In this episode
Join us for the main discussion, practical takeaways, and stories from this episode of RC Plane Lab.
We’re back from our little break, and have a couple things to talk about. Tom tells us about some new rc gear he bought, and Ron tells us about trying to buy balsa.
They also cover diesel rc airplane engines, go over some feedback, and answer some questions.
Episode 70 Transcript
This transcript has been lightly edited for readability. Timestamps are retained.
Read the full transcript
[0:00] Hello everyone and welcome to RC Playing Lab. I'm Ron. I'm Don. This is episode 70. In honor of the year I was born. 1870? Ah, that was reach. Anyway, so episode 70, we're back. We took a little bit of time off. We did. And we didn't do anything. I am unfortunately. I wouldn't say we didn't do anything. I mean, I acquired some stuff. I just haven't done anything with it yet. What'd you get? Well, just,. I don't know, actually. You wouldn't tell me yet.
[0:38] Engines, some airplanes, Balsa. You've acquired some Balsa. Haven't got it yet. I'll talk about that in a minute. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's not like we weren't doing anything, but unfortunately, sadly to say, neither one of us has done any flying. No. In the time that we set aside to actually fly. To do flying, or to go flying. But stuff, stuff comes up.
[1:02] I had to go away with work, had a trip with work. And then we took a little bit of a vacation. Wife and I did. So it's good to be back, though. It is. Actually, it feels nice to be back recording and doing this. However… Big news. Don't make it sound like it's a good thing for that. I mean, that's kind of bad news. I guess it depends on your perspective. It is. So it's going to make good thing for that. I mean, that's kind of bad news. I guess it depends on
[1:26] your perspective. It is. So it's going to make it easier for me. So what we have decided, though, we are doing a two-week schedule that starts that. I'm not sure when we're going to go back to releasing every week, but we will do that sometime. Yeah, the plan is still to do that when the summer flying season, maybe even into the fall, is winding down. Yeah. Yeah, when we get into building season, that's when we're going to start going week by week. Yeah. But that's okay.
[1:52] We'll have a lot more to talk about. And do, hopefully. But we are ceasing the video portion of the podcast. video portion of the podcast. So it just, I want to spend more time, well, pretty much flying and building and doing all that kind of stuff. And editing takes a long time. Doing all this really adds a lot to my workload. It does. As fun as it's been to do it this way, like,
[2:21] we just can't continue this on. Not saying it won't come back sometime, but as of now, this is going to be the last scheduled release of a video podcast. Of the video podcast. Yeah, it just made sense to us anyway. And some of the feedback even that we've gotten back on the listener surveys, which, by the way, you guys have really outdone yourselves. We've gotten a lot of responses, great responses, a lot of material,
[2:46] which we're going to cover. But it just made sense to us. A lot of the feedback was a lot of the folks who listened to the audio only version of the podcast don't watch YouTube and vice versa. Some of the YouTube subscribers don't really listen to the podcast. So in an effort to kind of save the amount of work that Ron has to do on the editing side of it, we're just going to do the audio, go back to doing the podcast on an audio basis,
[3:12] and then still produce YouTube videos like how-tos and flying videos and us being silly. Yeah. And I really think like, I think that's going to make for a better podcast. I agree. Like, this is not the same dynamic that we had before when it was just sitting on a couch or whatever we were sitting on and, just talking to each other. So we're going to get back to that. Hopefully the podcast will get better due to the changes we're making.
[3:39] And then, like I said, we'll, or like he said, we're going to be doing how-tos, flying videos, all that kind of stuff on YouTube. That's probably what we should have started from the beginning, honestly, instead of trying to do the whole podcast on video or vodcast or whatever you want to call them. I mean, this whole thing is a learning experience. I mean, we're totally learning this as we go. And the fact that we've been doing it for a year and a few months now, we've learned a lot.
[4:07] So if we took, when you said that, it hit me. So we took a break. Does that mean this is season two? Oh, yeah. I guess kind of it would be season two. Yeah. So season two, starting with episode 70. 70 is season two. Cool. So now we have to have 69 episodes per season. 70 is season two. So now we have to have 69 episodes per season. Oh, that's a lot. That's a lot to ask. But anyway, so that's what we're going to be doing for that. So we also, don't forget we have a listener survey.
[4:38] I know Tom talked about that just a little bit beforehand. That's very handy. Very. Very handy. Very handy. We appreciate all the feedback we've got so far. Yeah. The one that's out there now is an updated one. So there's a couple of different questions for you guys to answer. And we appreciate all the stuff that we've gotten back. In fact, the feedback that we get, we take to heart, especially if it's constructive and
[5:08] valid, which by and large it is. But one in particular really kind of… Tom had a fun, not a fun one, Tom had a favorite one that he wanted to read. Well, because it's really good. It is. Like, I cannot disagree with anything that was said. So I'll just briefly kind of go over it. This one was from Ron. Thanks, Ron. Not you, but different Ron. Couldn't have said it better myself. I'll just read it here real quick. It says, you guys usually do a great job. Thanks. Usually.
