Pin hole in the piston is elongated and so is the top end of the rod. I am assuming I did the damage by not checking to be sure the rod wasn't stuck to the wrist pin from sitting for years before running the engine.
As a side note, even though the Stalker was a little sick it flew my 64 ounce Legacy just fine. I couldn't imagine needing more power or a better run out of a non-piped engine.

Anyway because this is an early engine Chulan isn't sure what parts I need and has requested I send the bad parts back so he can match them. Well needless to say this will put the Legacy out of business for quite some time. Although I have other engines, a new Double Star .60 RE, the Stalker SE and a couple of Saito 56's it would take more re-work to fit another engine than I am willing to do.

So the fastest way to get the Legacy back in the air is to order a new Stalker RE. I want to stay with the 13 - 5.25 prop but not sure if the 4-2-4 or 2-2-2 would be the best bet without having to re-do my setup. Chulan wouldn't make a recommendation and I understand his position so came to my friends on SSW..

Thanks for listening and the responses.
Bob

Bob,

When I had a piston crack last year I sent it to him and he got a new piston and liner back to me in about 3 weeks. He supports his stuff and wants customers to be happy. As a matter of fact I have a .40 I bought new from a second party. It had a crankcase leak and Chulan told me it didn't matter who I bought it from , he'd cover it.

I'm impressed.

I ordered a Stalker 40 RE exhaust in the fall and had it in 6 days.I have also sold lots to people in the UK.I cannot beleive how fast the airfreight is back and forth to the UK.I dont think it would take long to get it fixed and back to you.I remember reading that the run of the 2-2-2 was very dependant on prop size to get the proper run so there would be a good posibility you would be needing different props to try.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-29-04 AT 06:16 PM (CDT)
 
>Bob,
>
>When I had a piston crack last year I sent it to him and he
>got a new piston and liner back to me in about 3 weeks. He
>supports his stuff and wants customers to be happy. As a
>matter of fact I have a .40 I bought new from a second
>party. It had a crankcase leak and Chulan told me it didn't
>matter who I bought it from , he'd cover it.
>
>I'm impressed.
>
>Randy Ryan
>AMA 8500
>SAM 36
>I fly 'em all and love it!

Hi Randy,
One of our flying pals decide to go out alone on a weekday to a local colisieum parking lot with his stoge, a new Stalker 46, and a new porfile stunter. He missed the needle and gone was the plane and engine. Broke the crankcase in half, etc., and didn't look like it could be fixed as cheap as buying a new one! He sent it to Chulan who sent it back in new condition. Can't remember the cost but it was a lot less than a new one, and a very quick return!
I'm impressed, too.
Bill <><

I'm running a ST .61RE with the purple head in my Legacy. It's a 4-2-4 engine and provides plenty of power for my plane. I run FAI, all synthetic fuel, and the runs are awsome with an APC 12-6. I can highly recommend this combination, but I have no experience with the 2-2-2 engine.

I would surmise that the run would be more like a pipe run, and should have slightly more power and / or torque. It might handle the wind more like a pipe as well.

Still, the experience I've had with my engine has been such that I wouldn't change.

I'm wondering why everything is spinning around?

John, just out of curiosity, what does your Legacy weigh?

>John, just out of curiosity, what does your Legacy weigh?

I just weighed it. First time since the re-build. It's exactly the same as yours, 64 oz's.

I'm wondering why everything is spinning around?

>The whole story.... Several years ago I acquired two Stalker
>.61's in a multi engine deal, one Rear Exhaust and one Side
>Exhaust. The SE was new, the RE was well used but seemed to
>be OK. Both are early production, the RE's head wasn't even
>anodized and the SE had the Blue head.
>
>My first experience with either engine was last summer when
>I stuck the SE in an old Magnum for the in-flight video. I
>might add that I ordered a Gold head for the SE and acquired
>a few 13 - 5.25 three blade CF props through Igor Burger. I
>was really impressed with the way the Stalker handled the
>overweight Magnum so built my Legacy around the Rear Exhaust
>engine.
>
>After about 8 flights on the Legacy for what seemed no
>reason the Stalker started acting up so I pulled the engine
>to check things over. I discovered a considerable amount of
>rod slop and pulled the engine apart. The Wrist Pin hole in
>the piston is elongated and so is the top end of the rod. I
>am assuming I did the damage by not checking to be sure the
>rod wasn't stuck to the wrist pin from sitting for years
>before running the engine.
>As a side note, even though the Stalker was a little sick it
>flew my 64 ounce Legacy just fine. I couldn't imagine
>needing more power or a better run out of a non-piped
>engine.
>
>Anyway because this is an early engine Chulan isn't sure
>what parts I need and has requested I send the bad parts
>back so he can match them. Well needless to say this will
>put the Legacy out of business for quite some time. Although
>I have other engines, a new Double Star .60 RE, the Stalker
>SE and a couple of Saito 56's it would take more re-work to
>fit another engine than I am willing to do.
>
>So the fastest way to get the Legacy back in the air is to
>order a new Stalker RE. I want to stay with the 13 - 5.25
>prop but not sure if the 4-2-4 or 2-2-2 would be the best
>bet without having to re-do my setup. Chulan wouldn't make a
>recommendation and I understand his position so came to my
>friends on SSW..
>
>Thanks for listening and the responses.
>Bob

