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Open Forum / Re: PA65 NEW AAC piston/liner/rod/pin sets.
« Last post by Doug Moon on Yesterday at 06:14:58 PM »
I think you more-or-less got it above. One other thing you might not fully appreciate is that, at least around here, more people ran the 61 rather than the 65. This was due to the former FAI 10CC rule. As soon as that got changed, Randy/Henry went to the 65, but not too long later, there was a 75. Most people still running IC are running the 75, for good reasons. I am probably the last person running a 61, it's a RO-Jett and it also doesn't wear out or need replacement parts.
Some of the others are popular due to identified serious flaws (like the ST46) and for whatever reason, people are still trying to run some of these older engines. PA/RO-Jett, 40/46VF (for which there is already an AAC piston/liner, and the originals are nearly bulletproof), those are mostly specialist engines that only the few remaining top contenders still on IC would be interested in, and that is a very narrow market.
As you note, the originals don't wear out under normal use, so any interest would be if it ran differently somehow, and most people will probably figure it runs well enough now. Any alterations I or someone else might suggest are, as far as I can tell, much different from what you would want to do otherwise, and would be highly speculative, and say, Todd might want one thing, Derek another, Brett another, all conflicting with each other.
I think everyone appreciates and admires your efforts and the products seem to be of extraordinary quality. But as viable business suppling such a niche and contentious group, I don't see it and I am not too surprised that only a few signed up for it.
Brett
Hello
I would say the number of people who stayed on the 61 vs the 65 is pretty small. Not very many people competed at the TT, 20 maybe and not all of them ran PA. When the 65 was in full swing it was all over the place at the nats. In our area it was king for many years. Mostly people went to the 75 because it became the only game in town.
Up until last year I was running the PA75 exclusively for 5 straight years. Lots of work to get that thing right. Then I got a message from someone that one of our stunt brethren was going into assisted living as was I interested in his NIB PA65. I couldn't answer YES fast enough.
Out goes the 75 and in with the 65 and BOOM all is right with world again. The envelope on this motor is huge. You can run it 9000 with loads of pitch or you can run 10700 with almost no pitch and everything in between. It cycles on and off like a breath of fresh air. The 61 can do this as well but it doesn't have that extra room like the 65. I ran 61 for a long time and it was excellent. I was talked to getting the 65 and the 61 has never seen the light of day again. It was a wedding present so it sits on a shelf now.
I was able to do a direct comparison between the 65/75 on the same day in the same plane and 65 is just the right size. The props are a little smaller and that goes along way in many areas especially trim. The 75 requires a little more work to trap it into a range otherwise it can be a handful. Don't get me wrong I had it working well but it's not how I really prefer. The 65 in my opinion is the best IC hands down. It's just the right size for the models we fly.
I hope there is enough interest to make a run. But I fear with the electric on the scene that may not be the case as that is a very viable option these days and the 75 is still all over the place. I have 3 right now.