[5:40] But the prop balancing podcast. That set the tone, by the way. Usually, you guys are fine. Well, what do you always say? We strive for okay. We strive for okay. So, usually, I think, kind of goes in that vein. They don't want to promise too much. We don't want to under-deliver, yes. Oh, absolutely. So, okay is definitely something we can aspire to achieve. But anyway, he says, you guys usually do a great job,
[6:06] but the prop balancing podcast had me frustrated. I had to listen to 80% of the show before you finally revealed how you actually balance the props. Spray clear on the backside of the blade. We probably should have led with that, by the way. Probably should have. And that's why this is so good. The talk to information ratio of that show was too high. Your two podcasts on servos, which followed, were right back on target and provided solid info throughout.
[6:45] about their hobby. I don't think we want a scripted instructional program. However, care needs to be taken so that banter enhances and not detracts from the show. And Ron, if you're watching or listening, I could not agree with you more. And what I really, really, really appreciated about this was that it was honest. And number two, it really kind of brought back to home like my original vision for the show. I didn't want it to be tease people with a little bit of information
[7:11] and then make them listen or watch to the whole show to get to the end. I wanted our show to be about something useful and get right to it and without a lot of fluff. And that was great feedback to get because that's something we're going to concentrate on. the episodes may be a little shorter, but they'll be more right to the point and hopefully information that you guys want. Yeah. So I really liked it. I appreciated that feedback very much.
[7:40] Yeah. And that's important to me too. I listen to podcasts and quite a bit, watch YouTube videos and stuff, and there's nothing more annoying than when they talk, but they don't say anything. Right. So I know we don't always do a good job of talking with saying everything or saying something every time, but we're trying to. We're trying to get better, and we don't want to waste your time. Right. Because I don't like to have my time wasted either. Exactly. Exactly.
[8:04] Time is worth something, and don't just listen have my time wasted either exactly exactly time is worth something and don't just listen to us blather about nothing like i'm doing now so we probably gotta move on exactly just one more time i just wanted to thank you ron for that it was it was very good feedback and definitely something i'm gonna take moving forward so okay moving on yeah so on our break it's like you you said that we didn't do anything. Well, that's not true.
[8:26] My hands were tied a little bit. A little bit. So I ordered balsa. Like, I ordered a lot of balsa. For this project right here behind me. And if you're listening, this is the Trimotor project we're referring to. So the point was to get some balsa in here and start cutting start playing around start just kind of figuring some stuff out i'm very disappointed i'm not going to name names because it's not necessarily fair to do that but i placed a balsa order with a company and i
[9:13] with a company and i like a good sized balsa order i spent 999.96 on an order of balsa now i guess my problem is like i don't care how long it's going to take to get it to me but tell me how long it's going to take to get it to me ordered on the 21st messaged them a few times a couple weeks later to figure out what was going on with it was just told that they were shipping as many orders as they
[9:32] could and they would get to mine soon and let me know by the end of the week when mine would ship fair enough fair enough cool so i let it be never heard anything back from them by the end of the week so i waited another week and a half, emailed again, or not emailed, but messaged again, and was pretty much told that, well, he took some time off. He's going to be cutting some more stuff soon. He'll let me know once again by that Sunday when mine will ship. Another week passes.
[10:04] Never heard anything from him, emailed him again or texted him again and stuff. And finally, three days later, got a text back that said it'll ship by the end of the week. Well, I still haven't gotten any shipping information or anything like that. So I guess I'm frustrated. Yeah. And so, so I also am planning to order balsa from the same company. And that's a foul. Making somebody wait, especially after they've already taken your money, right?
[10:38] So they've already been paid for the shipment. for the shipment, it's really not that hard to send somebody an email or even to send somebody a message on Facebook or however your preferred means of communication is. It's not that hard to send a little update saying, hey, I know I've been putting you off or whatever, but the plan is this. And if the plan changes, that's fine. Communicate okay with that. Just communicate. That's all we ask. And I don't think that's unreasonable to ask
[11:08] or to expect even a communication. And like you said, if it takes four months to fill the order, hey, it takes four months to fill the order. Balsa's in demand right now. It's hard to get Balsa from suppliers in Ecuador or whatever. Fine, just let me know. I understand there's shortages everywhere. Like in the industry I work in, we're dealing with it too. That's cool. But we communicate and let people know what's going on. And I feel ghosted. Like I really feel.
[11:37] And that's, and I tell you, that's an unsettling feeling for someone like me, who's getting ready to, like i've already actually spent the money like the the company already technically has my my payment for an order i haven't placed yet yeah you have store credit now right and so that's a little unsettling seeing seeing your experience hopefully i'm i'm hopeful that it that it all works out and it's just one of those one-time kind of deals.
