Temperature

nitroairplane wrote:Mine started well down to -10 a few years ago never tried lower as it doesn't get that cold.
Did you say Hackney?
lol anyway see the snow today?

Yeah, Hackney Sur Mare.
I had the surf board on the roof

When you say started well Indra did it/they continue to run as in fly?
J

My brothers, sister and I used to fly Cox .049s at that temp and lower. We'd use a propane torch on the cylinder for just a couple seconds to warm things up.

John Goddard wrote:

nitroairplane wrote:Mine started well down to -10 a few years ago never tried lower as it doesn't get that cold.
Did you say Hackney?
lol anyway see the snow today?

Yeah, Hackney Sur Mare.
I had the surf board on the roof

John lol yup they will keep running and fly but I did not fly below -3 as by the time it got down to -10 it was dark lol.
I should have a surf board
Yes pre heating is important really cold temps or you will damage your cylinder and piston.

nitroairplane wrote:Mine started well down to -10 a few years ago never tried lower as it doesn't get that cold.
Did you say Hackney?
lol anyway see the snow today?

"With a ladder and some glasses
You can see to Hackney Marshes
If it wasn't for the houses in between"

Wonder if I could see it from the top of Trellick tower

It's 61 degrees on this side of the river.

andrew

Well right now it is 1°c here.

andrew wrote:It's 61 degrees on this side of the river.

andrew

Ditto.

Mine are always finnicky about cold weather in this humid climate.

There are some facts that may or may not be relative though........regular 2stroke engines which use castor blends and gasoline as fuels have dificulties too.
Right around the point of freezing temperature,the oil seperates from the gasoline after a few hours after being mixed up,regardless of the mixing procedure method. And it is recomended to maintain a running condition on your engine that you re-mix your fuel before each period of running.

I have also sen the castor blends gel up in sub-zero (F) temperatures with the included wind chill factor making it far more nippy

Wether this is true of our nitro fuels as well or not I do not know.

Kim wrote:Not sure if this discussion is limited to Tee Dee .010's, but my tired, poor, decrepit, neglected, abused, million-mile .051 will start, and STILL drag it's equally abused Bird of Time sailplane to dizzying heights in cold air.

I didn't note the temperature, but there was a coat of clear ice on my sidewalk making NO pretense of melting, and snow that sounded like sand when the B.O.T. slid through it on landing.

It was started after a night of cold-soaking in my shop...so SOME of these dogs will hunt when it's cold !

I always liked the looks of this bird , but it seemed to be a much larger undertaking than I was willing to commit to

Well....since you asked!
Cold affects the starting of Cox's anytime the temp drops below freezing (0 degrees C).
Many years ago, our pylon club would have a winter 1/2A pylon race series.
We'd call it off & go eat instead whenever the temp dropped below -10C.
Using bladder pressurized TD's & electric starters worked quite well.
Using an oil blend of 15% synthetic & 5% castor worked better also.
Nitro was in the range of 40-60%. Often I'd spray a few shots
(most un-scientific) of di-ethyl ether starting fluid into my fuel
container for easier starting. My all time Record Cold Flight was done
at -24C! I'm not sure why I was at the field (by myself) when it was
that cold. Starting was easy enough, but I packed it in after
just one flight...

p.s. There is an International F2D combat contest held in St. Peterburg,
Russia every year in the winter. They have to shovel the snow away in
the pilots area & a circle around for the pitting area. All castor oil fuel
w/ 10% nitro is supplied in Thermos type containers to keep it warm.
(Vodka is always available to keep the pilots warm... ) With ~ 80 entries, they keep busy!

Paulgibeault wrote:Well....since you asked!
Cold affects the starting of Cox's anytime the temp drops below freezing (0 degrees C).
Many years ago, our pylon club would have a winter 1/2A pylon race series.
We'd call it off & go eat instead whenever the temp dropped below -10C.
Using bladder pressurized TD's & electric starters worked quite well.
Using an oil blend of 15% synthetic & 5% castor worked better also.
Nitro was in the range of 40-60%. Often I'd spray a few shots
(most un-scientific) of di-ethyl ether starting fluid into my fuel
container for easier starting. My all time Record Cold Flight was done
at -24C! I'm not sure why I was at the field (by myself) when it was
that cold. Starting was easy enough, but I packed it in after
just one flight...

p.s. There is an International F2D combat contest held in St. Peterburg,
Russia every year in the winter. They have to shovel the snow away in
the pilots area & a circle around for the pitting area. All castor oil fuel
w/ 10% nitro is supplied in Thermos type containers to keep it warm.
(Vodka is always available to keep the pilots warm... ) With ~ 80 entries, they keep busy!

Paul incase you did not know we use ether in our model diesel engines and it is pretty amazing stuff.
Flashpoint of 20 degrees C it allows them to ignite using compression alone.
Indra