RMEn 'HEN, THREE YEARS AGO, the Austrian Hirtenberger Patronenfabrik announced production of their first four-stroke engine, the rotary-valve HP VT-21, considerable interest was aroused by the fact that, at only 3.5cc capacity, this would be the world’s smallest production model four-stroke, Equal enthusiasm seems to have greeted the new O.S. F520 despite the fact that it is no smaller in actual ‘swept volume (although it is lighter and slightly more compact) than the ‘VI'21. Possibly this is due to the fact that the FS.20, having such traditional four-stroke features as poppet valves, rockers, pushrods and a eamshatt, is ‘more readily identifiable as a four: stroke. It does seem that the majority. of enthusiasts still like their four strokes to have ‘real’ valve gear, <= yi [2205 matsate yas mie res frontal sree and compact dimensions far MA sory coming: Nodietahe oxeraon Ie Mi, paki OS. FS-20 Four-Stroke Robust, lively, economic and admirably finished; Peter Chinn examines and tests this powerful little gem from Japan. Engine enthusiasts will have no difficulty in recognising the FS-20 as being closely modelled on the popular FS-40 as regards general layout and appearance. The two engines are, however, more than four years apart in design, during which time four-strokes have advanced very considerably in performance as well as in popularity. ‘Thus, the FS-20, relative to its size, is more powerful than the FS.40 despite the fact that specific output normally favours the larger cylinder sizes due to the higher brake mean effective pressure levels achieved with the latter. small four-stroke: engines of up to So sults are 4Dcu in. (6.5ec) tested to date have not the FS20, as our ‘exceeded 75bhp/litre although, clearly, performance curves show, delivered a it is only a matter of time before maximum power output of 0.31bhp at competition between manufacturers around 12,500rpm. This is equivalent results in markedly more powerful four- to a specific output of 87bhp/litre, strokes in the 40cu in. group, which is very good indeed for a One should not, of courte, lose sight Sr Engine es above aeroge power m be sewn, construction fe ‘Susinessladeopite tis ‘currently the ightes! four Satpal ino Fe sire in production. \ 15RMEngine of the fact that, because, at the present time, there are no officially recognised ‘separate classes for small fourstroke engines, specific output is probably of Tess concern, to the average user, than power/weight ratio and whether the engine is compact enough to fit into the model for which it is intended or, for that matter, whether it ‘significantly cheaper to buy than 2 slightly bigger motor. Here, a small four-stroke may be under a slight handicap insofar as it may not be proportionally lighter (the HP-21, for example, scales 11.4oz, compared with 201 ~ 13.402 for existing 40 size four- strokes) or much cheaper to make. However, OS. does appear to have scored a few more points here. At les than 9.30, the FS:20 is the lightest four-stroke produced to date and its list, price is nearly £30 below that of the FS440, Comparing discount prices with all other four-strokes currently available, it still emerges as the lowest priced four-stroke on the market. None of this has been achieved at the ‘expense of quality or sturdiness of ‘construction. The only compromise, if fone can call it so, i the substitution of hbronze bushed camshaft bearings in place of the ball-bearings used by all other OS, camshafts ~ scarcely a fall from grace since the vast majority of other makes, including some costing ‘well over £200, use bronze bushed camshaft bearings anyway. ‘The FS20's outward resemblance to the FS-40 is, in other respects, matched by internal similarities. It is only when ‘one comes to examine its valve sizes fand throat areas, eam profiles, rocker ratio, valve timing and port areas, that tone realises just how much extra evelopment has gone into this interesting little engine. ‘Despite hoy crankshaft and all-round stu ‘quaity of workmanship thigh es one Design and Construction Summary Main casting. This is a sturdy but finely executed pressure casting embodying the crankcase, finned Cylinder jacket, main bearing housing land the housing for the skew-gear driven cross camshaft. ‘Crankshaft and bearings. An unexpectedly hefty crankshaft is used. Tehas the same sized main journals as the F840: 12mm at the rear and 8mm at the front. The hollow erankpin is 5mm diameter and the helical teeth for O'S. FS-20 SHOWN HERE AGTUAL SIZE WITH MOUNTING BOLT SPACINGS ‘construction, compact FS-20 welghe only 8.3 oF; oxpect trom ile manufacturer. the camshaft drive are formed in the shaft itself, just ahead of the rear journal. The bearings consist of a 12+24mm steel-caged balljournal at the rear and an 8«19mm steel-caged shielded bearing at the front. Cylinder liner and piston assembly. The cylinder liner has a wall thickness of 1.2mm and is located by the usual top flange. The short: skirted piston is machined from ‘aluminium alloy bar and is fitted with ‘a standard