[12:06] Because in this particular company's defense, I haven't seen any negative stuff from anyone else. So I'm hoping that it's sort of just one kind of a – maybe it's because of the size of the order because it is a large order. It's a big order. I admit it. A lot of balsa. But, yeah, it's not hard to communicate these days. I yeah, it's not hard to communicate these days. I mean, it's really easy to communicate these days.
[12:30] If it's going to be a couple of weeks, just tell us right up front. And this goes to any company that is dealing online or whatever. If you're not going to be able to fill an order for a while, hey, most of us are okay with you telling us, hey, it's going to be a couple weeks. Okay, cool. So I'll know when to expect it. When I paid for the store credit and stuff, because that's why I bought it too, a store credit. I ended up paying them
[12:53] first before I actually placed an order. Right. And I mean, very responsive then. I mean, there were messages going back and forth between us very quickly, which is great. That's how it should be. But then when it came time to actually fill the order after I placed it and let me know what's going on. Communication was a little bit different. Yeah. And like I said, I'm not, like, I'll give you a pass on stuff if you just tell me what's going on. Yeah. I don't think I'm asking too much
[13:18] to know. Like I said, when I ordered April 21st, I got an email saying, hey, thanks for the order. It's going to ship to you by July 15th. Cool. Okay, great deal. I appreciate it. I'm not going to bug you until July 15th if I don't have it. And that's another thing. Like the more you communicate, probably the less your customer is going to bug you about it. So, I mean, I don't want to dwell. Like I said, I was just very
[13:39] upset by that. Yeah, a little disappointed. I don't like to be negative on things, but this one's really rubbing me the wrong way yeah however like on the flip side of that totally understand the the market the balsa market right now is is a for lack of a better word kind of a kind of a basket case i mean sometimes we can get balls so sometimes we can't that people are blaming it on all these other different types of things. But just communicate with us.
[14:09] Just let us know. That's really all we ask. Yeah. So, all right. Let's move on to something happier. Something happy. I don't like sad things. what makes me happy? What makes you happy? Model engines. How many do you have now? Total? Yeah. I've lost count. You've bought so many in the last, like, two months. So, in our little break, I did acquire a third YS120. So, we now have four YS120s.
[14:38] And, yeah, if you're keeping track, yeah, that's one, two more than the last time we had an update. I'm getting to that in a second. Okay. Yeah, that's one, two more than the last time we had an update. I'm getting to that in a second. Okay. So we have four, but I did acquire number three at the beginning of our little break. So you can expect a video of us trying to run all three of them together, hopefully very soon. I cannot wait. Like seriously. That's going to be so awesome.
[14:58] That's going to be fun. So if you've watched our video or Ron put the video out there of us running the two, pretty soon hopefully we'll have another video out there with three of them running together. That's all on you. I've acquired some other engines too, some unique engines that I've wanted for a while that I've never owned. I'm getting actually quite a collection of four strokes, which is awesome. I love four strokes. But I did acquire an HP
[15:24] and owned, well it's the same manufacturer that made the HP 61 that we I love four strokes. But I did acquire an HP, an old… Well, it's the same manufacturer that made the HP-61 that we put in our YouTube video on how to tune. Same company, but this is a four stroke, and it's a rotary kind of a valve. So it's still a regular piston going up and down, but it has a valve inside that rotates instead of two
[15:45] valves that go up and out it's pretty slick if you want to do a quick little youtube search i think there's a couple of videos out there somebody broke one down and shows you how they work so i'm gonna do a run video of that here sometime in the near future too really excited i've never heard one like that yeah yeah there's a rcv is a company that makes kind of the same sort of a thing, a rotary valve thing with a piston that goes up and down in a rotating sleeve.
[16:10] It's actually really kind of a neat idea. Sounds complicated. It's actually very, very simple. I'll have to see it. Yeah. Because I don't think I'm placing exactly what you're talking about yet. Yeah, it's easier to see it in action than for me to try to describe how they work. But they're pretty neat looking but yeah so so yeah we have four ys engines now and here's how that here's how that happened so in one of the other engine purchases communicating back and forth
[16:38] with the nice gentleman said yes i'm getting out of the hobby and i'm just gonna get rid of all this stuff and i've got this old carl Goldberg Ultimate biplane that's kind of in pieces. And I'm a huge biplane fan, especially balsa ones. Just going to say that. What is that? Where did that come from? There's a lot of biplanes out there. There's foam biplanes out there. They're cool, too, but I like the big balsa ones. I mean, look at it. What happened to be mounted to
[17:07] the nose of this biplane, but a YS-120 four-stroke. Oh, that is awesome. So yeah, we agreed on terms and I made a purchase and he, very, very generous man, Very, very generous man gave me all kinds of stuff with the purchase.
