From the Editor – May 2026

Greetings once more to one and all, and Happy May Day!! I’m a bit long in the tooth for dancing around the Maypole, but fair play to any of you who can still do so!

The ongoing devolution of the world situation through which we all have to live continues to cast a long shadow over all of us. I’m still doing my best to continue living life to the fullest extent possible under the circumstances. Happily, I seem to be holding my own on the health front – something to be thankful for.

It’s now become inescapably clear that the Mango Maggat (MM) has slid over the edge into a state of clinical insanity. His expletive-laden rant against Iran in itself underscores this view – it would shame a socially-maladjusted ten-year-old. His posing with an AI-generated image of Jesus Christ together with his claims to be equally powerful and his attacks on the Pope are indicative of his bizarrely distorted self-image – how many sincere Christians of any denomination would agree with this self-characterization from an individual who breaks all of the Ten Commandments each and every day? Hang the Ten Commandments up in schools – why not start with the Oval Office?!?

His sincerity in relation to the two-week ceasefire (which wasn’t) in the US-Israeli war on Iran was clearly reflected in his continued support for the parallel actions of his Israeli allies as they took full advantage of the temporary cessation of the Iranian sphere of conflict to focus their full US-backed military resources upon their unrestrained attacks upon Lebanon during the “truce”. Their focused targeting of Lebanese medical facilities, medical personnel and rescue workers is nothing short of a war crime. The MM has done nothing to rein them in, which he could do in a moment by withdrawing US support for such outrages.  

Moreover, when negotiations between the US and Iran broke down, the MM threatened that the USA would close the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic!  Excuse me ………wasn’t the ongoing opening of that Strait what the USA went to war to ensure?? Does anyone recall MM’s strictures against Iran for closing the Strait, including the previously-mentioned gutter-language rant? Does anyone else detect the whiff of hypocrisy and delusional incompetence here?

At the same time, the MM continues to support a regime which has just passed a law which applies the death penalty to Palestinians (but no others) who are considered enemies of Israel. What happened to the principle that to be legitimate in a civilized country, laws must have general application? Why does that law not apply to Israeli war criminals as well? MM’s support of a regime which embraces such a law shames America. I’m aware that the US still embraces the death penalty despite its long history of racially-slanted application, but still……….How long will it be before the MM starts wearing one of those shameful “hangman’s noose” lapel pins?

The recent statement by a prominent MAGA senator that widespread private gun ownership is a prerequisite for successful popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes has chilling implications for the future of the USA. Where is private gun ownership at its highest? Where have we seen an earlier attempt to overthrown an elected government ………..?? Who sets the criteria that make a regime authoritarian?? I can think of one regime that undoubtedly meets my criteria…………

Returning now to our favorite topic of model aero engines, I recently acquired one of the superb 4 cc Kratmo 4A spark ignition replicas constructed by the amazingly talented model engine maker Armin de Vries, formerly of the Netherlands but now resident in Germany. This engine will be featured in a forthcoming article about the Kratmo range. Testing it provided me with my first experience of operating a model sparkie equipped with CDI ignition.  This experience allowed me to add a section on CDI ignition to my earlier article on spark ignition operation.

In the meantime, Armin sent me an image and a video of one of the most amazing model engines that I’ve ever seen! This is a 0.16 cc (0.010 cuin.) four-stroke diesel, shown way bigger than actual size in the accompanying photo. This surely has to be the smallest-ever four-stroke engine of all time! It starts and runs beautifully (Armin sent me a video), and Armin and his son plan to try it in a model at some point.

Not surprisingly, Armin tells me that series production of this tiny jewel is not contemplated – it will remain a one-off. Not surprising – think of the watchmaker sizes of the gears and valves! However, he is working towards the production of a somewhat larger 0.8 cc four-stroke diesel which may be offered to the public in limited quantities. If I hear more about this fascinating project, I’ll let my readers know!

