Classic Designs > Classic Planes
Arden 09 glow flat hex head
David Norrid:
I recently got this Arden engine in a parts lot. After cleaning and freeing it up I got it to run on 5%nitro with 28% castor oil. I can’t find anything like it on the internet. I want to build a plane of its same vintage but I don’t know when it was made. Can anyone help. The back plate has 09 in the casting and Arden on the engine itself. Any help or history would be appreciated. Maybe the head is homemade. That’s the odd part
Dan McEntee:
And it has an Arden glow plug in it!!! Did you use that plug to run it? Those were the first glow plugs invented by Ray Arden ( I think that was his name!!?) Most guys do not want to run theirs on a model because of the magnesium cases. They get very brittle with ageNot very common, and a collectors piece.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
David Norrid:
Here is the way I look at it. I am a builder by trade so it’s different. I’m not a collector. I bring things back to life. I am sure there is a perfect one in Muncie that people can see. It was made to fly. If it can fly in 2024 I am sure Ray Arden is in heaven with a big smile on his face. It will only fly once and live on the plane. Back to the question, which is why I posted here. Got any suggestion for the airplane for this guy???
Dan McEntee:
Did you happen to tach the run that you did on a test stand? I imagine that it's not a huge power house by today's standards but better than the small ignition engines of the time, maybe even the O&R engines that are larger. You want a control line design or a free flight model? for C/L , look at any of the designs for .15 power, and build those lighter or reduced in size a bit. The Ringmaster Jr, Flite Streak Jr., SIG Akromaster, to name a few. Brodak has some smaller models in the Clown series and some older Sterling profiles also. Some of the smaller Veco and Joe Wagner designs that are near 30" in span and could be built light might be candidates. For free flight, Midwest made an .049 powered version of the Sniffer that is a classic, cool looking old bird. Lots of old PaaLoad event models that are in that size range and sport landing gear for an R.O.G. take off would be fun also. Surf and search the Outerzone plans site for an almost endless choice in either. I don't recall any kits that were specifically for the .09 size engines, so you just have to fell your way through some of these.
If you get to the AMA museum, you'll probably notice that the samples from the Arden line that they have may not look better than yours does. Magnesium does not age like aluminum does and gets dark. even when brand new they are kind of dull looking, not very attractive. There may have been other brands that produced engines in magnesium, but I'm not familiar with them. That makes it hard to compare them to anything else.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
David Norrid:
Thanks. I will start the search on outerzone for a control line plane. When I tested the engine all I had was a 7 x 6 prop to put on it which is pretty steep for that engine. It was turning around 6500 rpm with 5% nitro and 28% castor oil. It is very loud but I live in the sticks so it doesn’t matter. Thanks
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