THE INSIDE SCOOP ON HOW 2-STROKE GAS ENGINES WORK
Whether your ultimate goal is to fly big 3D aerobatic planes or to pilot giant-scale warbirds, understanding how gasoline engines operate and how to properly set them up is extremely important. Besides their great fuel efficiency, gas engines are reliable, easy to start and overall are very user-friendly. Like all power systems, however, they need to be installed and set up the right way to keep your plane airborne. Let’s take a closer look at what’s bolted to the firewall.
(Above) The Zenoah GT80 is a very smooth running highly reliable 2-stroke gas engine and makes a great choice for powering giant scale warbirds and aerobatic planes alike.
Gas engines are fairly easy to operate. If you can operate garden equipment and chainsaws, there’s no reason you can’t properly setup and run a gasoline-fed RC engine. Your basic gasoline engine operates using the “fire triangle” principal, meaning it needs air, fuel and heat to run. Take any one of these away and it will not run. These three fire elements are brought together using the engine’s ignition system, carburetor and spark plug. I like to install a new engine on a test stand and adjust it before bolting it onto my airplane. It is then much easier to work out the linkages, fuel line attachments, test various propellers and set the top end for maximum power using a tachometer….
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