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From the Editor – October 2025
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for making any progress with my incisional hernia! My namesake surgeon Dr. Duncan is now back from maternity leave, but she waited until now to tell me that fixing hernias isn’t really her area of expertise and that I’ll have to see another surgeon! Why she waited until now to tell me and make the referral is beyond me – her office could have done this nine months ago! Anyway, I’m now waiting for an appointment with an alternate surgeon - I could wait a while....... Very frustrating – I seem to be back to Square One!! Oh well, what can I do? I just have to roll with the punches and be grateful to have received the medical care that has got me this far …………..
My love and gratitude also go to my long-suffering wife Lorna, who has tolerated my many eccentricities so amazingly well over the years and has always supported and encouraged me. Thanks, darling!!
This leaves the US military with a decision to make – their craven kotowing to AO in cancelling Tom Hanks’ award ceremony at West Point and their leaders groveling at AO’s feet at the recent meeting don’t encourage a belief that their decision will be the right one. Coupled with AO’s open statement that he can do “anything” that he wants to do, it’s hard to see how he could make his dictatorial ambitions any clearer, and he’s now getting the US military on side with this ambition. His recent comments on autism, immigrants, green energy and the climate change crisis reveal his glaring intellectual shortcomings for all to see, as does his childishly vindictive harassment of his political opponents.
Now on to happier matters! I was very pleased to hear from my good friend Gordon Beeby of Australia with regard to last month’s article on the BWM range. Gordon was able to draw my attention to some additional Gordon was also able to provide some additional documentation relating to the legal status and production history of the Torpedo Special, another of last month’s subjects. Some of the material relating to the legal issue is somewhat speculative, hence being of limited credibility. However, I thought that it was well worth adding to the article, along with the additional information regarding the engine’s production life. My very sincere thanks to Gordon!
September saw the arrival from Italy of a book which I view as fully meriting special mention in this Editorial. This was a copy of a high-quality large-format soft-cover book bearing the title “The Italian self-construction engines till 1960 – Plan Book”. The As the title suggests, the book contains detailed information and complete construction drawings for over 25 pre-1960 classic Italian engines which were made available to Italian modellers for home construction during the pioneering and early classic eras. You won’t find plans for any of the commercial classics from Super Tigre, MOVO and the like, but you will find plans plus a wealth of information on such rarities as the Dinamite, Mirus Senior, Helium MB6 and Super Antares offerings among others. In addition to the construction drawings, the book contains a summary of overall Italian engine history during the period in question as well as detailed information regarding the featured engines themselves. The text is profusely illustrated, adding greatly to the book’s value. Opportunities to acquire a copy are rare indeed, and I’m greatly beholden to Italian collector Pierangelo Quaglieri for his kindness in making this acquisition possible. I’ve added this outstanding resource to the Publications pages on this website. I was very glad to hear from Australian reader and regular “Aero Modeller” contributor John Peric, although his message was a little disheartening. John had just read (or re-read) my article on the Sadly, this visit turned out to be disappointing in the extreme. It turned out that the Hearns family had sold the business over twenty years ago. Under the new ownership, the shop had met the same fate that has befallen so many of the old "classic" hobby shops by morphing into an out-of-the-box toys 'n games outlet. John found nothing in the store relating to the aeromodelling hobby. True, there was the odd example of boxed push-button self-gratification on the shelf, but John couldn't even buy a token Dubro fuel tank! Fuel?!? Wot's that?!?
In other news from Australia, my good mate Maris Dislers wrote in to share the results of some testing of the venerable old FROG 250 which he had undertaken. Maris tried the effect of modifying the I also heard from my good friend Peter Rathke of Germany that the 3rd annual International Model Engines Swap Meet will be held on February 28th, 2026 at Lampertheim-Hȕttenfeld, Germany. The first two such meetings were superb events – I’m sure that this one will be just as good. Details on the attached event announcement. Contact Peter at modelengineswap@gmail.com for further information or to reserve a table. I can only say that I wish that I could be there!!
OK, on to the new articles for this month! I’m still seeking an escape from the stress induced by the continuing uncertainties which define the troubled times in which we live by doing my best to make every The first article sees yet another step towards completion of my coverage of the various E.D. models from England. This time, it’s the 3.46 cc E.D. Mk. IV which was introduced by that name in mid-1949 and was later marketed as the Hunter. Although the design of this engine was never openly credited to Basil Miles by E.D., there’s little doubt in my mind that he was actually the designer of this extremely user-friendly engine. Read this month’s article and make up your own mind on this matter! Whoever the The second article this month returns to a format which hasn’t appeared very often on this website. Rather than dealing with a specific model engine or a particular marque as I usually do, this article covers the full scope of the model engines produced in a specific country. In previous articles I’ve dealt wholistically with the classic model engines produced in Russia, Indonesia, Canada and Argentina. Now it’s the turn of the Brazilian model engines to be subject to review. The article covers all of the Brazilian model engines of which I’ve been able to ferret out any details, including a few tests of specific examples which have come into my possession. It’s a fascinating and previously-untold story which I’m sure that you’ll find to be of interest – I was personally amazed to learn how numerous and prolific the Brazilian manufacturers really were!
