Retro 60

[bob whitney]

how dose the Retro 60 compare to a S/T 60

[Brett Buck]

how dose the Retro 60 compare to a S/T 60

     I have flown a lot of ST60 airplanes, and only one Discovery-Retro. I think the Retro is much better - like an ST60 that works the way it was always claimed to, but rarely did.

    You need to buy into the entire system - the light props, fuel recommendations, etc. Don't mix/match different parts or ideas, at least to start.


     Brett

[Frank Wadle]

Hello,

Here in Europe we see a lot of Retro60 and ST60 ships.
Or should I say we saw them until a few years ago.
Both engines are part of Stunt-History now.

In General I agree with Brett.
The Retro 60 runs a rather aggressive and reliable 4-2-4, like the best of the ST60 did.
The Retro 60 might have a tiny bit more power, but not much.
And the Retro 60 is much lighter and uses much less fuel.
Depending what vintage of ST60 you have it might weight 330g to 360g bare without muffler and needs something between 160ml to 230ml of fuel with up to 10% Nitro.
The Retro60 was made in 2 versions; the old one had 6 mounting lugs, two extra ones next to the front bearing. The new one didn’t have these extra lugs. Both vary in weight between 275g and 300g bare. And the stock 4 chamber muffler is also very light at about 40g. Fuel consumption of a Retro60 should be about 80ml to 100ml, no Nitro and 20% Oil.

As Brett mentioned already, the Retro should be used as intended by the designer. That means you’ll need the right prop, fuel and glowplug and it is best installed in sidewinder configuration.
Try a different fuel or plug and you might run into trouble. Try a different prop, for example a CF prop, and you might break the crankshaft!

All that said I would suggest buying the new Retro68 instead.
It is much more powerful, easier to handle and still lighter than any ST60 and needs about 120ml.
In my opinion the Retro68 is the best engine on the market right now.
And unlike the ST60 or the old Retro60 it is readily available and you can buy all the spare parts and props.
I use the Retro68 solely. So if you have questions you can contact me any time.

Regards
Frank

[bob whitney]

thanks guys for all the info , what is a good prop and plug for it ..I was gifted a 4 mounting bolt version .was stuck so crock potted it ..noticed that the plug was sticking down into the head chamber .an OS plug seems to be flush with the head

[Brett Buck]

thanks guys for all the info , what is a good prop and plug for it ..I was gifted a 4 mounting bolt version .was stuck so crock potted it ..noticed that the plug was sticking down into the head chamber .an OS plug seems to be flush with the head

   For prop, get the prop that was the designed for it from the Yatsenkos.

     Brett

[SteveMoon]

The Retro motors do run with a very reliable 4-2-4 break. That is,
as long as they are set up properly. They use large diameter props
with quite a bit of pitch; in the 6 range. Also, using the proper fuel
is very important. No nitro, FAI fuel only. I have always side mounted
my Retro motors as well. They run very consistently in this manner.

I have use the flow plugs supplied by the Yatsenkos, as well as the
hot plugs from Merlin and had good results with both.

Steve

[Frank Wadle]

The Retro 60 uses a 13.4x5.9 two blade wood propeller. This prop is very light at about 22g.
I used to pitch it down a little to 5.5”.
This prop was supplied (or still is) by the Yatsenko brothers themselves. You can contact them through their homepage:
http://discovery-aeromodels.com/

The engine was designed for a Russian glow plug KC2 without idle bar. This is a rather hot plug with long reach. An ENYA3 is a good substitute although it is short reach.

Fuel is FAI 80/20. Pure castor oil works well but is a little messy. You can also use Motul Micro 2T oil.
I would suggest 80% Methanol + 10% Castor + 10% Motul Micro 2T.

Since your engine was used I would also suggest disassembling the muffler completely. Often there is a lot of gunk inside the muffler which leads to a tremendous loss of power and poor engine run.