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Author Topic: So what about McCoy Engines?  (Read 30415 times)

Offline Paul Taylor

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So what about McCoy Engines?
« on: November 19, 2010, 09:55:33 AM »
I did not want to change the subject of the Ugly McCoy thread....

You hear a lot about Fox engines in the past. So what is the claim to fame for the McCoy engines.

Anyone ever win a NAT's with McCoy.

Why did Testor buy them out. What is the story there?

Any old photos of planes with McCoy in the winners circle?

Please share.

I still have my old Testor McCoy .19 that I got as a teenager.

Paul
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Offline Larrys4227

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2010, 10:23:40 AM »
Don't have any in the winners circle, but I do have 2 plain-jane McCoy 35's I got out of a buried box at my moms house.  They were my dads from way-way back. Each is now mounted in its own Flite Streak and they run great on 10% w/28%oil.  Plenty of compression, 2-3 flip starters, and consistent.  Gotta love 'em .... :-)

Offline George

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2010, 10:26:47 AM »
McCoy engines were designed by Dick McCoy and originally gained fame as racing engines. They produced the original rear rotary "Red Head" spark engines for cars, boats, and airplanes and took many trophies. I THINK they were produced by a company called Duro Matic. I have some diesels with "Duro Glo" on them. Their first .049's were known as "Baby Mac". Next they added some sport engines. Somewhere along the way, they were bought out by the Testors Corp. In the mid fifties, they started producing the Red Head series you are familiar with in an effort to reduce costs, since engines were becoming VERY cost competitive. The Redheads were sold in blister packs.

On the 1/2A scene, McCoy had their beam mounted glow and diesel. I had both and enjoyed them until my LHS stopped getting the propietary glo heads, and I had run the diesel over-compressed to the point of hogging out the lower conrod bearing while learning diesels. I chucked both engines.  :-\
Testors/McCoy came out with a radial/beam mounted .049. They had incorporated a pull-cord starter and finally a nice integral spring started they got from Wen-Mac. Their final effort was the Series 8000 (for .8cc, I assume). Shortly thereafter they went belly up.

Much of this is heresay and may not be completely factual. Perhaps someone will add corrections.

George
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Offline Tim Wescott

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2010, 10:57:18 AM »
I only own a couple of wen-mac 049s, none of which has been run for years.  So I don't have much first-hand knowledge.  But I've heard a lot about them.

What I've heard is that they were reasonably good designs, but suffered from quality problems.  So you'd buy one and it'd either work great or it wouldn't.  Then if it did run well, it'd either wear out ridiculously fast or it wouldn't.

But they were really inexpensive, so lots of folk bought them.
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Offline George

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2010, 11:27:57 AM »
Left out some stuff:

Near the end of the front intake red heads, Testors upgraded them with the "lightning Bolt" series that had better fits, bronze main bearing, etc.

Testors then went to the Series-21, which had black heads, dykes rings, and a big square crankcase. These were the last large engines Testors made before going belly up.

George
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Offline John Miller

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2010, 11:54:04 AM »
There were a large number of people using the McCoys in stunt contests up into the 70's. One of the best known, a nat's champion, and competitor on the World Championships, was Ed Southwick, most known for his Skylark design. Bart Klapinski, and dick Williams both campaigned Mccoys in their planes. There were others as well.

George Aldrich considedrred the Red Heads as superior stunt engines, as far as the runs were concerned. They suffered from QC and materials issues, but he held them in high enough esteem that he attempted to purchase the tooling. He was dissapointed to find that the tooling had been destroyed. He did work on them, offering his "McGas version of re-worked McCoys, which featured new, and better pistons and cylinders.
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Offline afml

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2010, 11:55:47 AM »
The Internet Craftsmanship Museum Presents:
Dick McCoy
June 9, 1907—December 30, 2005

