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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: rudi de causmaecker on February 26, 2012, 12:38:50 PM
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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.
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I have to admit that I like Wen Macs! They were even sold briefly here in the UK as AM 0.49s I believe. My take on power is that they are as good as a Babe Bee 0.49. I don't think the quality is up to Cox standards, but as yet I have not worn one out and I have certainly worn out Cox 0.49s.
I suspect that others here, will differ on that, but they were a good little engine, except for the later ones with the enclosed spring starters that always broke after a 100 starts or so!
Regards,
Andrew.
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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.
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Hi Tim,
I gave all of my Wen-Mac engines, plus the few spare parts that I'd gathered to one of our club members. The ones that I tried running on the bench just didn't impress me.
Doug had one of his running very well, but the crank fractured in flight, and we had a heck of a time finding the front end to recover the parts holding the prop on.
That is the only W-M crank failure I've witnessed, for what that's worth.
Bill
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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.
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Sounds like not that good,oh well....
I guess that i will use it to the best of it's possibility's and see how long it lasts.
Any thoughts on fuel,prop size,line length?
Regards,Rudi D>K
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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.
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Cox put all 1/2 A to shame for good reason. Quality and performance. Yes there are better engines today but cosy much more. Wen-mac/ K&B/OK Cub/ O&R/ were engines that faded away. I had a few Wen-macs and they did run and not half bad. Some Folks like old Atwoods/ Sptizy etc and most are fine but if you like better power TD's were way to go. Now its Norvel/Profi/Fora/Cyclon all from Russia. Still a good Cox is still a good engine.
Dan
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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.
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Back in the day I was using OK Cub's and a flying pal was using the Wen-Mac's. He got them out of the eady to fly planes. Yes he flew the plastic beasts. Great for learning to take off, fly level and land. It was fun to have other club members challenge us to races with the 1/2A's, they were using Babe Bee's and Golden Bee's. It was fun to be sitting and cleaning the plane as they were usually on their last pit stop. H^^
But, for flying for fun, you don't need the high zoot equipment to have fun. D>K
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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. ;D
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
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My only Wen Mac was in an Aeromite RTF. Haven't run it.
If it runs well, IMHO use a plane like a Scientific Hollow Log or something of that size.
George