[17:38] And in that pile of stuff was another OS91 four-stroke, which is another engine that we've put on the YouTube channel. So now I have four also of those. So something bigger for our next build? Maybe like a B17 or a B24 build around four OS91s, and that'd be pretty sweet. But yeah, so I've been acquiring stuff. So hopefully we'll have some cool tri-motor, at least engine running videos or video for you coming soon, hopefully. Yeah, not doing anything else on it yet,
[18:04] but maybe you can see the motors turning. Yeah, and listening to them. That's the best part. What else did you get from the guy? So a plastic tub full of propellers, which was a good thing to have extra props. A lot of electric props and stuff like that, which I'll probably end up giving to you or whoever. Me. Not whoever, me. Or you. Or maybe we'll hang on to them, maybe to… Because there's a lot of new in the
[18:30] package stuff that might be convenient for packaging with an airplane or something. If what I'm saying. Maybe. Yeah. Let's not give away our hints yet. Yeah. So there's that. I got a very large selection of Balsa blocks, like big, like 2-inch by 2-inch by 12-inch blocks. Pretty good selection of different sizes in that kind of a range, which would be great for the tri-motor build here when we have to shape wing roots or the nose or whatever. or the nose or whatever.
[19:03] That would be perfect for that. So I got a lot of that. I got some carbon fiber rods, push rods and things like that, square tubing, which might be handy for spars and things like that to try to keep things light. Yeah. So I got that. I got another stick airplane. So there's that. That's what the OS-91 is bolted to. So actually that airplane is actually in really good shape. So that one might be able to make that one pliable for this season so then i'll have
[19:29] two sticks one with a two stroke along with the four stroke let's see what oh so the ys120 was on the front of this goldberg biplane apparently over the years the gentleman had moved a few times so the airplane the fuselage anyway, is in pretty rough shape. The tail feathers are broken and one of the wing struts is kind of snapped in half. So it'll actually be a pretty good restoration type project, which might be
[19:57] something if you guys are interested in watching how, how maybe we to repair an airplane or to restore an old airplane, recovering and that sort of thing. That might be something we actually try to record while I'm doing it. So podcast material is never a bad thing. It's a good idea. Yeah. Let's actually do it. Done. Let's see, what else? Oh, so Goldberg also made, back at about the same time they made the Ultimate kit,
[20:29] they made a Sukhoi SU-26MX, which looks a lot like our Yaks. Huge fan of that airplane and that kit. So I got two of them in various states of assembly. So there's two kit boxes, and there's probably enough stuff in those two boxes to complete a SU-26. It has to be built, of course, but it would be a fun project for down the road. To complete a single one or two of them? A single one, yeah. It looks like there were some pieces missing out of one of them.
[21:00] The wing is already built, but damage will require some repair, stuff like that. But, yeah, between the two kit boxes, but damage will require some repair, stuff like that. But yeah, between the two kit boxes, I'm fairly certain there was enough stuff in there to complete one airframe. Oh, and in addition to that… And there's more. Yeah. And a new in the box, Fiberglass Specialties, that's the name of a company that does fiberglass
[21:20] parts for our airplanes, account for that kit. So nice fiberglass account to go with that kit. So that'll be a nice project for someday. And that's pretty much it. It's going to be a busy winter. Four or five. Yeah. And it all started with, it was the funniest thing. It all started with the purchase of a Sato 56 four-stroke. Yeah. I bought the Sato 56 from him, and then we started talking back and forth, and next thing I've got all this stuff in the back of the car.
[21:49] I mean, it didn't happen at his house. There was a lot of conversation before I went down there to pick everything up, but yeah. So why were you buying a Sado 56? Oh, because I didn't have one. Seriously? Yeah. So I've decided. What do I have on the, what Sato do I have on that? 65. Okay. That's a Sato 65, which I don't own one of those anymore either, but eventually. Maybe you can get that one back. Well, what I, and you call me crazy. Crazy. But I like model engines.
[22:19] So my goal is to like maybe have a long-term goal, have one of every engine that Sato has made. Well, minus the big radials and stuff like that, because I can't afford those. But, let's start. I've got a Sato 50 already. I've got a Sato 40. I have a Sato 30. So if I can, build up, I think it'd be a cool display, in my like cabinet.
[22:44] And then when I, want to run them, I can pull them off, put them on the stand or put them on a stick or whatever and fly them and enjoy them. Or actually mount them on a stand to where you can just run them on the stand. Well, that's what I meant. Yeah. No, I mean like mount them, like display them on a stand where there's eight engines or whatever. Oh, I see what you're saying. And then you can just leave it on that to run it. Oh, that would be kind of neat.