One of the interesting features of Armin’s fine Kratmo 4A replica sparkie is that it’s supplied with a Chinese-made ¼-32 spark plug. I’d seen one of these plugs before – an example is fitted to the Chinese-made 1.6 cc table-top four-stroke sparkie that was featured in my April 2026 Editorial. However, that low-compression low performance table-top demonstration engine, fun though it is to run, scarcely constitutes a real test of any spark plug!

The same can’t be said of Armin’s lovely Kratmo 4A replica, which is a serious powerplant intended for hard use in a model. I put that engine through a full break-in and bench test in support of my upcoming article on the Kratmo engines. Both the engine and the Chinese spark plug performed flawlessly throughout and the plug checked out as remaining in perfect condition upon close inspection after a fairly lengthy test. Based upon my test experience, it appears to be a completely satisfactory component from a functional standpoint.

Although it's a little taller and has a slightly longer reach, this plug is reasonably close to being the dimensional equivalent of a classic Champion V-3 plug - the smallest spark plug ever made by Champion, and the hardest to find these days. If you have a small sparkie that calls for a correspondingly small plug but can't find an original Champion V-3 or a Rimfire equivalent, this Chinese plug looks to me like a practical substitute. They're readily available on eBay under various brand names at quite reasonable cost. 

A welcome arrival during the month was a box of engines which had been undergoing restoration for some time in the hands of my mate Dean Clarke of Cre8tionworx Engineering in Cambridge, New Zealand. All engines had been restored to Dean’s usual immaculate standard. Among them was a Keil K6 sparkie which was equipped with a tankless intake structure to allow its use in control-line service. I wasted no time in testing this engine, and have now added the results to my existing article on the Keil K6.

OK, on to the new articles for this month! Despite the continuing pressures resulting from the highly charged international situation in which we find ourselves, I’ve somehow managed once again to rise above my personal fears and frustrations long enough to assemble what I hope will be another interesting selection of articles for your reading pleasure.

The first all-new article represents a further installment in my series on the various pioneering model engines produced commercially in Britain during the pre-WW2 era. This time, I take a close look at the Cloud engines which were marketed by Cloud (Model) Aircraft of Dorking, Surrey as their “house brand”. However, Cloud were not the actual manufacturers of these engines – that role was assigned to none other than Jack Colyer, who was to go on after WW2 to manufacture the Majesco range. There was a direct connection between the Cloud engines and the original Majesco model, the “45” sparker, as you’ll learn when you read this article.

The second all-new article for the month takes us to pre-WW2 Germany, where we’ll take an up-close look at the ORTUS 5.67 cc sparkie which was one of the Baby Cyclone near-clones covered by Maris Dislers in his article on the Baby Cyclone copies produced world-wide during the latter half of the 1930’s. As you’ll see, the ORTUS was a well-executed and fine-running rendition of the Baby Cyce. However, its career was cut short prematurely by the onset of WW2, never to be resumed. 

Finally, the MEN transfer article for this month brings us considerably closer to the present day! I’ve prepared a comprehensive re-draft of Ron Chernich’s piece on the outstanding 1.5 cc Sesqui 1.5 cc diesel produced in Australia as a joint venture between Ivor F and Gordon Burford. The result of this collaboration was a quite exceptional 1.5 cc diesel by the standards of its day, but a number of factors prevented it from being manufactured in the planned numbers. As a result, it is a relatively rare collectible today.

That’s about it for this month, fellow enthusiasts. All being well and assuming that my neighborhood remains free from the sound of tramping Belleville jackboots, roaring Abrams tank engines and M7 gunfire, and that the mushroom clouds of WW3 don’t engulf us all courtesy of the MM, I hope to return in June to present a few more reviews for your reading pleasure. In the meantime, I really appreciate all the expressions of support that I’ve continued to receive from so many of you! Stay safe ‘n sane!!  

Adrian Duncan 

British Columbia, Canada (the NATION, not a state!)

 Greenland forever!

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