An early start in model engines leads to a long career
Dick McCoy was one of the early pioneers of model engine design and construction. His special interest was in racing tethered model race cars, and he adapted early aircraft model engine designs to suit the special needs of race cars. He was good at getting the most out of an engine, and his engines set many speed records. They were popular with both flyers and car racers. Starting in the late 1930's, Dick produced about 35 race car engines on his own before having them made by Duro-Matic Products Co. in Hollywood starting in 1945. From 1953 to 1956 the engines were made by McCoy Products Co. in Culver City before turning production over to Testors in April, 1956. Dick made many prototype McCoy engines for Testors, but they handled the production and sales themselves. Dick was also noted for his large line of engine and model race car accessories. His mufflers which were among the quietest and least power-robbing available. After 1983 they left the aircraft engine business to specialize in parts and accessories. Their glow plug line is still one of the best known in the world.



This page is all the information we have been able to collect on Dick McCoy so far, but it is far from finished. If you have any photos or information you can contribute, please contact craig@craftsmanshipmuseum.com or call (800) 541-0735. We regret to announce that Dick passed away on December 30, 2005 at the age of 98-1/2.

A tribute to Dick McCoy written by Dr. Bob Kradjian was published in the March-April, 2006 issue of Model Engine Builder magazine. CLICK HERE for a JPG version of the article.

The following is based on an autobiography published in The Engine Collector’s Journal, Issue 103, December 1992

Dick McCoy was born in Indiana on June 9, 1907. At 11 years of age, his family moved to Walnut, California into a house with no electricity or inside toilets. His father took care of 20 acres of oranges and 15 acres of walnuts for $75.00 per month plus the house.

Dick attended Walnut Grammar School for two years. There were only four kids in his class.  His family moved to Pomona and he rode the bus or his brother’s motorcycle until he graduated from high school in 1925.

His father was driving a bus from Pomona to San Dimas during the day and Dick  got a job driving the same bus until midnight. The fare was 10 cents each way. A company called Motor Transit bought the bus line and laid Dick off when they found out he wasn’t 21. He found a job at Pomona Pumps for 40 cents an hour. Later, he went back to work for Motor Transit working on the busses at night.

On July 19, 1929 Dick married his sweetheart, Fern, and they were married for over 63 years until she passed away after a long illness on November 29, 1992. In 1932 their daughter Doris was born and their sons, Carl in 1935 and Harold in 1937. They have 9 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren!

After working with his father in a service station where Dick did most of the repair work, he went to work for Brodex Co. painting packing house equipment. There was a big freeze, which meant there was no fruit to pack, so he was soon laid off.

In 1937, he went to work for Louds Machine Works running a lathe and making parts for oil well equipment. In 1942 he took on an extra job in Pomona teaching men and women machine work for the war effort. He put in three hours each night at $2.50 / hour and was getting paid $.75 per hour at Louds.

 

America’s leading Model Motor designers, friendly competitors Dick McCoy (left) with the McCoy motor and Ray Snow (right) designer and manufacturer of the Hornet Motor. (Photo from Jan/Feb 1947 issue of Rail and Cable News.)

It was during this time that Dick began designing and building engines and race cars. he had tried model airplanes, but his only model, built in 1939 and powered with an Ohlsson 23, was "a disaster" so he devoted all his time to cars. He ran many of the engines and cars of that time, but felt that none of them were actually designed just to be race car engines.

By 1942, Dick had an engine and car of his own design running and was setting records in the one-fourth and one-half mile races. He also won first place in the fourth-mile, half-mile and one-mile national races held in Detroit in July of 1942.

This caused other fellows to want his engines. In turn, these boys also started winning races. Around 35 of these car engines were built. These .60 cubic inch engines were very close in appearance to the engines produced by Duro-Matic.



Dick at work in his “design studio”. Actually this photo was posed for a 1957 issue of the Testors Topics company newsletter. Dick is busy “drawing” finished blue prints of his latest design. The McCoy 60 on the top of the drawing board is the latest design. The newsletter said the company was tooling up for a run of 5000 Red Head 60s. (Click photo for larger image.)

