Where are the PA engines made

[Bill Mohrbacher]

Where are the fabulous PA Stunt engines made?

[RandySmith]

Where are the fabulous PA Stunt engines made?

Hi Bill

The PA engines were made by Henry Nelson and Randy Smith. I built all of the eninges at Aero products in Georgia

Regards

Randy Smith

[Will Hinton]

Hi Randy,
What do you see in the future as far as continued production of the PA's? 

[RandySmith]

Hi Randy,
What do you see in the future as far as continued production of the PA's? 

Hi Will
Working hard at getting them back up, but it is going much slower than I would wish

Randy

[Randy Powell]

Randy,

Did you talk Henry out of retirement or are you looking for a new machinist?

[proparc]

Not to hijack the thread-okay okay it is a sort of hijack, is there a CAD drawing of a PA 65 side exhaust? By the way guys, this motor is a killer-trust me.

[Brett Buck]

Hi Will
Working hard at getting them back up, but it is going much slower than I would wish

  I am surprised that there's anyone willing and able to take on such a specialty task. Although I expect the "able" part is a lot more of a challenge.

    Brett

[Steve Fitton]

I wonder if one of the great many smaller manufacturers of AR-15s might be an idea.  There is the capability for good castings (used for the upper/lower receiver) as well as machining for all the internal bits.  They are US based shops due to import laws and many are lower volume outfits that might want side work.

[proparc]

I wonder if one of the great many smaller manufacturers of AR-15s might be an idea.  There is the capability for good castings (used for the upper/lower receiver) as well as machining for all the internal bits.  They are US based shops due to import laws and many are lower volume outfits that might want side work.

Steve, that is a very astute observation but, I worry about the relatively low volume of such a high end product in such a small niche market. The key to the PA as I see it, is somehow figuring out a way to up the volume-that's the key.

[Steve Fitton]

Steve, that is a very astute observation but, I worry about the relatively low volume of such a high end product in such a small niche market. The key to the PA as I see it, is somehow figuring out a way to up the volume-that's the key.

Who knows.  The thought just popped into my head the other week when I noticed a add at my local gun club for M-16 lowers with the gun club name on the casting.  I figure if shops have reached a point that they can run batches of individualized castings, maybe one might have the flexibility to take on other jobs...

[Bill Morell]

I take it PA engines are currently unavailable?

[Steve Helmick]

Henry retired. Our loss, but he's allowed. There are talented machinists out there, if management will allow them to be.  Steve

[Brett Buck]

Who knows.  The thought just popped into my head the other week when I noticed a add at my local gun club for M-16 lowers with the gun club name on the casting.  I figure if shops have reached a point that they can run batches of individualized castings, maybe one might have the flexibility to take on other jobs...

   I would be surprised of the casting, while challenging, is the the most specialized part. I would think the machining, plating, and honing of the liner to the kind of exacting standards required would be beyond any but the most exotic aerospace machine shops. Particularly for the price point they would have to hit.

    Brett

[BillLee]

I'd heard that a shop in North Carolina had taken over production from Henry. Any truth to that?

Bill

[Tim Wescott]

   I would be surprised of the casting, while challenging, is the the most specialized part. I would think the machining, plating, and honing of the liner to the kind of exacting standards required would be beyond any but the most exotic aerospace machine shops. Particularly for the price point they would have to hit.

I'm not sure if that's really quite "exotic aerospace machine shop" territory -- after all, more plain jane lapped engines are made routinely in China -- but that's certainly the harder part of the deal than getting the casting right.

[Douglas Ames]

Old School Machinists are getting hard to find - Guys that can setup & operate a manual engine lathe. What I mean by that is they can do the "math".

Today, we have CNC Programmers and CNC Operators.

[Dennis Moritz]

Fox? Bad joke, I guess.

[Steve Fitton]

I bet Banjock could make them.  He can machine anything!

[David M Johnson]

George Brown, Tempe machine, very familiar with engines and machining processes involved.
My 2 cents worth
David Johnson

[Dennis Moritz]

Hi Steve, yeah I thought of Dan when joking about Fox. The last Fox Dan put straight involved replacing the crankcase bushing and carefully lapping the piston/cylinder. Even bought a high zoot crank from Randy. Lapping the piston in is common enough. Time consuming. Also means you need the "feel." The Fox castings are also out of square at times. Not the way to begin a high performance build.

[Brett Buck]

I'm not sure if that's really quite "exotic aerospace machine shop" territory -- after all, more plain jane lapped engines are made routinely in China -- but that's certainly the harder part of the deal than getting the casting right.

    I don't think the plain jane lapped engines from China come close to the standards of repeatability that we have come to expect with jewels like the PA. Its almost uncanny how close they can be to each other. Not perfect by the typically hyper-perfectionist competition fliers but good enough that if you change something on your #1 engine, you change it the same on the backup, and have a reasonable expectation that it will work if necessary without testing.

    I know from long painful experience how difficult this sort of repeatability can be, even with unlimited funds. To get it for $400 is almost unbelievable.

   Brett

[Derek Barry]

    I don't think the plain jane lapped engines from China come close to the standards of repeatability that we have come to expect with jewels like the PA. Its almost uncanny how close they can be to each other. Not perfect by the typically hyper-perfectionist competition fliers but good enough that if you change something on your #1 engine, you change it the same on the backup, and have a reasonable expectation that it will work if necessary without testing.

    I know from long painful experience how difficult this sort of repeatability can be, even with unlimited funds. To get it for $400 is almost unbelievable.

   Brett

Agreed.

In Hungary I changed engines early in the week. I had a bearing that was getting loud so at the insistence of Dave I changed engines. I counted the turns in on the needle valve and set the backup exactly the same. The next day when it fired up (on the first flip) it read, on the tach, the exact same RPM as the previous engine. Needless to say I was impressed.

Derek

Derek

[david smith]

I'd heard that a shop in North Carolina had taken over production from Henry. Any truth to that?

Bill

They took over making the pylon 40s.  Nothing else.
David

[Will Hinton]

The true beauty of the PA's is the fact that Randy assembles each and every one and blueprints them in the process.  That gives us the best of the best.

[John Lindberg]

Are the Ro-Jett Stunt engines available? 

[Brett Buck]

Are the Ro-Jett Stunt engines available? 

  Yes.

   Brett

[Randy Powell]

You can order direct from Dub Jett. Cool guy.

[John Lindberg]

Is there really any difference between the cast case and the bar-stock versions, other than $50.00? 

[Balsa Butcher]

Between Dubb Jett's site and Richard Oliver's site Richards Olivers site "rojett.net" there is a lot of info available on these engines. They advise that the engine runs the same but the bar stock case is more stable and breaks in easier. Cosmetically, the machined bar stock case is a jewel, worth the extra $$. Orders are place through Dubb's site. 

[Brett Buck]

Is there really any difference between the cast case and the bar-stock versions, other than $50.00? 

    From those who have tried both, the bar-stock case version runs more reliably in terms of inside/outside speed difference, essentially, the difference in speed between the inside and outside maneuvers is essentially zero.

     Brett

[Derek Barry]

You can order direct from Dub Jett. Cool guy.

I'm not sure how "cool" he treats his teenage emloyees........

Derek

[Randy Powell]

Derek,

No idea about that but he's always treated me well. So has Randy Smith for that matter.

[Derek Barry]

Derek,

No idea about that but he's always treated me well. So has Randy Smith for that matter.

I lost any respect that I may have had for him at the past nats.

[Randy Powell]

Sorry to here that Derek.

[Derek Barry]

Sorry to here that Derek.

It happens. No skin off my teeth.

Derek