OK, here's one for all you guys. I have a stout Fox 29X BB Special (the rear intake factory speed engine) that I'd like to run in my vintage B Speeder (it had/has a Dooling but I'd really like to run the Fox. According to most documentation that I can find, this engine was developed in late 1964 but wasn't offered for sale to the "public" until early 1965. So, is it legal for Vintage Speed?

Ron Bennett

By the book:  (AMEE)

1958  Fox .29X                                   Page 89-90  # 48
1960  Fox .29X                                   Page 91 #57
1962  Fox .29X                                   Page 93 #72
1965  Fox .29X BB (Rear Intake)            Page 95-96 #91
1968  Fox .29X                                   Page 96 #97                                 
1970  Fox .29X                                   Page 97 #103

Thats all of them hope this helps you date it.      "Billy G"   

To the GENTLEMAN who emailed me, my reply to you kicked back so here it is. I would not dream of posting this type of info without double checking it. As you can see I edited it to include the pages the engines appear on. If you have info to the contrary PLEASE POST IT HERE. If it is more accurate than mine I will edit again. The info you see is correct as of right now OK.

The American Model Engine Encyclopedia lists the Fox 29X RI as Coming out in 1965.  If you can find a Ad in a model Magazine for 1964 with the Fox 29X RI in it, I would accept that as 1964.

Steve

As we all know the 29X BB Special was not a production engine but was made in the Fox custom shop. I appears in Tim Daniel's and Ed Anderson's books as a 1965 since the only catalog that it appears in was the Fox 1965 catalog.

What I had been told by two different guys is that the engine was develped in the Fall of 1964 and that 12-15 engines (of the total of 110 that were made) were "given" out by Fox in the Fall of 1964 for evaluation. Since this was a special purpose CL Speed engine not intended for the general public, I'm pretty sure (without reading every 1964 magazine) that it never appeared in an ad - certainly not in 1964 since magazines have at least a 60-90 day print production cycle (I used to own an ad agency, so I'm very well aware of the lead time on ads), which would have meant the engine would not have appeared in an ad unitl ealry 1965 at best if Fox did advertise it. ANd, I find it ahrd to beleive that Fox would have invested ad dollars in an engine that the only produced 110 copies and had given away 12-15 already.

Ron Bennett

Let me jump in.   In his Feb 1963 "Duke's Mixture" column, Duke said he was working on the RR 29, it was on schedule, and he wanted to have it out in April 1963.  Fox advertised the 29XBB as a "coming" engine in a MAN ad in August 1963.  Then in the November Duke's mixture, he said it was shelved.

There was no mention of it in any ads or Mixture columns during 1964.  In Feb. 1965, he advertised it again, this time with verbiage reflecting the engine as we know it.  Another ad was run in  Sept. 1965.

In one of his columns in 1965, Duke mentions the red/maroon flocked paper he is using to dress up the box liners for the Stunt 35, 15RC, and 29X BB.  All this led us to attach a 1965 date to this engine for Tim's AMEE and the original ECJ articles.

As a point of interest, if you did out your Sept. 1964 MAN, you'll find an article by Norm Drazy for his Scorcher Proto Speed Ship, with details on how he built a RR BB 29 using some Fox parts and a lot of nice machine work.

Hi Guys,

   I remember flying a couple of these back in the 1964-65 time frame.  They were shipped to Dub Jett and we fit them into my B speed model.  Flew them out back of the Grogan's L&H hobby shop in Seagoville, TX.
   I don't remember the speeds we obtained from our testing other than they were down from the Super Tigres I was running in the same airplane.  I was impressed with the fits and the overall appearance of the motors.  May have gotten them to be more competitive with a bit more development work.
   Thanks for the memories of a fun time,

Mel Gray