Dick signed a contract with Mr. Fred Schott of Duro-Matic in Hollywood to produce McCoy engines and cars, and they began producing shortly after the Armistice. He designed and tested for them and also for Testors after Duro-Matic became a subsidiary, for some 35 years. He also holds 16 patents on features of McCoy engines and cars.

In 1953, sons Carl and Harold started making a few parts for Louds and two other companies in a small basement machine shop they had set up at home. They went under the name of C&H Products. Carl graduated from High School in 1954 and Harold in 1956 and they both went into the navy for two years.
After almost 20 years with Louds, Dick decided to retire and continue running the small shop the boys had started. While he was at Louds he had become the Chief Inspector and had some 50 inspectors under him. They built parts for several different aircraft companies including the landing gear for the DC 10.

 Dick hired his son-in-law and they ran the shop until Carl and Harold got out of the Navy, at which time they incorporated under the name of C&H, Inc. The business grew to about eight employees, and in 1964 they started making parts for model engines, cars and a new venture; glow plugs. In 1972 they bought three 2,000 square foot buildings. They moved the business into one of them and started there until 1983 when they sold the aircraft part of the business. Their main business now is engine parts and also they are one of the largest manufacturers of glow plugs in the world.

In 1972 Dick started sponsoring radio control car races. He had his 20th annual race June 9, 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Additional comments...
Former employee Dan Neuenschwander worked for Dick McCoy & his sons Carl & Harold from April 1979 to January, 1980 as a machine operator. He said, "All three of them were great to work for, and Dick had a twinkle in his eye when something worked 'just right.' They gave me my first real job in the path of my manufacturing career." He also notes that he learned a lot about production manufacturing from them.

(Dan now works for Northrop Grumman Corp. in El Segundo)

---

Colonel James Tegarden (USAF, ret.) notes that Dick's brother Mike joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before the US's entry into WWII and transferred to the Army Air Corps in 1942. He went on to earn the rank of Colonel before being killed in the crash of a B-47 in 1957 near Pinecastle AFB. Pinecastle was eventually renamed McCoy Air Force Base in his honor.

Col. Tegarden also notes that in about 1960 he received a McCoy Red Head model airplane engine that came from Dick through his aunt Glen Porter. His son and he enjoyed building and flying the model and he remembers the engine as a top performer.

---

More photos of Dick McCoy, his race cars and engines.
 Dick McCoy in a picture taken January 24, 1993. He is holding an original 1948 Invader. The car in the top of the box is a one-of-a-kind original and is the last car Dick ran on the track. The tool box is the same one shown in the previous photo with the trophies. Son Carl refinished it to its original luster.
 Two original McCoy race cars: a 1946 Tear Drop and 1947 Invader cast in magnesium. Both have been repainted, but the Invader is in its original red.
 Dick and his son Harold display two of his race cars.
 A 1992 Spirit reissue powered by a McCoy .19.
 Dick McCoy and his wife Fern also enjoyed driving their Ford Mustang and going to Mustang club meetings.
 An early McCoy engine made by the Duro-Matic Products Co. This is an "MCCR" from 1945. It has .607 cubic inches displacement and is spark plug fired.
 Produced by McCoy Products Co. in Culver City, this is a McCoy "9" Diesel from 1954. It displaces .099 cubic inches and has a red anodized cylinder.
 Also from 1954, this is another McCoy "9" but with a glow plug ignition. The engine shown is equipped with an accessory radial mount plate and came equipped with a fuel tank when originally sold.
 The 1971 McCoy 19 Stunt Series 21 was a distinctive new design and would be one of the last to carry the McCoy name. It displaced .199 cubic inches, had a matt finished case and black anodized head.
The engines shown above are just a few of the many variations that McCoy manufactured over the years. Depending on intended use, mounting bolt holes and locations, head configurations, fuel tank and case design would vary. Issue #103 of The Engine Collector's Journal shows or describes over 100 variations of production McCoy engines that have been cataloged by collectors.
 