Hi Bob,
I've been off of here a few days and want to throw in my two cents worth. The blue head 2-4-2 RE is my favorite engine of the Stalker offerings. My father ran this engine as well. He also has the 2-2-2 gold head. I have flown the 2-2 motor quite a bit and never really cared for it. Not enough boost into penetration maneuvers such as the hourglass and verticle eight on a breezy day.

I originally used Tower FAI fuel for the 61RE and with good results. When it gets really warm out go to 5% nitro as it will lose some pep and overrun your normal meter of fuel. I ran it stock and played with head shims but found that it likes nitro and adding shims just cancelled out the positive effects of the nitro with the mild timing that it has. After at least a thousand flights it got tired and I found that out last summer at the Nats. Not a good place to be gutless. Turns out that the conrod bushing had egged out and I simply took the con rod out of my 55 RE and replaced it. Problem solved and runs better than ever. Currently I am using the Coopers Blend 10% nitro as offered by Brodaks for fuel with stock head clearance. With this set up it works better than ever and I opened the venturi one drill size so it now drinks nearly 6 oz. per flightwhere it barely consumed over 4 1/2 oz. of FAI. Check your head bolts often though. For as long as I have run this engine it was always predictable and consistent. Now it has some real power so I am even more pleased with its performance.If by chance I ruin any parts by over compression I have really gotten my monies worth out of the engine and the parst aren't expensive as supplied by Kaz.

The plug in RE muffler needs a short length of pipe coupler over the fitting with tie wraps. It burns up those rubber O rings to quickly and this did cause me some erratic engine runs when the back pressure kept changing. Gut the can muffler of all baffles if yours has any. End pops off easy heated with a torch, heat the baffle and hook a piece of heavy wire through the baffle holes and pull it out. Reheat the end and put the exhaust cap back in place. When it cools it will be snug as ever. I also run muffler pressure and this takes a little fiddling and requires a modified fueling sequence or it will siphon. I put the pressure tap about 3/4 of the way back on the tube roughly where the baffle was.

Feel free to email me if you want to compare notes.

Made decision and ordered the 4-2-4. Found out the main difference is in the Exhaust Timing, also found out that either engine can be converted to the other with a new Piston and Liner.

Was afraid I would have to change my known working setup if I went to the 2-2-2 so just decided to stay with the old reliable.

Thanks everybody for your input and support.

>Was wondering if anyone has any direct expierence with the
>4-2-4 .61 verses the 2-2-2. Does one have any more ponies
>than the other?
>
>Thanks,
>Bob
Hi Bob, I have two 61's mounted in the AR47 ready to fly planes from Modusa. One has the 2-2-2 and the other 2-4-2. I fly at 5280 ft altitude and find both engines sufficient to fly a reasonable pattern in heavy planes. Both weigh about 65 oz. The 2-2-2 engine is the newest and has less than a gallon of fuel through it. It shows about 1000 more rpm than the 2-4-2 engine running a straight 2 cycle. Both setups are useing the same (1) Bolly 13x4.75 three blade prop. The 2-2-2 engine has noticably more power. Both engines are being run on Sig 10%nitro with 20%blend oil (50x50 castor/synthetic). Both engines prefer the OS #3 or #8 glow plug. The 2-4-2 engine was severly crashed on pavement on the first flight of the AR47 due to stupid pilot. The engine was casually inspected and reinstalled in another AR47 without having been torn down. The crank shaft may be slightly bent possibly causing the 1000 rpm difference. I should take the time to check out the engine, but its working fine and does a good job hauling the plane through the complete pattern.

Chris in Denver