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Author Topic: 2 cycle gas engine models  (Read 711 times)

Stoker

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2 cycle gas engine models
« on: May 25, 2019, 10:02:31 am »
Howdy All

Since I have now been corrupted from the purity of steam engines, by various nefarious characters here on the Forum, and coerced into obtaining an infernal combustion engine in the form of a Microcosm M90 Hit & Miss engine, it only seems fitting at this juncture to bring forth some old gas fueled friends from long ago, that have been lost in the depths of storage for lo these many decades.

This then will be that thread!

Half a century and more ago, I used to be quite active in control line model airplane building and flying. It was done as a family activity with Dad, my brother and I flying rather regularly until I got into my mid-teens. In my late teens I started getting interested in R/C flying just as the first multi-channel proportional R/C systems started coming onto the market at not quite affordable prices, and as fate would have it I was working my way through college at that time with a part time job at a really good hobby shop. Also got deeply involved with model trains and a few other interesting hobbies at the same time, so rarely made it home with a full paycheck ... but I digress.

Here then is a quick and dirty (and I mean very dirty) look at a few of my still extant model airplane engines seeing the light of day for the first time in many decades, in ascending displacement order. Rather than going back and retaking all the photos with some familiar object for scale, I'll simply say that the holes in the diamond mesh are 1/4 x 3/4 inch or roughly 6 x 18 mm, while the washer like plate (umbrella mounting hole) is 3.5" O.D. and 1.6" I.D.

COX

While no longer in business to the best of my knowledge, their most famous products remained essentially unchanged through all the years.

The miniature version of their most popular engine is a mere .020 displacement, and only suitable for the smallest of models ...

The diminutive Cox .020



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"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.

Stoker

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models V II
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2019, 04:28:25 pm »
So next on to the Cox brand FLAGSHIP, and possibly the most produced internal combustion engine on earth, the ever FAMOUS:

COX .049


This sad looking specimen is still wearing its firewall from a thoroughly crashed combat flying wing that was never rebuilt.

But in point of fact the .049 engine, while available and often sold as a stand alone unit, was in fact the power plant for virtually all of the Cox models, from their ubiquitous PT Trainer to boats and cars and even helicopters, all made out of molded plastics, but all surprisingly capable, mostly due to the reliable power output of this little gem of an engine!

Here it is embedded in the interesting Cox Dune Buggy:




There is quite a story behind this particular vehicle, but perhaps I'll not bore you all with that here.

================================================================================
"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.

Stoker

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models V III
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2019, 07:39:23 pm »
Then to finish out my Cox engines .... here is the .09 Medallion, which was a later addition to the line and about double the power output of the little Half A .049 engine. This .09 is set up for R/C as it has an exhaust sleeve that can be rotated in and out of position to partially block the exhaust and thus throttle back the engine.




That does it for the Cox engines in my possession, but they did in fact make a few more, so if interested there is material available online, or shoot me a question here on the thread or via PM and I'll see what I can come up with to answer.
"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.

jerseysteam

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2019, 08:33:53 pm »
A significant part of my youth revolved around Cox (and also Testors) engines. Noisy buggers. Of course, I had the PT-19, which I crashed numerous times and managed to piece back together and keep it flying. My friends and I would end up combining our wrecks into a few usable planes. I also had a 70's street van with the same mechanism as the dune buggy. I had forgotten about the little pull-start. I was looking for Cox info a few years ago, and found this supplier who apparently bought the inventory from Estes:

https://coxengines.ca

I also had an O.S. Max .15 that I used with a Ringmaster Jr. I've seen ads for O.S. live steam locomotives in older Live Steam and Outdoor Railroading magazine, but don't know if they're still active.

Fun stuff that was easy for kids to work on, with an appropriate amount of risk involved.

An .049-powered locomotive. Hmmmm...
Dave

Stoker

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2019, 09:14:44 pm »
Yep Dave ... that's the fun stuff I'm talkin' about.

I'll be continuing this series on up the displacement chart and on into other brands, perhaps tomorrow, so keep an eye out.
"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.

Nick

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2019, 09:36:27 pm »
Never had anything like this myself, but found it very interesting, thanks for posting  :)
Nick

jkbixby

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2019, 10:02:45 pm »
Cox was a staple of gas powered models way back when - spent a goodly amount of time watching one pull an plane around on the end of a tether. Good that you kept yours - mine went years ago sad to say.
Regards,
Larry

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2019, 10:53:11 pm »
Thanks for posting this.
Brings back some fond memories of the Cox .049.

Stoker

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2019, 11:21:52 am »
          FOX

Next in line are the two Fox engines that we had for control line planes. These were great engines giving excellent service, reliability and power without any problems. I don't know where these engines might have fit in the pantheon of model airplane engines of their times, but I'd rate them very highly indeed!

The roughly 1/4 horsepower Fox .15




We had this one mounted on a Junior Flite Streak most of the time, a Top Flite kit that we'd built, which was one fun plane that was quick, agile and definitely fully aerobatic.

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We also had a Fox .19 which was noticeably more powerful, even though there was less than a third more displacement. We tried it on the Jr. Flite Streak a couple of times, but decided that light little speedster really didn't benefit from the extra power, so ended up mounting it on a couple of scratch built planes as well. I think it spent most of it's time on a Sterling kit called the Ringmaster, where it performed yeoman service for a great many flights, as this was a truly fine combo!

Fox .19




These two Fox engines were our mainstays in the control line hobby, and they provided us with many, many hours of fine fun!!!
"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.

Stoker

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2019, 06:41:22 pm »
Now there are a couple of blanks in the "collection" that represent the engines that got away.

