The K&B Tornado .049 glow-plug motor first appeared in the spring of 1959 in response to a request from the Aurora Plastics Corporation. Although manufactured by K&B-Allyn (as they were then), it was branded at the outset as the Aurora Tornado .049. This identification was stamped in very fine characters onto the underside of the crankcase - no mention of the engine’s K&B origin. At this stage, the engine sported a translucent white Delrin plastic fuel tank and backplate. One assumes that these components were produced by Aurora since plastics were their business. Some later examples featured a red tank backplate along with the white tank.
Apart from the extensive use of plastic in its construction, the Tornado was also notable for the diaphragm valve used in place of the more familiar reed valve. The makers termed this a "flex-o-valve". Although it exhibited some quite unusual functional characteristics, this valve actually worked very well indeed in service.
For the first year of its existence, the Tornado was used exclusively in Aurora's line of plastic Ready-to-Fly (RTF) models. However, following Aurora's acquisition of K&B in early 1960, a hobby version appeared in American model shops. This was packaged in a carded bubble pack, selling for a very reasonable US$3.95.
The Tornado .049 was tested by Peter Chinn, whose basically identical reports appeared in both "Model Airplane News" (MAN) and "Model Aircraft". Chinn measured an above-average performance for the engine, also characterizing it as one of the easiest-starting motors of his entire experience.
An overbored 0.060 cuin. version of the engine appeared in 1960, followed by a gold-headed .060 variant in early 1963. However, the May 1963 release of the more poweful K&B Stallion .049 spelled the end for the Tornado, the production of which seems to have ended as of late 1963.
A full review and present-day test of the Tornado will appear on this website in due course. Meanwhile, the full story of American Half-A production has been ably recounted by Maris Dislers and may be read elsewhere on this site.