That’s about it for this month, fellow enthusiasts. All being well and assuming that WW3 doesn’t engulf us and that my neighborhood remains free from the sound of tramping jackboots and gunfire, I hope to return in November with 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! Adrian Duncan British Columbia, Canada (the NATION, not a state!)
___________________________________ Note regarding material to be found on this site - unless specifically otherwise noted, all images and text which appear on this site are my own work, and I hereby assert my right to be recognized as the originator of this material except when expressly otherwise stated. For the record, this material is made freely available to all upon two firm conditions:
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Greetings once more to one and all! I’m really glad to still be in a position to send out this greeting to all of my fellow model engine enthusiasts around the world! My recovery from the removal of my stomach tumor followed by my gall bladder is proceeding well, with no significant side effects so far. My most recent quarterly check-up just a few days ago showed no evidence of any developing post-operative recurrence – what a relief!
On the day following the appearance of this Edition, I’ll turn 78 years old! Who would have thought it?!? Given the high-risk interests that I've pursued during my life (mountaineering, cave exploration, motorcycle racing, etc.) I reckon that I've been lucky to make it this far! It’s a sobering realization that I’ve been privileged to outlive about a dozen of the great musicians with whom I played over the years as well as a good few of my former model flying cronies, fellow cave explorers and former motorcycle racing opponents, to say nothing of several much-missed family members. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience as much as I have in my life, and I really miss those relatives and good friends who have gone before me. I’m very grateful to all of you, my faithful readers, for the support and encouragement that you’ve given me to keep on doing another thing that I love – writing about model engines and playing with them!! 
It’s beginning to look very much as if Agent Orange (AO) has finally gone right over the edge, as many commentators have speculated that he would do. His recent move to re-name the Pentagon as the “Department of War” (a change estimated to cost the US taxpayer up to $1 billion at a time when he plans to shut down the US Govermment for lack of funds) speaks volumes regarding both his stance on military conflict and his sincerity regarding budget cuts. Quite apart from his para-military take-over of his nation’s capital and his military occupation of Portland, Oregon, his open declaration of war on the American city of Chicago (“Chipocalypse Now” – quote) along with the statement that “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR” is a clear signal that he is prepared to use US military forces against his own people, in absolutely clear defiance of the Constitution of the United States. Such moves are unprecedented – a US so-called President declaring war on his own people! If the US armed forces go along with this, they will be openly betraying their oath of enlistment to defend the Constitution of the United States. His call upon the military to use US cities as "training grounds" is reprehensible - training for what? The armed invasion of Canada?!?
Quite apart from this unprecedented challenge to US democracy and the US Constitution, together with his overt threats against a supposedly allied nation (Canada), the AO’s ongoing lies about the ”threat” posed by immigrants (his mother and grandparents were all immigrants) and about the health of the US economy merely continue his established pattern of lying about everything of importance to Americans and the rest of the world. Truth means nothing to this guy! The removal of books and encyclopedias from the libraries of American schools amounts to a resumption of book-burning – where have we seen that before?!? His continued endorsement of the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and his blatant politicization of the Russia-Ukraine war are beyond despicable – doesn’t it mean anything that innocent people are dying in droves?!? The sight of this convicted felon, would-be dictator and associate of sex criminals sitting down to dine with British royalty as an honored guest was very hard to take. When will enough be enough?!? 
Finally, his flagrant politicization of the Charlie Kirk killing, which is after all just another incident in a long on-going line of equally-unacceptable and totally indefensible shooting murders of American citizens of all ages, races and political stamps is disgraceful – where was he after all of Kirk’s predecessors in the shooting gallery met similar fates, to say nothing of those who have died since (nine more dead just this last weekend)?!? Declaring Kirk to be a martyr to free speech while ignoring other similar incidents and victimizing individuals holding different views to those of Kirk and AO (thereby attacking their freedom of speech) makes a total mockery of the “free speech” argument – evidently you have the right to free speech in America provided that AO agrees with what you say!! His 
plan to designate anyone who opposes his views as a terrorist is nothing short of frightening. His strategy is now clear – intentionally provoke a situation which he can declare to be a civil war and have himself appointed Dictator on the strength of it. America will go along with this at its peril ………….
I was also able to add another engine to the list of Enya 15 clones which were the subject of an 
author of this remarkable assemblage of information was Doctor of Engineering Giacomo Mauro. The book is extremely rare – only 100 copies were printed. The text is rendered in both Italian and English.
edition count – who knows how long I’ll be in a position to do so? Once again, I’ve somehow managed to assemble what I hope will be another interesting selection of articles for your reading pleasure.
designer actually was, he came up with one of the better but perhaps somewhat under-appreciated models to emerge from the E.D. factory during its heyday!
The MEN transfer article for the month deals with the 
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