[23:05] That wouldn't be hard to do. No, not really. But I'd want to make it look nice. I want it to be varnished and display worthy. Well, you'd have to do that anyway if you're putting fuel on it. But I like tinkering. I like to tinker. And so, these engines that I have are all in various states of, conditions. So, taking one apart and cleaning it up, and a majority of them
[23:26] that I have now are Golden Knights, which if what Sato engines are, they produced a lot of their engines in two different versions, the silver version and then the Golden Knight, which is a, it's black painted with gold valve covers. Very sharp looking engines. I like them. I do too. And they usually sold for a little bit more than their silver counterparts. Because they were colored. Because, yeah, they look cool. They had different colors on them. Yeah.
[23:53] So that's what I've been up to on our break. You got me beat. I was very boring. Well, Crystal's in school, so you were taking care of the family and stuff totally get it but yeah so no not not a lot of exciting things on my my end other than ordering balsa and not getting it so let's move on we have a couple things to to talk about we got some people reached out in emails and also in in the the went blank. What's it called? The survey. The survey.
[24:27] Don't forget the survey. But anyway, some people reached out on the survey and we wanted to go over just a couple of questions that were asked. Sure. Once again, take the survey. We appreciate that. I mean, if it's not clear by now that we use a lot of the material we get on the surveys, I mean, if it's not clear by now that we use a lot of the material we get on the surveys, we use a lot of material that comes right off the surveys that you guys submit. It's so much easier on us.
[24:52] We appreciate it. But anyway, so a couple of things to get to. We're not going to go over it too much because we're getting long on time already, it seems. And have we said anything? I mean, that's the question. I mean, yeah. Anyway. So we had somebody ask, where do diesel engines fall into the pantheon of model power? It's a great, great question. That's a really good question. And then when does using glow, gas, diesel, and electric power make sense? Yeah. That's a loaded question.
[25:21] Yeah. Ask five different people, you'll get five different answers. Absolutely true. But R2, actually people, you'll get five different answers. Absolutely true. But R2, actually, I don't know anything about diesel. So you're the engine guy. So, yeah, believe it or not, I don't own a diesel. I don't have a good reason. It probably has something to do with the fuel involved. I keep model engine fuel and gasoline for the engines
[25:45] that i run diesel fuel would be another fuel that i would have to keep and worry about storing and okay that just sounds like an excuse i mean this is do they run really just on regular diesel no fuel no they don't okay so i will caveat i don't own one. Okay. Yeah. And I've, I'm looking, cause I would actually like to add that to my repertoire of, of engines and gain some experience that I could
[26:14] maybe pass on. but from what I've read and what I've seen on YouTube, and I talked to a couple of people on the, on the RC groups that I, that I'm a member of. And if you guys, if I'm wrong on any of this, feel free, because I am no expert on diesels. But what I do know is that they use a variable compression. So they don't use a glow plug. So on a diesel engine, let's say in your Ford pickup truck, it uses a glow plug to sort of get the whole process started.
[26:47] Model diesels don't have that device. And then also, again, using your Ford pickup with a diesel in it as an example, it uses an injection pump to actually inject the fuel right into the combustion chamber. Model engine diesels also don't do that. They atomize the fuel in the carburetor just like our two-stroke glow fuel engines do. So to get the process started, it's actually quite an involved process. You lower the compression,
[27:23] and you pretty much, from what I gather, you pretty much have to use an electric starter. You get the thing turning and then you slowly increase the compression until it reaches a point at which the compression is sufficient to heat the air and fuel charge to the point of combustion. That is aided by the fuel or specifically an additive that's in the fuel. And I can't remember the name of it. It's a, oh gosh, it's an ethanol-based something
[27:53] that they put into the fuel to make it more volatile. So the fuel has actually got ether, I think, in it. And it's basically a blend of kerosene, a little bit of methanol, and I think this additive that they use for ignition assistance. But anyway, as the thing is turning, you increase the compression until it starts, and then you further increase the compression until it is running good, right? And then you further tune it by
[28:26] throttling it with the throttle. And that's something else these diesel engines, from what I gather, are somewhat difficult to throttle because I'll try to make this really, really short and simple. As you increase the RPM, you're also increasing the compression ratio because you're increasing the temperature of the fuel that's coming in and all this because of all the extra heat, which also changes the ignition timing. So then you have to back off the compression to compensate.
[29:08] compensate. So they run in a very narrow range without having to readjust the compression ratio, which is that T-bar that's on the top of the head. I should have mentioned that. There's a T-bar where the glow plug goes. And on the other end of that T-bar inside the compression chamber is essentially another piston that as you screw it in, it increases the compression ratio by lowering
[29:23] the available volume and then vice versa. When you thread it out, it lowers the compression ratio by lowering the available volume, and then vice versa, when you thread it out, it lowers the compression ratio. So, model diesel engines, they do their best work on a, for instance, like a control line or maybe a free flight type airplane where they are just designed to run at sort of one RPM range,
[29:45] because that's where you tune them. and that's pretty much all I know about diesels. I'm going to try to maybe find one, that I can afford and, and add it to the collection, and tinker with them, because they sound kind of interesting to me. I think their use is probably best suited to something that's going to run wide open or whatever you tune it to run at and not be throttled, if that makes sense.
