Thinking about it, there are quite a few LPG vehicles around right now,
in GB:
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sure would be a lot easier to get hold of for modellers, though one
downside (and upside: no clunk) is a pressurised tank and potential
leaks. I can imagine quite a few mishaps with stored models leaking gas.
One minor problem with oildrums, I would have to use non-corroding
containers asap because steel rusts like hell there.
I'd sure love to have a drum of fuel. I hope to be starting the first
model flying club in the Azores as soon as the house is finished,
people don't have much to do there in their spare time and the kids
don't get turned into TV zombies at an early age, consequently they are
quite creative and bright. The adults are virtually all good at
woodwork etc, they had to survive in the middle of the atlantic on
their own through earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions. I
imagine many would be really keen.
Something else I want to try for a laugh: trolling for barracuda with a
purpose built rc sailing boat (obviously it would be towing a
*releasable* line, attached to a fishing rod!).
Balsawood is not available there either, but their main building wood
is cryptomeria japonica (japanese cedar) light grades of which are
similar to a medium or hard balsa and quite suitable.
On 27 Oct 2006 01:38:15 -0700, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and
snipped-for-privacy@digiverse.net instead replied:
It's always a LOT heavier when I do that.
--
Ray
Couldn't you use a soda bottle? They hold lots of pressure. If you
could come up with a decent regulator in a small size, you'd have your
problem half solved.
On Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:47:54 -0500, Robbie and Laura Reynolds
wrote in :
Folks have used soda bottles as reservoirs for
retracts.
I've seen pix of planes torn apart when the
bottles failed.
If someone goes down that road, they sould probably
reinforce the bottle with a layer or two of fiberglass,
depending on the nature of their design and their
target pressures.
Overfilling happens. People should anticipate
human mstikaes and (within the limits set by
aerodynamics) built for some worst-case scenarios.
Marty
--
The Big-8 hierarchies (comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc, talk)
are under new management. See
You'd have to add oil, and you would have to come up with a way to vary
the amount of gas for throttling as well as attach it to the engine
intake. Seems like you could use a needle valve to get the oil right
into the intake stream easily enough.
This project is starting to sound like something that would require
about a year of experimenting in a well-appointed shop. If I wasn't
trying to start an amplifier company I might do it myself.
I think it would be simpler to just get a spark conversion kit for glow
engines, like these:
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Actually, since I do have a machine shop and a bit of electronics
savvy, I could just make a batch of them for all the glows I want to
use.
It would be easier if someone happens to already know of a DIY circuit
diagram for an ignition circuit. I could program PIC processors etc but
why re-invent the wheel.
Or I could just vandalise the latest cheap Ryobi PLT - 2543Y 25cc
strimmer:
"Powerful, 25cc 2-stroke Line Trimmer with diaphragm carburettor for
effective working at any angle. Maintenance-free electronic ignition."
If you get enough people interested you may have a large enough group to
make ordering things economical before too long. Then you could have
balsa, superglue, fuel, radios, etc without paying an arm and a leg.
That's the plan, eventually. I quite like the idea of improvising
though, islanders are very good at it.
I have gone for a brand new 28cc strimmer engine from ebay, dead cheap
=A338 ($ 68) including post! Hope the carb and ignition are suitable...
PS. Re the engine I just bought...
Strikes me that one could do away with about a quarter of the material
from the fins by cutting perpendicular slots the same width as the
thickness of the fin blade. That way one would still retain the same
surface area for cooling but with less material. Coarse sandblasting
the whole engine would help with cooling a little too
I find it hard to beleive that you cannot find mehanol there.
There are so many different uses for methanol, as a cooking fuel, solvent,
etc. Look for the local laboratory, they usually have methanol (aka methyl
alcohol, methyl hydrate).
I was stuck in the middle of no where in a gulf arab nation for several
years, where glo fuel was not available. I carried a couple of litres of
klotz oil in with my luggage, and got methanol from the local laboratory
where they used it as a solvent. They were also able to get me some
nitromethane (also used as a solvent). Just mix your own. 20% oil, 10%
nitromethane and the balance methanol. Works a charm. Be careful to keep
the methanol well capped, as it absorbs humidity.
RM
In a time when you can buy just about anything you want, it is hard to
imagine a place with no methanol. But I'm sure there are places where
some things are just unavailable. I don't know much about the Azores,
but I don't think they have a lot of industry there, do they?
It's an Island with 15000 inhabitants. There's no such thing as a
"laboratory", there are pharmacies though. I don't know if they do pure
methanol. I don't actually want the nitro.
Not manufacturing type industry. They do make alot of wine though. I
suppose I could distill alcohol, if it's the same as methanol...?
Anyway, I got the 28cc strimmer petrol engine coming now, so I'll play
with that.
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