Go here: http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/McCoy.htm     for "THE REST of the story with links & pics.

"Tight Lines!"

Wes


Wes Eakin

Offline Bill Little

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2010, 12:07:30 PM »
Hi Paul,

As has been noted, Bart Kaplinski used a McCoy .40RH to win the NATS.  Ed Southwick used them in his Skylarks.  Jim Kostecky used the .40RH in his Formula S.  Dennis Adamisin used a .40RH in his Typhoon, IIRC, at least he used one around that time.

I think the biggest knock was caused by many of us running them wide open and on low oil content fuel.  The Red Head series was timed for a 4-2 run.  And the low oil plus over lean runs killed the pistons.  Some were actually bad out of the box due to poor QC.  Fortunately, I only have one .35 that was killed by the above problems.  All the rest still run great.  Tom Lay has been working on McCoy Red Heads for a long time.  He does some things to the pistons to improve life, but the engine basically needs to be new when sent to him.

The last McCoys, the Series 21 line, were all way too heavy for serious stunt fliers to use when they hit the market.  They had a Dyles ring piston which really help longevity!

George Aldrich's McGAS engines were very high quality (and priced! LOL!!) but they will last as long as any other engine of the period, and longer than most!  I have only one, a .40, but it is a sweet classic engine.

All in all, the Red Head .40 may be the best "out of the box" engine to run a 4-2 break.

Big Bear
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Offline W.D. Roland

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2010, 12:15:11 PM »
A couple of them McCoys( and other such stuff)
« Last Edit: November 20, 2010, 08:12:33 AM by W.D. Roland »
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Offline ptg

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2010, 12:17:18 PM »
First to answer you question re. Nats wins with McCoy.  There have been a couple of wins and several other top three places at NATS with McCoys.  Here is what I remember starting with the most significant.

Bart Klapinski won Open in ’67—McCoy 40 powered Tempest.
Prior to Bart’s win I believe Ed Southwick placed 3rd in Open at 63 Nats with McCoy 40 powered Skylark. (might be wrong about year)  Ed also was on US Team at WC and used McCoy 4Os too.  Think is was ‘64

1968 Senior division
Norm Whittle, McCoy 40 powered Playboy
P.T. Granderson, McCoy 40 powered, ElGato

1970 (again not sure of year, might have been ‘69 or ‘71)
Tom Worden 3rd in Open, McCoy 40 powered Tempest

1972
Mike Jackson, 1st Junior, McCoy 40 powered plane

McCoy engines were very popular with the West Coast, largely California competition flyers.  Dick McCoy worked very closely with Ed Southwick to develop the 40-stunt engine.  I had the pleasure of knowing both Ed and Dick personally for many years.  Dick was an absolute Prince of a man.  He invited me to drop by his shop in Montclair, CA anytime.  He actually helped me fine tune my Fox combat engines, making different heads, suggesting timing changes and testing in his shop on his test stand.  He was 98 when he left us in 2006.  I am a much smarter person about engines thanks to him.

As noted in previous posts there have been other McCoy wins and placings
PT Granderson

Offline Bill Little

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2010, 12:32:33 PM »
Thanks, Phil!  I didn't realize that Norm used a McCoy .40 in his Playboy.  That's a model I plan on building before too long, and I have a couple McCoy .40s to use.  Gonna keep it real.

Big Bear
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Offline W.D. Roland

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2010, 12:54:02 PM »
For the Stunt Flier in us.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2010, 08:12:48 AM by W.D. Roland »
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Offline Ted Fancher

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #12 on: November 19, 2010, 02:18:38 PM »
The McCoy redheads (especially the .40) were wonderful stunt engines; steady 4-2 runs with reasonable economy and priced "attractively".  Actually, the larger heavier Testors McCoy .40 was a pretty darn good stunt engine too.  All you had to do was use it in an airplane whose "mass" could accommodate the extra weight of the engine.  I don't believe there were any major victories with the Testors version but I won a number of contests in California with the original Moby Dick in the late '60s and made the Nats Open finals with the same combination in 1974. 

