Over the years I have gotten where I can start a new engine within a few flips.  I still remember learning to start the Cox Thimble Drome Space Bug .049.   That plastic prop did not feel too good at times.  Then I got my first .35.  A McCoy .35 Redhead Stunt in the blue plastic box with clear lid for $10.00.  Never did think it was going to start.  After first run it got easier and easier.  After a year or two got the Green Head K&B .35.   Talk about getting bit a few times even with a glove it finally came around.  Then in 62 got my first Fox .35 Stunt.  By then I had learned about the bump and flip.  It would start and quit.  But, each time it would run a little longer.  I mean I had that needle almost falling out to get it rich enough.  I was really smoking up the neighborhood.  A guy in the club said put the Fox on a plane and bring it to the field.  He took off the prop, a 10-6 and put on a 9-6.  Then asked me if I was ready to fly.  He started and set the needle.   I kept waiting for the Fox to get tight.  He looked at me and I signaled for launch.  Ran the tank dry.  We let a couple of guys fly and then it was the Fox again.  Told to do climb and dives until it gets tight or he yells at me.  Was told if it was not putting out a trail of smoke or getting tight just fly close to the ground. 

The reason I started all the previous diatribe was a statement by Pat Johnston say .15 diesels were murder to start by hand.  I always thought it was the .049s that would bloody the fingers if not careful. 

I agree with you Doc. The Cox .049's are a P.I.T.A. !!!

Give me a LA 46 any day.

Three turns to get the fuel up the line, three flips to get it mixed into the engine, then one flip to start.

Interesting thread. I was weened on OK Cubs and Royal Spitfires, got to where my Dad would sent people to me if they were having 1/2A trouble, when I was 10. So I find it pretty interesting that people found the Cox reed valve engines hard to start. For me, they were great, they just needed several heavy prime runs to make them draw fuel. Unless the reed was stuck or some other thing like clotted up castor in the NV, I always found them easy to run. For FF we used to pop a hole in the tank and connect a fuel line directly to the backplate. We used lengths of line as timers. I got to where I could put the booster on the plug, prime, fill the line, flip and launch in nearly one motion very consistently. When the TDs came out I was in heaven. I am still surprised at the complaints I hear about them. Unless the compression was getting low, or the fuel getting bad, I always found them to be very easy handling engines. As far as Diesels go, when I first started playing with them it was a steep learning curve, but finding that happy spot where they'll fire when cold but not be over-compressed turned was the key. Now I build them and I admit there are some pretty cantankerous first fires from time to time, but learning how to handle them makes it all allot easier. I love engines and I love learning the nuances of ones I've never run before.

Cox 049 engines are great if they're kept clean.  Don't, and they're murder.  I suspect that accounts for a big part of the differences in experiences with them.

I know, because I'm not naturally a 'keep it clean' sort of person.  I had to read the above in a magazine article -- then once I started taking good care of my Cox engines, they started taking good care of me.

  My hygienic practices, at 8 years old, were hardly what you would call antiseptic. I certainly didn't take any precautions about cleanliness. I used the fuel can top filter and the little plastic tube that came with it, so I don't know what I would have done that was better than anyone else.

I dunno -- after I started tearing them down and making sure the reed valve was clean, things started working a whole lot better.  It's still that way now.

But wait!  I'm normally not a Cox fan, but my TD .010 started easily and always ran well.  Biggest problem I had was keeping that mickey-mouse glo plug clip in place long enough to start.

F.C.

In all my 50+ years of engines I'd never run a Cox until my son gave me a few about a year ago so a while ago I decided it was about time to find out what they were like. I'd read all the stories about how they needed lots of nitro etc but I never use nitro so I figured I was behind the 8 ball to begin with. I tried a Babe Bee, one of those product engines with the two transfer ports and a Tee Dee. Amazing, once I had the needle valve setting figured they all gave one flick starts and hummed along perfectly .

     Throw some 25% nitro at those babies and they will really come alive. They are absolutely not optimized for FAI fuel, although I had heard they would run on it.

    People don't realize how much better-made they were than just about everything else at the time. Read some of those old Peter Chinn reviews to see how they marveled over the quality and performance.  They are still pretty jewel-like even today, just imagine how it was for people in the early 50's to the 60's compared to something like a Fox or McCoy.

     Brett