[30:14] Yeah, so you don't have a big RPM range that you do with any other motor. Right. The advantage to diesels is just like in your full-size Ford pickup, they produce a lot of torque. So once you get them tuned at that RPM range, they can theoretically turn a bigger, heavier-pitched prop than a similarly-sized glow engine because of the amount of torque they produce. And that is real. That's a real thing. I don't know what the percentage is, but like a 25, a 0.25 size diesel, let's say,
[30:49] or a 0.25 size model glow fuel engine turns a 9.6 prop at, say, 10,000 RPM. a same size diesel might turn an 11.8, maybe even a 12.6 at that same RPM. So it's quite a, it can produce quite a bit more power the downside is they are difficult to to throttle they're finicky yeah which is right up my alley because i like to tinker i don't i want it to work when i want it to work yeah you like on off
[31:18] switches getting to the other part of this question, when does using glow gas, diesel, and electric power make sense? So diesel, I kind of just went over that. It seems like it makes the most sense in something that's only going to operate in a particularly narrow RPM range. Which, honestly, for us would probably be never. Right, exactly. Like it wouldn't be a good thing for any airplane that we would ever fly.
[31:44] Yeah, we don't do control line or free flight or anything like that or racing or or anything like that so for us the two of us probably never going to be particularly useful to us the others completely personal preference i mean really if you don't if you don't like right there's there are caveats size I mean, really. Well, sort of. Right. There are caveats. Size. Yeah, size. Being one of them.
[32:12] Size of the airplane. The ability to, like, obviously for big, like, 170cc airplanes, you can get electric motors for it. I wouldn't want to. Like, I'm an electric batteries you would need for that just scare me to death oh they don't scare me as much as the price scares me oh well they are pricey i mean they're coming down though i mean the prices gradually i mean gas is so much more economical very it's fitting for that kind of airplane like really the bigger
[32:42] you go the better i think it is for gas like if you have a big airplane gas just makes sense yeah generally generally speaking i would agree with that small to medium i would be fine with electric like i am i am obviously okay not having any glow engines they just they're dirty but they sound good I will give you that. The four strokes especially. But I'm okay not having any because that's 30 bucks a gallon for fuel. And that goes through very quick. It does, especially the bigger ones.
[33:14] Yeah. So my personal preference, big airplanes, gas. Small to medium, obviously electric. obviously electric. Yeah. And on the other side of the coin, you have somebody like me who likes to tinker and likes the sound, likes the smell, small to medium airplanes. I'm going to choose nitro over electric for sure. And the big airplanes, just like you said, it's going to be gas just because the expense is certainly part of the factor. But gasoline is
[33:48] fairly inexpensive compared to nitro fuel. So a nitro engine in that size range doesn't make sense to me because they get really thirsty. And yeah, you can go through a gallon of gas in an afternoon with those big, big,ro engines and they're out there you can i think the biggest fuel you mean yeah but the big nitro engines are out there too i mean mochi makes a 210 or used to make a 210 which is a pretty good size two stroke 2.1 cubic inch
[34:18] two stroke model engine yeah i guess i didn't realize that that was model engine yeah I guess I didn't realize that that was that really that's yeah oh my I didn't know that was Nitro yeah but very very thirsty yeah I can't imagine that well Super Tiger Super Tiger made the G4500 which is a 45 CC glow engine yeah goes through about 12 ounces of fuel in about five minutes or less, depending on how you fly. Wow. Yeah. We'll be able to go through more than that on the tri-motor.
[34:50] And so that's the other thing too, in general, especially if you're going for the same size, it's very expensive to run a nitro as opposed to a gas engine. Yeah. They just, they drink the fuel very quickly as opposed to gasoline engines just nicely just sip it and like a fine wine they don't want to drink too much economies of scale though right a big big electric you're even even gasoline let's say you burn
[35:18] 10 gallons of gasoline in the course of a flying season that's 30 bucks or so depending on where you buy your gas and the additives you put in it so let's say 35 bucks you do that over the course of five or six years you probably you've probably got enough to to pay for your electric and the convenience of the electric might outweigh that so there's that to consider too it is but the nice and it's funny because we kind of go back and forth like what i
[35:46] the one thing i don't like about electric is waiting for him to charge yeah i mean it's nice to be able to land and then filled up with some gasoline again and going out and being ready to take right off but i i still will i'm okay not flying as much and not having nitro for sure. Right. Yeah. So the question, when does using glow gas, diesel, or electric make sense? It's totally, it's up to you. Yeah, you can pretty much get anything in any size.
[36:18] Yeah, if you're about economy and cost and things like that, that's going to factor your decision. If you're into nostalgia or sound or smell, that's going to play into your decision. So it's really what matters to you. And who am I to judge you in this case for using electric? I mean, it's still a model airplane and it's still cool. what I mean? You can say that again. It's still a model airplane and it's still cool. what I mean? You can say that again.