The original Moby Dick used a Nobler wing, a jet styled fuselage and tail section and weighed about 64 oz!!!!  Flew pretty darn well under reasonable conditions but my favorite story on myself has to do with that airplane and  Jack Sheeks who was judging that year.  The nats were held that year in Lake Charles, LA and the temperature was generally about 200 degrees...well, at least awful hot.  In the finals I forgot the triangles in my first official.  Remembered them in the second flight but in the afternoon heat the Moby Dick stalled pretty dramatically in the last bottom right corner.  Saved the ship and finished the flight, finishing something like 13th or so.  After the finals were over (I think Al won that year...either him or the Bear) I was walking off the field carrying the Moby Dick when Jack came up beside me and put his arm over my shoulder.  He said, "Ted, we (the judges) all felt sorry for you when you left the triangles out of your first official.  Then, after watching you fly them in the second round we thought maybe you had left them out on purpose!"  Typically Jack.  All you could do was laugh along with him.

Ted

Offline George

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #13 on: November 19, 2010, 07:55:45 PM »
Here are some more pics so some of us old folks can say, "Hey, I had one of those"...

George
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Offline Paul Taylor

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #14 on: November 20, 2010, 06:52:20 AM »
Thanks for the pics George.
I still have my McCoy 19 aka Testor engine. I did take a file to mine and tried to lighten the case.
This thread might make me dig mine out and tinker with it again.
Paul
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Offline Garf

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #15 on: November 20, 2010, 08:07:11 AM »
I like this model.

Offline Dalton Hammett

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #16 on: November 20, 2010, 08:57:15 AM »
***
I like that RR .29.   I have one that I am think of using in a FireCat profile i've got going.   Learned tgo fly on a McCoy .19 that I still have and when I returned to the hobby about 10 years ago one of the first things I did was look for one of those AHC adds where you could get a McCoy .35 and a Ringmaster for $$$$$$. (don't remembrt how much but it was always prettry low.............

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Offline Jim Kraft

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #17 on: November 20, 2010, 09:21:16 AM »
The 40's make a dynamite Magician engine. Mine love an APC 12-6 cut to 11, and do almost the whole pattern in a 4 stroke. The only place it really kicks in hard is in the clover, where it rockets to the top of the circle for the third loop. Mine also likes a standard tank.
Jim Kraft

Offline Bill Little

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #18 on: November 20, 2010, 09:40:41 AM »
Right now, I have a McCoy .40RH in a Giant Stuntmaster.  It just loafs along. ;D  A great sense of nostalgia! LOL!!  The first real "stunt plane" I ever saw was powered by a McCoy .35RH.  The gentleman got me to flying stunt and tutored me for several years.  That was close to 50 years ago......... doesn't seem like it.

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Offline Serge_Krauss

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #19 on: November 20, 2010, 11:51:52 AM »
My first "Big" plane/engine was a Sterling Yak-9 powered by a $5.98-Special McCoy .35. Most of my friends had Fox .29's and .35's. I broke mine in carefully and could start it reasonably quickly for a beginner kid. I didn't know anything about 4-2-4 breaks, and apparently, neither did my older friends. So while they were burning up their Foxes, mine flew dependably at full 2-cycle lean and never gave a problem in its short to medium span life. It still has Rice Field (Elkhart) dirt in its fins from the Yak's demise (vertical lazy-8's). I've been told that the slant-plug later versions were more prone to problems. Mine, however, was a friendly, dependable engine fully leaned out, and I couldn't beat that price!

