HI Wayne,
Great posts. Yes indeed, those of us involved in Mouse Racing have managed to accumulate really a horrendous amount of cox engines & parts. I have found Cox 049's in Leningrad to Shanghai & every other country in between. At 12,000 engines per production run, more Coxes were produced than all other engine types combined ! Therefore, we will NEVER (in our lifetime) see a shortage of Coxes. Ebay prices may rise, but that's about it as I see it.
I wish I could've taken over where Joe Klause left off & offer mouse engines. However, it's more a labour of love than anything, & nobody's willing to do it for cheap anymore if at all. This is why you didn't see Tim Gillott, Glen Dye, GMA, etc. offer the service. There's NO money in it. The good thing is that you just can't buy a super 're-worked engine', you gotta assemble it yourself. It keeps mouse from becoming too serious an event & lends little advantage to cheque book racers.
I cannot quite explain either why you never know what your best engine is at the Nats. With stock engines, you must live with it (I do) . A chromed
re-bushed engine (which I don't have) offers more reliablity in that regard. I do think perhaps castor varnish build up may be a big player as well as tank screws loosening/tank leaks. Still I agree, it's a bit of russian roulet (which I think is part of the fun) but some 'serious' racers have trouble with the concept.
Since '99, I've settled on the wonderful APC prop, & only go down in dia. if the RPM seems down due to weather conditions. (i.e rain!)
You seem to do well using torque to go fast. I prefer to rev (20-22,500) as you know, but I have a shorter crank & plug life because of it...both ways can be made to work.
- I'm sorry to report that I just don't remember the effect of going to .010" lines.
- I've always used a quarter for tip weight & must report that the fastest (Bobby Fogg) model uses so much tip weight that with the inboard tip down on the ground, the model will still rock back to the outboard tip. Bob Fogg feels this seemingly excessive tip weight is of no real consequence....So, I've never changed the tip weight, but will tape an additional dollar coin to the tip in real windy conditions when race survival is important. I've never timed my model with different tip weights, so I can't really comment on its effect , if any.
- I've never weighed my bare airframes bare if you can believe it. With engine & prop they weigh 6.75-7 oz, a heavyweight compared to yours, but it seems to work alright.
Agreed Wayne, I've been involved at the FAI world champs level for 25 years. The competition there is very serious indeed. The development is relentless, especially when some competitors full time living depends on it! Fortunately for us, nobody's livelihood depends on their mouse racing prowess, and that's a VERY GOOD THING.
You post very thoughtful comments Wayne, perhaps others have comments too?
Cheers, Paul