[36:45] It's still a model airplane and it's still cool. That was rhetorical. Oh. I went ahead and said it again for effect. But yeah, I mean, it's totally, totally user-dependent and it's going to be what makes the most sense to you. But diesels, I can tell you, from what I've read and what i've seen and talked to a couple folks they're hard to throttle so they may not make sense for radio controlled airplane that's going to be required to idle and then also produce max power and
[37:17] without retuning and all that kind of stuff moving on moving on A couple more. Okay. We got time for a little bit more. Yeah, not too much. Okay. I think I've read that although metal gears on servos are stronger, they wear quicker than plastic. Is that true? So that's not been my experience.
[37:51] Now, granted, I'm not a three-time-a-week flyer, so I probably don't put my servos through a lot of abuse. I've heard that argument before, but that's not been my experience. Servos today, even the ones that we talk about in the servo episode, the ones you get from Amazon. I've had the Metal Gear servos now, specifically. I've had really, really good luck, and they're not noisy. It used to be when Metal Gear servos kind of first came on the market, they were noisy.
[38:15] They created RF interference, which back then, this was before Spectrum and the Spread Spectrum and all that stuff, DSM, whatever it is. before spectrum and the spread spectrum and all that stuff, DSM, whatever it is, they created RF interference that could take a plane down. But those issues have all but gone away with the new digital spread spectrum. There we go. Got it. Radios and the machining tolerances coming out of these factories.
[38:45] Do they wear faster? I mean, plastic gears as opposed to metal gears, I think they have different wear characteristics, but longevity, I would argue that they're probably about the same, honestly. I would agree with what you said. Yeah, so I mean, if there's truth to that, I haven't seen it. I'll just say it that way. Okay. I'm not an engineer, though. No, you are not. Next, he said, I've heard advice to go for torque in a servo, not the speed.
[39:17] Unless you're flying helicopters or 3D, the speed of a high-torque version of a given servo will be fast enough. I completely agree. I do too. Yeah. We don't need to move our control surfaces that quick. Nope. Yeah, I mean, I completely agree. There's really not much more I can say other than, yeah, if you're flying a helicopter, yeah, sure, makes sense. Because especially on the tail rotor, you want that servo to be very, very quick.
[39:43] If you're flying 3D, especially some of the 3D FOMies, yeah, you probably want those servos to be pretty fast. But for the stuff that Ron and I talk about flying, no. I'll choose a high-torque servo over a high-speed one. Yeah, I'd rather have more power, obviously, than getting there quickly. And for me, I'll kind of add to the conversation. I want a servo that centers perfectly every time. And sometimes a high torque servo or a high speed servo
[40:14] might sacrifice maybe some of that centering. Some of that resolution. Yeah, some of that resolution for, to gain speed or torque or what have you. So sometimes, well, most of the time to me, what's more important than torque or speed is the ability for that servo to hold center and to return to that exact same spot. Yeah, I've heard of that more with the high-speed servos as opposed to the high-torque ones. Like the high speed, they're trying to get there so fast
[40:39] that it's hard to do at some of those speeds. I'm actually having an issue right now with that Seagull yak, the yellow and black one. Oh, yeah? Yeah, the servos on that wander, and it's maddening because it feels like a tail-heavy airplane. You pull back on the elevator, the airplane climbs. You return the stick to neutral.
[41:00] The airplane still keeps climbing a little bit, so then you push down on it a little bit, and airplane dives it's it's almost it feels like a tail heavy airplane but it's not it's the servo just something is loose yeah the servo is not able to yeah that's too bad so centering is is equally I think as important as torque in this case moving on the next one I've read that digital
[41:20] servos have a higher power drain than analog. When sharing power from the same flight battery on an electric plane, will using digital servos reduce flight times? Well, yeah. I mean, it stands to reason. Well, first, yes, digital servos drain more than analog. However, let's say it's not noticeable. No, not really. I mean, it's not going to take you from a 10-minute flight to a 7-minute flight. Right.
[41:53] So, okay, if you're building a big airplane with lots of servos, chances are that is an expensive airplane, and you're probably not going to put analog servos in it. So you won't ever notice a difference because you're going to probably start with digital servos to begin with. If you've got analog servos in a 40-size sport Balsa plane like a stick or whatever, and you start with analog and you switch to digital,
[42:27] or whatever, and you start with analog and you switch to digital, yes, the digitals are going to draw more power, but not significantly so that you're going to notice any difference in flight times. And that goes for electrics also. Yes, they consume more power, but on a six servo setup, you're probably not going to notice the difference it might be the difference between a five minute flight time and a four minute 48 second flight
[42:52] time what i mean it's going to be minimal yeah not enough to worry about yep i don't think so okay next okay this is a funny one if a single-blade propeller will work, why wouldn't a two-bladed propeller work if one blade was slightly shorter than the other, as long as it's balanced? And he says, I still like to trim one blade to balance. Ooh, that makes me cringe. But honestly, absolutely, absolutely true.