SK

Offline Jim Thomerson

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #20 on: November 20, 2010, 12:41:44 PM »
I flew a Sterling Yak 9  with McCoy RH 35 in OTS and was well pleased with it.  I thought the McCoy 35 was a little more powerful than a Fox stunt 35, but I never flew them in comparable airplanes.  I sold of my RH 35's and kept some of my Fox 35's because one can get parts and service for them.  I have several McCoy RH 19's; have flown them a lot, and really like them. 

Offline Randy Ryan

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2010, 01:06:33 PM »
I've always liked the Red Head, .35 and .29 in particular. Never flew a .40, the only one I ever had I bought Joe Just then traded it to Jim Kraft for some old stuff. I guess part of the reason I had good luck with them is that I had my Dad around who know had to run engines, so lean runs and low oil content weren't problems for me. I ran many of these engines and out of 25 or so I only remember 2 that were bad, one that came that way and one that died while flying, fell flat on its face, the rest were great. I really like these engines, I have a .35 on a CG Shoestring and using 5% 29% castor and an 11-4 Zinger it just make s a swwet combination, steady run. Mentioned here earlier, George Aldrich really thought the design was superior and told me that if Testor's would have had decent QC in place, Fox probably wouild have been 2nd.  Interstingly, the McCoy cranks were a direct replacement for the Torp Green heads and were used to replace the weaker Torp shafts when they broke. Fed the right diet and not run lean, these engines are really very nice to fly with, I still have a number of NIA (New In Air) .35s and .29s that I will use and look forward to it.
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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #22 on: November 20, 2010, 01:27:27 PM »
Dennis used one(40) in his Typhoon

Offline Bart Klapinski

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #23 on: November 24, 2010, 02:48:26 PM »


     I just caught this very interesting thread. My very first stunt engine was a Johnson .33 stunt which I flew in a T-bird-1 and a Southwick Lark. I then switched to the McCoy .35s and was in stunt heaven. this was about 1961. I would go the the local hobby shop (Santa Ana Hobbies) and pick the best one on the "card". I never had a bad engine and that includes the later Red Head .40s which I bought the same way.the RH.40 that I won the NATS with was given to me by Dick McCoy and is just a well fit stock engine which I still have. Tommy Collier won Jr. stunt that same year,using a McCoy and Rich Loomis won sr. with his "TWO BITS" ----a push pull twin using two McCoy .35s. I consider the McCoy Red Head .40 to be the absolute best engine in it's time ----and I looked at the rest that were available. Due to QC and material they didn't like mufflers as the generated heat was a little to much for them although they ran well. Ed Southwick sent some of his later engines out to have someone re-make/ modify the existing pistons which added longevity. The fuel I ran made up as "club fuel" by the Orange County Thunder Bugs and consisted of  25% and 12% nitroethane. It was great stuff.

                            Tailwinds,
                                          Bart

Offline Bill Little

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #24 on: November 24, 2010, 03:57:58 PM »
Thanks for your comments, Bart.  I know the only "bad" ones I had came from running them as hard as they would go with low oil content fuel.  As far as "power", I always felt they were stronger than the Fox .35 (without mega nitro), and the .40 was no doubt.  But, I still can get heckled for running them!  One of our engine men does a heat treatment to the pistons so that a muffler can be used.  I also have one of George's "McGAS" .40s with the chromed piston, etc..

My old flying buddy can be asleep and tell you when a McCoy fires up! LL~

Bill
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Offline Shultzie

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #25 on: November 24, 2010, 03:59:59 PM »
Great to see you posting on Stunt hanger....
I just tried in vain...to attach some photos of your 67 nats win...(must be tooooooooo much traffic on this day before Turkey day...so I thought I would attach them here instead.

Bart!
Although the scores on the board appeared really close...I can assure you that any of us standing around between your flights...know for a fact that your flights were EXCEPTION and no surprise what so ever that you were head and shoulders above that huge pack of stunt grunts that hot summa's day at Lost Allaymostest' in 67!
Don Shultz

Offline Randy Ryan

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #26 on: November 25, 2010, 07:11:07 AM »
Thanks for your comments, Bart.  I know the only "bad" ones I had came from running them as hard as they would go with low oil content fuel.  As far as "power", I always felt they were stronger than the Fox .35 (without mega nitro), and the .40 was no doubt.  But, I still can get heckled for running them!  One of our engine men does a heat treatment to the pistons so that a muffler can be used.  I also have one of George's "McGAS" .40s with the chromed piston, etc..

