Hi all,
I have a few questions about an engine i bought from eBay a few days ago.
The engine in question is a wen mac.049(mark IV?)and it being the first engine i have from that factory,I'm asking myself how it compares to a cox.049?
What I'm trying to ask here,is power much less than a comparable cox and how about durability?
It would be my goal to power a 1/2A c/l plane with it for plain sports flying or maybe a trainer.
What about fuel-nitro percentage?
Prop size?
Seems like a very neat little engine to me..
Thank you very much,
Rudi.

I have three, one running, it seems to be about as strong as a Golden Bee if you prop it right -- I don't know why Andrew's experience isn't as good, but then I haven't been really scientific in my research.

If my three examples are anything to go by, the quality isn't as good.  I've heard that they have a rep for breaking cranks -- but that's just hear-say.

My engine, without tank but with Andrew's maligned spring starter, weighs almost exactly the same as a Golden Bee with tank.  So you do have to take the weight into account, but aside from that it seems a nice all-around engine.

Hello Tim,
Your experience on power is about the same as mine. As far as I know, the standard Golden Bee has the same single ported cylinder as the Babe Bee. The only difference is the fancy gold anodising and the 8cc tank rather than the Bee's 5 cc tank. At least my Golden Bees are that specification, but maybe they didn't leave the works that way?
Must agree on the quality of manufacture, not as good as Cox, so I suppose they are likely to vary in power quite a bit. Not had a crank break yet and I still like them!

Regards,

Andrew.

Wen Mac's did a lot to sour kids on modeling.  There were a few good units.  My next door neighbor designed and built a CL plane and routinely flew it with a Wen Mac taken from a RTF plane.  He was a boy genius.  He also built a vacuum tube RC system that worked. 

Getting anything other than a Cox or Holland Hornet to run was and still is an achievement.

My wife got a half dozen WenMacs cheap at auction.  I kept the two oldest ones and sold the rest for $5 each.  The two I have took some break in, and now start and run nicely.  I'd say like a Babe Bee for power.  One day, in a sport free flight, maybe. 

My first Wen Mac was a RTF Dauntless w/bomb drop.  The engine started easy and the plane actually flew!  I still have the engine.  I like the old Wen Macs, they were used along side my Cox engines.  With 1/2As and not having any Tee Dees or other hi po engines, I never found much difference.  Maybe I was just lucky.

I might even try out my Baby Mac!  (but I do admit that the Norvels, etc., are way up on power compared to the old engines)

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM