From the Editor – June  2024

Greetings to one and all! Well, here I still am, getting on with life while continuing to undergo treatment for my medical issues. So far, things are continuing to go very well, and I still have every hope of a complete recovery down the road. I’d like to extend my very sincere thanks to all of you who have written in over the past month to wish me well. Means a lot to me ………….

As a result of my enforced level of relative inactivity due to my medical issues, things have been a bit quite here lately, although you wouldn’t hear that view expressed by the neighbours! I have resumed my home-based engine testing – this is forced upon me by the fact that tests form an important element of all my new articles – no testing, no new articles. Quite apart from that ……. it’s fun! My recent test of a Keil K6 sparkie probably sent the neighbours out to buy shotguns, but the result will be another new article in the not-too distant future.

Sadly, I have to begin this month’s Editorial with the kind of announcement that has become all too familiar in recent years. Yet another prominent member of our community has left us, and this one really hurts – it’s my valued long-time friend and colleague Tim Dannels of Colorado Springs, USA. Tim passed away on the morning of Wednesday May 29^th, 2024 at the age of 88 years.

Readers will probably recall Tim’s many years serving as the Editor and publisher of the ever-informative “Engine Collector’s Journal” (ECJ). His exhaustive two-volume survey of the model engines produced in the USA, the “American Model Engine Encyclopedia” (AMEE), will stand forever as the definitive reference on that subject.

But more than that, Tim was a valued friend. He played a major role in mentoring me into my present position as website owner/Editor and model engine researcher, always being there for me with information, advice and encouragement. I only ever met Tim and his late wife Betty face to face on one occasion during a visit to Colorado, but we got along like a house on fire, as the attached image should confirm – if we had been neighbours, we would seldom have been out of each other’s sight! I will miss Tim immensely. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and his many friends.

A full appreciation of Tim’s remarkable accomplishments may best be gained by visiting the AMA History Project, where a full account of Tim’s service to our hobby will be found. His 2018 induction into the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame was richly merited. Rest in peace, my friend ……………..

Now back to happier matters! As usual, I’ve heard from a number of readers in connection with my May edition. One such contact came from my valued Aussie mate Gordon Beeby, who sent along a considerable amount of additional information on the McCoy diesels which were the subject of one of last month’s articles. Gordon’s information did much to tighten up the time-frames applicable to the production and marketing of these engines. He also pointed me to a few tests of the McCoy “9” diesel which I had missed.

This is my favourite kind of contact – one which adds to the information published in my articles. I can’t do this alone – help like this is essential if I’m to maintain completeness and authority in my efforts. I’ve added Gordon’s information to the article, with my very sincere thanks.

I also heard from my good English friend Miles Patience. Miles had recently acquired a large collection of parts for the infamous non-running Dragon 16 sparkie from England. He has also acquired an example of the vanishingly-rare Dragon diesel – possibly the example illustrated in Clanford’s book. This has a few issues requiring correction, and Miles is attempting to get these issues resolved so that a test can be run.

Miles also plans to make a concerted effort to get a Dragon sparkie running and has sent me a good stash of parts to assist me in trying to do the same. Between us, we hope to create runnable examples of both the sparkie and diesel versions of this engine, thus defying all historical precedents!  More to come as this effort proceeds! 

This month’s additions to the roster of articles appearing on this website has a common theme – the E.D. range. An article covering the start-to-finish history of this marque has long been available here, along with articles on the early models produced by the company.  Time now to expand my coverage of the E.D. range by focusing on a few of the company’s later offerings.

The all-new lead article for this month focuses on one of E.D.’s less prominent offerings – the reed valve 2.46 cc Greenhead Racer diesel. For reasons which defy comprehension, this version of the well-known disc valve Redhead Racer was never advertised, nor did it attract any coverage in the contemporary modelling media. As a result, few contemporary aeromodellers were so much as aware of its existence!  Despite this, it was produced in reasonable numbers, mainly on account of its suitability for team racing, in which category it achieved considerable if somewhat unheralded success. It’s a very interesting and hitherto untold story which undoubtedly deserves to be recorded!

I’ve also prepared two MEN transfer articles dealing with other members of the E.D. range. The first of these represents an update of my original article on the 0.81 cc E.D. Pep, another of the less prominent E.D. models and one which stands apart from the other members of the range in many respects. The other article represents an update of a piece originally written by my late and much-missed mate Ron Chernich covering the 1.46 cc E.D. Hornet. While preserving all of the information set out in Ron’s original article, I’ve added a considerable amount of relevant material, including a full bench test.

That’s about it for this month! I can’t make any firm promises to get anything out for July, but I will promise to give it a try. Given my medical situation, it seems quite likely that the site will become frozen at some point, at least for a while, but I’ll keep going as long as I can – doing so helps to divert attention away from less positive issues! I’ll keep you all posted on any significant developments. In the meantime, I really appreciate all the expressions of support that I continue to receive from so many of you! 

Take care, and I’ll see you again soon!

Adrian Duncan 

British Columbia, Canada

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