My old flying buddy can be asleep and tell you when a McCoy fires up! LL~

Bill


Let 'em heckle Bill, you know the truth. I'm a believer too, I really like those engines.
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Offline Brian Browning

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #27 on: November 25, 2010, 08:46:26 AM »
This may be out of place (off topic), but has anyone tried milling/grinding the cases on the series 21 McCoys in an effort to lighten them?  would this cause overheating issues?  For the record, I'm a sport flyer with a nib McCoy .35 series 21, I have several .35-sized kits I'm going to build over the winter--Magician, Shoestring, Veco Hurricane, etc.  I also have an old Johnson .35 on a never-flown Ringmaster, and a K&B Stallion .35 that needs a head gasket.  Oh, and an Enya .29 and .35.  Lots of old iron, I'm a nostalgia kind of guy. 

Offline Garf

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #28 on: November 25, 2010, 08:55:14 AM »
I hope you mix your own fuel.

Offline john e. holliday

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #29 on: November 25, 2010, 09:06:28 AM »
This may be out of place (off topic), but has anyone tried milling/grinding the cases on the series 21 McCoys in an effort to lighten them?  would this cause overheating issues?  For the record, I'm a sport flyer with a nib McCoy .35 series 21, I have several .35-sized kits I'm going to build over the winter--Magician, Shoestring, Veco Hurricane, etc.  I also have an old Johnson .35 on a never-flown Ringmaster, and a K&B Stallion .35 that needs a head gasket.  Oh, and an Enya .29 and .35.  Lots of old iron, I'm a nostalgia kind of guy. 

I would say leave it stock.  Make sure to not run it over lean.  What ever fuel you use to break it in, stay with it.   H^^
John E. "DOC" Holliday
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Offline Randy Ryan

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #30 on: November 25, 2010, 09:09:57 AM »
This may be out of place (off topic), but has anyone tried milling/grinding the cases on the series 21 McCoys in an effort to lighten them?  would this cause overheating issues?  For the record, I'm a sport flyer with a nib McCoy .35 series 21, I have several .35-sized kits I'm going to build over the winter--Magician, Shoestring, Veco Hurricane, etc.  I also have an old Johnson .35 on a never-flown Ringmaster, and a K&B Stallion .35 that needs a head gasket.  Oh, and an Enya .29 and .35.  Lots of old iron, I'm a nostalgia kind of guy. 

Brian,

I'm sure its been tried, problem is there's so much to remove and the shape is complex. I've even thought about setting up a routine to do it on my mill. Some guys fit the seris 21 top end to the Red Head bottom end, but there's some machine work involved there too. Removing all that extra material would not effect cooling in the least, in fact it may inprove it, it was all eyewash and even though finned, it had nothing to do with cooling.
Randy Ryan <><
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Offline De Hill

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #31 on: November 25, 2010, 09:31:12 AM »
I believe that John Wright has lightened a series 21 McCoy .40. He has used it in competition quite successfully.

Perhaps he will chime in here and let you know how he did the work.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2010, 10:29:20 AM by De Hill »
De Hill

Offline Chris McMillin

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #32 on: November 25, 2010, 11:04:44 AM »
My loops and eights and inverted flight came with a 60's red head McCoy 19 powered Veco Warrior when I was really young, and little. I would start that 19 with a chicken stick on the first few flips. Dad mixed our fuel and I know it had a lot of castor. My McCoy had a Tatone Peace Pipe on it too, never got hot, always had enough power, even with a 9x6, which I usually cut off to an 8 inch when Dad wasn't looking.
Chris...

