Le Rhone spinning radial dummy engine for RC planes

cults3d

Models of the Le Rhone 9C rotary radial engine are designed for scale WW1 warbirds with electric outrunners. Engine01 fits 63 mm outrunners and Engine02 fits 50 mm outrunners, but they can be rescaled to fit other motors by simply doing the math. I built it for my 1:5.5 scale Hangar 9 Sopwith Camel, where the diameter is around 164 mm. The dummy motor is thin to reduce air resistance when spinning. I also created Engine03 for smaller models like my 1/6 Fokker Eindecker and designed it to fit 50 mm motor diameters. I printed mine from PETG to maintain tension around the outrunner, but a PLA engine may loosen over time due to shrinking. It's best if the engine is a little tight around the motor, so sand the inside if necessary. To achieve a realistic copper effect, genuine copper tape can be wrapped around the induction tubes or paint can be used as an alternative. I posted a flying video at https://youtu.be/4Ibl3mplCRo?t=341 to demonstrate its performance. Remember that this printed model is only suitable for low rpm motors spinning large scale props. High rpm use can be hazardous, so proceed with caution and use common sense when handling the model.