GM1
Elite Veteran
Location: Tallahassee, Florida US
| Words of Wisdom?I have posted this in several places and I guess some of you are getting tired of seeng this.  I switched from Cool Power 30% to Wildcat 30% for a very simple reason, smoke. At last years NATS, I had a model disappear into the smoke in the middle of a maneuver and after that decided to try and find an alternative. I was not unhappy with the CP performance, quality, or even the price, it always performed as advertised but did not meet my needs. After trying a couple of other options, I bought a case of Wildcat 30% with 18% oil which I put into the same motor that had 50 gallons of CP30% through it. When I put the Wildcat in and readjusted the motor to suit the fuel, I was not impressed, the motor was more difficult to adjust and did not sit still in a hover BUT it did make less smoke so I decided to run the rest of the case and then try something else. Now I get about 8 flights out of a gallon and by the end of the second gallon, I noticed that the motor was beginning to run better. By the end of the third gallon, the motor ran as good as before with maybe a little more power and reduced smoke.
When I thought about this it was pretty easy to understand. Wildcat uses a different oil than the motor had been broken in on and it seems to now run a bit cooler when correctly needled and it required a llittle running time for the motor to "rebreak in" to that new operating temperature. Once that happened, it was a no brainer.
Several of our local plankers have started using Hobby Town house fuel, which is manufactured by Wildcat, and I was hearing a lot of complaints about bad idle and high operating temp. I went over and reneedled the motors to more correct needle settings and both of the motors in question idled nicely and ran wide open with no problems. As the motors got more Wildcat time on them, the motors ran strongly and the owners are NOW very pleased with the fuel and its availablilty and price.
I bought a couple of new "big block" heli motors which I started on Wildcat from the beginning. Both motors ran well from the start as they never had to adjust to a different operating temp. I now have about 10 gallons through each and they are running fine with no unusual wear or bad characteristics. I am getting normal plug wear out of an Enya #3 and the interior of both motors is immaculate. I sent one of my 61s back to Performance Specialties for inspection and was told there was no unusual wear and that the bearings and ring were fine after 20 gallons of Wildcat.
If you are happy with your fuel, whatever it is, GREAT, keep using it. If not, try some others until you get what you want. I think I'm happy where I am.
On a dog sled team, if you're not the lead dog, the view never changes. |