Offline Paul Taylor

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #33 on: November 25, 2010, 11:06:39 AM »
Woot!!!
I found a McCoy .40

Now to find a plane for it.
Paul
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Offline Garf

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #34 on: November 28, 2010, 05:16:31 PM »
I like this model.
I finally flew mine on the Stretched Galaxy. Hard to maintain a setting, but has enough power.

Offline 50+AirYears

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #35 on: November 30, 2010, 12:17:41 AM »
I've had mixed results with McCoy engines.  My first, around 1963, a RH .35m would fire on Fox Superfuel or Missle mist, but never got more than a few seconds run at a time.  The second was a .19 RH about the same time period.  It ran, kind of, but never had enough power to taxi a model.  In fact, I had a Veco Brave that flew with Fox .19, Fox .15, at least straight and level, as it did with an OK Cub ,19, but could never get off the grass with the McCoy.  Sometime in the 1990s, someone gave me a clean RH .35 that I currently have in my 42 year old Veco Smoothie.  Runs great. Has probably 60 flights.   I have two other RH, a .19 and .35 that I'll get around to using someday.  And I have a couple older Sportsmn .19 and .29s, and a .09.  Also had a McCoy .049 that never started at all.  Then I got my son a Testor's RTF P-51 with an .049 that started easilly, seemed to run fairly well, but didn't have enough power even on Cox Red Can to taxi on smooth concrete, let alone fly.
Tony

Offline Ed Keller

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #36 on: November 30, 2010, 08:11:33 PM »
Is anyone currently making any replacement parts for the Red Heads? i.e. piston & cyls, rods, etc.  Ed

Offline Bill Little

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #37 on: November 30, 2010, 09:42:07 PM »
Is anyone currently making any replacement parts for the Red Heads? i.e. piston & cyls, rods, etc.  Ed

Hi Ed,

No one that I know of, sorry.

Big Bear
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Offline 50+AirYears

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #38 on: December 01, 2010, 12:13:15 AM »
Believe it or not, this is the 4th time I tried to upload these photos of my collection of McCoy engines.  A couple of the engines, including the .098 and the Lightning Bolt .19 came in a cookie tin of engines along with a Forster .29, Wen Mac .049, OK Cub .099, Atwood Triumph .51, OK Cub .075 Diesel, and a couple other fully operational engines for $20.00 from an estate sale.

Tony

Offline FLOYD CARTER

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #39 on: December 01, 2010, 12:24:58 PM »
I'm not a McCoy expert, because I ran K&B engines in the '50s, while most everyone else used the McCoy or Fox.  However, I did have a McCoy Sportsman .36 about 1950, or so.  It ran well with plenty of power.  Most of us at that time didn't know about the 4-2-4 break, so we ran our engines at a screaming 2-cycle.  The Sportsman .36 did that OK.

Floyd
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Offline Chris McMillin

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #40 on: December 01, 2010, 11:06:59 PM »
I have an older McCoy .36 Sportsman for Dad's Staggerwing. Cool little thing. I'm about ready to run it on a stand before the Christmas retirement to the wall. This is an older picture of it. It's a little cleaner now.
Chris...

Offline George

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #41 on: December 02, 2010, 10:32:53 AM »
Chris,

Don't think we missed that ancient (since ~ 1958) Champion glow plug.  ;D  H^^

I remember when we scrambled to the LHS's to get the last of those. Of course there are better ones now, but at that time they were the best.

George
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Offline Chris McMillin

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #42 on: December 02, 2010, 01:01:49 PM »
Thanks George.
I didn't know if it was period or something someone just stuck on there (for a while I thought it was a spark plug). I was born in '58 so I'll just leave it in there. It lights, by the way!
Chris...

Offline George

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Re: So what about McCoy Engines?
« Reply #43 on: December 02, 2010, 06:10:33 PM »
If I understand correctly, Champion stopped making glow plugs because they cost more to produce than a spark plug.
I still have several short ones that are "new".

George
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