compression ring. Complete with its fully-loating 4mm od tubular ‘gvdgeon-pin, it weighs 5.5 grammes. A ong connecting-rod (27mm, or 1.93 * stroke, between eentres) is used in conjunction with a high gudgeon-pin Tocation to reduce rod angularity and piston side thrust. The rod is machined from high-duty aluminium alloy. has phosphor-bronze bushes at both end: and weights 28 grammes. ‘Camshaft. In common with other recent high-performance 0.8. four- strokes, the inlet cam is profiled differently from the exhaust cam. Both ceams are of the round flank type, but the inlet cam has a larger nose radius and higher lift (1.8mm) than the exhaust cam (1.5mm). This results in the inlet valve being opened wider and for a 5-dogree longer period (see data panel for measured timing) than the exhaust valve, The cams are disposed either side of the timing wheel. ‘The use of spiral gears on the crankshaft and camshaft means that the tooth action imposes end thrusts. In other O.S, engines with cross camshafts, the camshaft end thrust is, taken by the right hand ball-bearing ‘Therefore, as the FS-20's camshaft is, Radio ModellerNS General Information Manufacturer: 0.5. Engine Mfg Co Ltd, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 546, Japan. U.K. Distribution and Service: OS Products Ltd, Brunswick Industrial Park, New Southgate, Landon NII 1JL. ‘Type: Single-cylinder, glowplug- ignition, four stroke with overhead valves operated through pushrods from front mounted camshaft. Twin ball bearing crankshaft Bore and stroke: 18 « [4mm (0.7087 x 0.5512in) Stroke/bore ratio: 0.778:1 Swept volume: 8.563ce (0.2174eu in) in) Measured compression ratio: 7.2:1 ‘Measured valve timing*: Inlet opens: Inlet closes: Exhaust opens: Exhaust closes: Inlet period: Exhaust period: Overlap: = with tappets set at practical Carburetor: Barrel throttle type with ‘adjustable airbleed mixture control and self-reopening choking device. Effective ‘choke area 7.989 mm. Cheeked weight: 269 grammes (9.2802) including choke valve ‘assembly. Performance Tests Power output, gross: 0.31 bhp at 12,500 rpm ‘Torque, gross: 2802 in. at 9,000 rpm Equivalent b.m.e.p.: [0ilb/sq in. Specific output, gross: 87 bhp/litre Power/welght ratio, gross 0.54 vi January 1986 PERFORMANCE CURVES Os. F: STROKE BRAKE - HORSEPOWER FUEL: 10% nitromethane] AIRTEHP. 19°C PRESSURE: 770mm My. HUMIDITY: 60% emer alsom TORQUE OZ1N Typical prop rpm: 6,850 on a 124 Zinger maple 7800 on an 116 MK glassfibre/nylon 7/600 on an 11~4 Power Prop maple 71950 on a 06 MK glassfibre’nslon 8.750 on a 105 Top Flite maple £81800 on a 105 Zinger maple 8700 on a 9 Power Prop maple 91700 on a 6 Power Prop mé 91800 on a 10=4 Top Flite maple 10/400 on a 104 Zinger maple 10,300 on a 95 Top Flite maple supported in porous bronze bushes, instead, it has been provided with floating hardened steel ball, mm at each end, to maintain get alignment and virtually eliminate frictional loss. Cylinder head. In place of the digcoidal combustion chamber of the FS-40, the FS-20 has a recognisably more efficient shape similar to the modified shallow bathtub pattern of other recent O.S. four-strokes. The engine's low-stroke/bore ratio has also ‘enabled above-average sized valves and ports to be used. The valve throats ezrin § et wa meat ae tienes nares SS = 10,800 on a 5 MK glassfibre/ nylon 11,100 on an 8'.x6 Zinger maple 11,800 on a 94 Power Prop maple Test Conditions Running time prior to test: Approx Fuel used: 70% methanol, 207% castor- ‘il, 10% nitromethane. Glowplug used: 0.8. type ‘F” Air temperature: 19°¢ (67°F) Barometer: 770mm (30.30in,) Hg. Relative humidity: 70% are 7.2mm diameter and the inlet and exhaust ports are 5.0mm and 4.8mm. bore respectively. The plug hole is biassed towards the exhaust port - ‘again accepted full-size practice as a means of reducing risk of detonation, although it has to be admitted that, in such a small cylinder, the advantage may be more theoretical than actual ‘The head casting also includes the base of the rocker box and is fitted with the usual phosphor-bronze combined valve seats and guides, Valve and rocker assemblies. The stainless steel valves have &mm dia, heads and 3mm dia. stems to which the valve springs are attached by the usual O'S. arrangement of a horseshoe shaped retainer contained in a blued steel cap. Each of the hardened caststeel 7rocker arms is closely fitted to a 3.5mm dia, hardened steel spindle secured to the base of the rocker box. The rockers inerease valve lift in a (measured) ratio of 4:29, 20 that, after allowing for rnormal valve lash, the cam lifts previously mentioned are translated into valve lifts of over 2.0mm for the ‘exhaust and approximately 245mm for the inlet. Tn fullsize practice, valve lifts are commonly between 25 and 30 percent of valve throat diameter, but improvernents in volumetric efficiency ‘may continue by increasing lift up to a maximum of 35 percent. The FS-20's {inlet valve lift is approximately 34 percent of the throat diameter. Because Exhaust gases leave the cylinder under pressure