[43:21] speed, like I think they were called pylon speed, which was a control line thing. They used one blade propellers for efficiency because then, you didn't have another blade coming into the wash of the blade. Coming into the dirty air. Right, exactly. And they performed, for the task, they performed excellent. So there's no reason that a properly balanced or a well-balanced propeller shouldn't
[43:47] be useful, even if one blade is a little bit longer than the other. And I will say, even though it makes me cringe, I used to balance my props that way. I really did. I used to sand off the one tip until it was in balance, and I never suffered any adverse effects from that. So, yeah, there's really no reason why that won't work. Me personally, I like the blades to be even. It's just a symmetry thing with me. I don't like asymmetry. Yeah, I understand.
[44:19] That's why the Blom and Voss airplanes aren't my thing, because the weird cockpit on one side and engine on the other anyway. But, yeah, there's no reason that shouldn't work. And if the propeller is balanced, I say more power to you. There you go. Yeah. All right. Last thing before we get out then. We have a tip from somebody that sent in. And we liked it so much we thought, hey. Yeah, it's a great tip. Let's share it. Yeah. You want to take it? Sure.
[44:49] Or I can if you don't know where it is. Well, it's right here. Here, use that one. Okay. And I don't have my cheaters. Okay, give it back. I'll read them. Ah, okay. So he said, wow wow can't read he said switch to scalpel blades when using a honing oh hold on he says switch to scalpel blades and use a honing slash extra fine sharpening stone to touch up the edge between each cut when covering we'll save much headache and only use a single blade for a whole covering job
[45:25] with no tears yeah great that's a great tip i have tried sharpening number 11 blades before and i i'll be honest there's a technique there to sharpening those things that i am obviously because i go through so many of them, I'm not good at. But yeah, there must be something about the steel they use with these scalpel blades that allows them to be sharpened. I'm going to try that, actually. I'm going to get on probably Amazon, try to find some scalpel blades.
[45:58] Because I happen to have a honing stone at home because I have knives and stuff that I need sharp. Yeah, me too. I'm going to try that. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, and if it works, I will let you guys know. But I see no reason stuff that I need sharp. Yeah, me too. I'm going to try that. Yeah, it's a good one. Yeah, and if it works, I will let you guys know, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. Yeah, I go through a lot of blades when I cover. I do too.
[46:13] And I have a whole, like, two-liter bottle full of blades because I don't like to just throw them away because they're dangerous. Yeah, I don't throw them in the trash either. They're not sharp enough to cut what we want them to cut, but they're still sharp enough to cut you. Yeah, for sure. So you got to be careful with them. But yeah, good tip. Yeah, that's a great tip. I appreciate it. And I think we're done for today.
[46:32] I think so. So next episode will be audio. Audio only. So if you are watching the YouTube channel, we're going to have some stuff hopefully here in the next few weeks. Hopefully a tri-engine run video, which I'm super excited about. I know he is, even though he's not a nitro guy. Okay, so hold on. I'm not owning a nitro guy. I'm cool with nitro. That's fine. I don't want to deal with a mess when I'm done.
[47:04] I don't want to buy the fuel. I don't want to deal with a mess when I'm done. I don't want to buy the fuel. I don't want to clean it up. I don't want to come downstairs and leave a line of fuel on my carpet. I don't do that. He's done that to me before. I did? You don't remember that? It's been several years ago. You brought an airplane down, and there was just a line. I am so sorry I did that. I do remember that now. a line i am so sorry i did that i don't
[47:25] remember that now yeah so that's why i don't care too much for for night i get it yep i get it but i i'm cool i like other people running them and owning them and having that mess in their house not yours if you're going to do the tri-motor build with me and you're going to take all the hard stuff on it's your plane and it's your engines well hopefully there will be a youtube video soon of all three of them running
[47:52] together so yes if you like the two engine run video watch out there's gonna be a three engine video so anyway if you're if you're watching the youtube video there'll be some stuff coming out soon and like i said the next episode would be two weeks yeah two weeks from now and it'll be audio only so hopefully we'll get back to the smoothness that that audio only kind of version a lot you
[48:16] know we talked about a little bit sorry to take up so much time but yeah it's just smoother when when we're not like trying to watch a camera and it's kind of weird to look over and talk to you. Anyway, so you can look forward to that in the future. And also, listener surveys. Don't forget. Yeah. Extremely helpful. Nothing will get you what you want to hear more than telling us what you want to hear. All right. Are we done? I'm sorry.
[48:44] I'm done talking now. Okay. Until next time? I'm sorry. I'm done talking now. Okay. Until next time, I'm Ron. I'm Tom. Good night. Good night. សូវាប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់បានប់� you
