Load up, Load up, Load up with....

I suppose one could make a joke about 10cc engines, but better not!

Anyway, in general yes, most engines sound nicest when loaded to a reasonable percentage of their designed output. But I would say hit-and-miss governed types are an exception - they fire a full lung full of mixture each time anyway, just rather less often, which in a rally situation rather enhances the effect for me. I have mentioned before that one of the most entertaining displays I've seen consisted simply of two small Amancos positioned with heads facing each other, sounding for all the world like they were engaged in some sort of bizarre shoot-out as the firing strokes drifted in an out of phase.

That said; my interest is in engines, I don't have much space, therefore scope for driven equipment is somewhat limited - probably many others in a similar position and I'd certainly prefer to see a good selection of unloaded engines at a rally rather than just a few driving all manner of agricultural thingys.

Nick H

Hi Dave,

Back in 2000 I made my first trip to an English engine rally and was first exposed to this mad English passion for loaded engines. Here's the recollection of the event... It's the fourth paragraph down the page.

"One quirk I observed several times is this passion to apply load to an engine's flywheels with whatever is handy. Jim introduced me to this notion with a rag held against the flywheel with knee pressure at Portland when we were sorting out my Novo "S" and again at Rushden I observed all of this mad two-stroke fraternity loading up their engines with pressure on the flywheels. Well as Jim and I chatted, up strolls this nattily dressed older gent in sport coat and hat carrying a nicely carved walking stick. Well, he takes one look at my Petter "M" and his fingers start to twitch. A bit of spittle forms at the corner of his mouth, and he ATTACKS the Petter "M" with his walking stick!! Jams one end of the stick into the ground, and heaves up to put heavy pressure on the flywheel. He really seems to be enjoying himself. Must be something about that "wibble-wibble" sound Anyway after about ten minutes of this "abuse of flywheels" the smell of burnt wood is rich in the air and the older gent seems to be satisfied. We chatted a bit more and he walked off happy, with a nice, deep ground-in spot on his walking stick, with the exact curvature of a Petter "M" flywheel. 8-)"

Definitely an "English thing..."

See ya, Arnie

Arnie Fero Pittsburgh, PA USA fero snipped-for-privacy@city-net.com

On 11 Mar, 17:19, "D.J.Carter" wrote:

(snip) h> Back in 2000 I made my first trip to an English engine rally and was h> first exposed to this mad English passion for loaded engines.

Surely no madder than the obsession with 'how slow can you go' which seems to prevail across the pond ;-)

nickh=== Posted with Qusnetsoft NewsReader 2.2.0.8

Well as Jim and I chatted, up

You probably wouldn't have seen him approaching from down-wind. He was actually exorcising the engine to prevent the further creation of the Devil's Snowflakes! ;-))

Legend has it that if you were to print the word "petterspots" in capitals three times, consecutively, on the same line, a knowledgable geni may well appear and explain all !!

Regards, Dave Carter.