My Mintor setup

[patterndude at attbi.com]

Eric and Jim have been posting their setup and performance numbers but my setup 
was a little different and I want to share this info as I think it's useful.

I broke my 2 Mintors in on a bench as described here before and also posted on 
our www.aeroslave.com website.  This made the transition to the plane less 
eventful.  My first setup was Mintor 170, 17x12N, Magnum 10%, Mintor carbon 
pipe, Mintor header cut down 1.5", mounted inverted in an Aries.  Engine ran a 
bit rich and erratic at 0-1/3 throttle.  I decided to increase the nitro to 15% 
and reset the high end needle one click.  It ran much better at all throttle 
settings. 
The first two flights took about 20 flips to get it to run.  My Kavan starter 
wont turn it over yet, but the engine is still new and has that mushy 
compression.  It will soon have more of a compression "pop" over the top and 
then I can use the starter if needed.
>From the 3rd flight onward the engine started on the 2nd flip and was improving 
in the air.  In the air the engine ran flawlessly from the beginning, but the 
power was definitely coming up as the day progressed. By the end of the gallon 
of fuel it was scary power.  Had to do avalanches with the throttle at mid 
point.  I was delaying throttle on loop entry, then if I throttled full, the 
plane would accelerate around the loop so fast that the timing was harder. 

My performance numbers were consistently a bit better than Eric's report. I set 
the idle at 2000 where it was reliable.  High end was 8400 - 8500 on the ground 
all day, but the power kept improving in the air.  No burps or delays.  I know 
Jim Woodward also claimed a bit higher performance numbers than Eric's 8100 rpm 
on the same prop (Cool power 15%) and Jim had trimmed his header 1".  My 
conclusion is that there's a lot more power in this engine than Eric is seeing, 
if you take the time to tune it.  On the other hand, maybe that's not necessary.



Jim is using the Mintor pipe.  Eric, can you comment on the exact ES model you 
used and the distance to the first baffle?  I'll compare that to the Mintor 
dimensions.  Why aren't you using your Mintor pipe?

--Lance
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