A super fine engine that I should never have let slip away from me was an Enya .19 TV Marine engine that I had powering an R/C ski boat. The boat itself was nothing special I suppose. A rather heavily built fiberglass job, that I got second hand about half built, of some rather generic prototype, and unspecified brand, but perhaps because of the weight of the hull if was a good stable performer, and with the Enya engine it did perform reliably and well on all occasions that I recall. The only problem that it exhibited was running out of fuel mid-lake, so that I'd have to wait forever for it to drift back within reach, because it was just sooooo much fun, I'd lose track of time and keep it out too long. While probably not up to true racing speeds, it seemed plenty fast to me, and in a chop would pound right along only touching down on the water for an instant about every third wavecrest, and yet it appeared to be flying clean and smooth in so doing.

This image is not actually the engine I once had, but just a photo copied from the Worthpoint web page of a sale long completed:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

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At about the same time I also had a very nice Super Tigre .20/23 R/C aircraft engine that was a super nice and very reliable engine that performed beautifully on all occasions. About the same time I sold the boat with the Enya .19 Marine engine in it, I also sold my Carl Goldberg Falcon 56 training plane with the Super Tigre engine in it. Both proved to be regretted sales in the long term, but at the time I was just completing college, was heavy into climbing and wasn't making use of these rather large items that were being "stored" at my parents house, though I was no longer living there, yet had no space to store them myself. Selling them on seemed the sensible thing at the time. Oddly enough I do still have the engine box for this one, as that is where I keep both of my Fox engines. Sort of gives me a jab between the ribs every time I see it.

Super Tigre .20/23 image from an R/C group thread:

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Don't know how this thumbnail of the Enya is attached below here as there is no line showing below this point when I go to edit, so I'll just live with it for now!?!?
"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.

Steamandoil (Tim)

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models V II
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2019, 08:10:24 pm »
So next on to the Cox brand FLAGSHIP, and possibly the most produced internal combustion engine on earth, the ever FAMOUS:

COX .049


This sad looking specimen is still wearing its firewall from a thoroughly crashed combat flying wing that was never rebuilt.

But in point of fact the .049 engine, while available and often sold as a stand alone unit, was in fact the power plant for virtually all of the Cox models, from their ubiquitous PT Trainer to boats and cars and even helicopters, all made out of molded plastics, but all surprisingly capable, mostly due to the reliable power output of this little gem of an engine!

Here it is embedded in the interesting Cox Dune Buggy:




There is quite a story behind this particular vehicle, but perhaps I'll not bore you all with that here.

================================================================================
I had one of those dune buggys! Check out their prices today on eBay sometime!
If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned.

oilfield_steam

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2019, 08:24:10 pm »
Man Daniel this brings back memories of my screaming yellow Cox .049 Shrike tether car.  Back when you could still buy toys that would slice your finger if you let it.  Next door buddy had the dune buggy.
Scott

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #12 on: May 28, 2019, 06:34:15 am »
Daniel, you helped bring back some fond memories of the Cox 049 powering a "race" car of sorts that I ran and ran and ran as a kid.  Tried control line with a brand new Mustang airplane received for Christmas...totaled it in a matter of seconds and stuck with the car. 

Fast forward to about 20 years ago and I got back into RC with my teen son...we had a grand time building ARF kits, learning to fly with an instructor and a buddy box...day we soloed was one of the best in our lives.  Many bumps, broken props and mangled landing gear...then a spectacular nose dive into a freshly plowed corn field.  Engine and some control parts survived and lived again in another kit.  Dang those were good days for a father and son...that son is now a flight instructor with near 10,000 hours of airtime flying daily from field near Phoenix, Arizona...so that hobby really helped him develop a satisfying career.

Again, you have rekindled some great memories...thanks for that!

Rog
my YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=indianarog

my website:  IndianaRog.com

crazydoug

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2019, 06:52:09 am »
Daniel, you helped bring back some fond memories of the Cox 049 powering a "race" car of sorts that I ran and ran and ran as a kid.  Tried control line with a brand new Mustang airplane received for Christmas...totaled it in a matter of seconds and stuck with the car. 

Fast forward to about 20 years ago and I got back into RC with my teen son...we had a grand time building ARF kits, learning to fly with an instructor and a buddy box...day we soloed was one of the best in our lives.  Many bumps, broken props and mangled landing gear...then a spectacular nose dive into a freshly plowed corn field.  Engine and some control parts survived and lived again in another kit.  Dang those were good days for a father and son...that son is now a flight instructor with near 10,000 hours of airtime flying daily from field near Phoenix, Arizona...so that hobby really helped him develop a satisfying career.

Again, you have rekindled some great memories...thanks for that!

Rog


ahh yes... The buddy box. That's how i learned to fly my first RC plane. But it was only a couple years ago, and it was my 35 yr old son teaching ME!  We still enjoy flying when he comes home to the "farm", and that now includes a couple of DJI drones as well-no skill necessary with those!
crazydoug

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Re: 2 cycle gas engine models
« Reply #14 on: May 29, 2019, 07:39:11 pm »
                     McCoy

An oddball in my lineup is this McCoy .35 that was considered an "economy" engine in its day. Don't know if this one was a bit of a lemon, or if it was typical of production, but it was difficult to lean out properly with the needle valve and seemed a bit weak and inconsistent generally. Just when you'd get it tuned to where you thought it was good to go, you'd release it only to hear it start choffing, choking and burbling before completing one lap. We always rated it as about a .25, and so it never got much use.

Anyway, it still seems to be in my collection, so here it is "pretending" to be a marine engine:


"Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not wisdom, Wisdom is not truth, Truth is not beauty, Beauty is not love, Love is not music: Music is THE BEST...   
Wisdom is the domain of the Wis (which is extinct). Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament currently in resurgence..."
F. Zappa ... by way of Mary, the girl from the bus.