Steam powered Kitchen!

[Tobe]

Would a VW 1700 engine in the nose of a Colibri MB2 be considered "steam"!
Long time ago in the early 1980 I did something that many dreams about and I was just barely in the early 20...I built a scale model in size full size. I was still in university and full of ambitions and almost nothing would scare me or keep me away from....
I flew across all Europe all the way to Corsica and there was no GPS in those day and as the airplane had no electrical system the only luxury onboard was my COM with 2 set of rechargeable batteries like it's common in a glider.
In those days we still had to deal with restrictions due of "The Curtain" but with a good chart, 6 minutes tickmarks and a stopwatch was enough, just kept you thumb on the track....and yes, I crossed the Swiss alps through the Lucumagno Pass

[franck]

time cap, map....... for me with D112 and D1050 long time ago

[Mike_K]

Mike,
What fuel (specifically) does your traction engine burn?
I have some Coalite smokeless coal, which has been kept warm and dry for the last 21 years, in my parents house.
Have been trying to find someone that can use / burn it...
Jef

Hi Jeff,

There has been a coal shortage this year, and we've finished burning pretty much what we could get. Ideally, we'd use Welsh steam coal (anthracite), it gives more heat and less smoke than typical "house" coal, but we've been given ordinary "house" coal a few times at steam rallies this year, resulting in a smoky haze everywhere. And yes I'm sure our engine would burn Coalite OK, even if we had to mix it in with some steam coal.

"Pride of Monewden" Used to own a share in a PFA home built plane that I flew out of Monewden in Suffolk. Took it to a 'fly-in' in Holland for a long weekend one year. Solo flight over 88 miles of the North Sea, had everything crossed hoping nothing went wrong. The return journey was even more interesting.

Our miniature engines are modelled on a Burrel general-purpose traction engine similar to the "Pride of Monewden" but ours is painted black as it seems to withstand the heat better. I used to fly up the road from Monewden at Crowfield, though my Robin HR100/210 wasn't exactly steam-powered... I took the cheats way out when I flew to Holland or Belgium, each time I went via Le Touquet, then headed north. I was trying to build some hours up and I always got nervous flying over too much water, so it made sense to me to go via the longer route.

Would a VW 1700 engine in the nose of a Colibri MB2 be considered "steam"!

That is only just above steam-powered! But at least you went for the 1700cc VW, not a 1500cc like in some early Druine Turbulent (I think I read somewhere they initially started with 1200cc, that would be steam powered)