and, therefore, faster than the Inlet gas, itis also common, in fullsize practice, to make the exhaust valve Smnaller than the inlet valve. ‘Alternatively, as in the case of the FS- 29, the exhaust valve lift can be reduced. ‘Tappets and pushrods. The hardened and ground steel tappets (cam followers) are Smm dia * 10mm Tong and operate in guides above the camshaft housing. The 2mm dia Jhardened steel pushrods are enclosed in 4.5mm od stainless steel tubular covers and are located by flanges and O-rings between the camshaft housing fand underside of the rocker box base. Tappet (valve clearance) adjustment is provided for, in the usual way, by serew adjusters on the rocker arms. ‘Access to the adjustment is obtained bby removing the two Allen cap screws retaining the polished rocker box cover. Carburetor and choke-valve assembly. The carburettor uses the fame one-piece body and inlet pipe as {s used on the current FS-0 model. This now has the addition of a lug bracing it to the back of the main casting. The ‘carburettor is of the barrel throttle type ‘vith an adjustable airbleed for setting the low-speed mixture. The throttle Darrel has a 4.0mm dia choke and an effective choke area of 79mm. Included with the FS-20 is a ready- fitted self reopening choke valve assembly. The choke flap swings ‘Sideways and is operated by & transverse rod. This is normally fitted fo that a button on ite end ean be pushed fo open the choke but it can, if preferred, be fitted on the left hand side to give a pull action instead. The ‘complete assembly can be easily removed if the owner does not wish to use it Performance When introducing the F$20, the manufacturer anticipated that many of these engines would be purchased by newcomers to four-stroke motors and fs by some who would be mew to ‘model engines of any type. ‘Accordingly, a large four page instruction sheet, highly detailed and extensively illustrated, accompanies feach engine. Tronically, our initial impression, when first handling the FS20, was that it would not be especially easy for fa beginner to hand start. In truth, we hhad fallen into the trap that awaits anyone handling this engine who has hhad long experience of other mode! four strokes, Such experience breeds an acute awareness of the dangers of overpriming: in particular, the possibility of causing an hydraulic lock and the attendant risks of internal damage. Consequently, one tends to ‘under prime as & matter of habit. Most fourstrokes are happy with this state of affairs. Not so the FS20. It likes to be quite wet for starting. The instructions say four priming flicks of the prop with the throttle open and the choke closed and, for a hand start from ‘cold, four flicks Ge two full suction strokes) if not more, are what it needs, Unless there is a sufficiently rich mixture in the combustion chamber, the engine will not fire. “The choke control is very effective and most convenient to use. The button fon the end of the choke rod falls readily to hand when the nose of the Backplate with choke ‘rive tnd carburetor ‘model is being steadied for turning the prop and, being spring loaded, the Choke valve returns immediately to the fully open position when the button released. It goes without saying that the choke button should be pressed ‘only when the engine is being turned over by hand, NEVER simultaneously ‘with an eleotrie starter. "The manufacturer's recommendations include the use of a fuel containing 20 percent eastoril land between 8 and 15 percent nitromethane; the balance methanol, of ‘Couree- Just such a mixture was used for our tests, the actual nitro content being 10 percent. The engine is supplied with an O.S. Type 'F” (four- stroke) glowplug and this is the preferred type when a replacement is, talled for since it has a longer reach {out with shorter thread length) to suit the OS. cylinder head. "The suggested prop sizes for the FS- 20 are 95, 96 and 105 and typical full-throttle rpm achieved with various examples of these do, in fact, correspond with that part of the power hhand between the speed at which the peak of the torque eurve occurs and {allowing for some build-up in flight) the peale of the power curve. However, the engine will, asthe data panel indicates, pull bigger props, and without protest, inthe event of such a prop being required for a very large slow flying type of model "The throttle worked well. We actually had the FS-20 idling steadily on the bench as low as 2,000rpm on a 10%6 MK glassfibre reinforced nylon prop. ‘Safe idling under operational ‘conditions should be in the region of 2.500rpm static, Response to throttle ‘movement between idle and full power ‘was good, The engine ran evenly and with modest vibration levels on all props. Finally, an examination of the FS.20's component parts, at the conclusion of the tests, found them all to be in perfect condition with all fits intact ‘To sum up, the FS-20 is a well designed, solidly built, admirably finished small fourstroke of compact dimensions and modest weight, offering lively performance and low fuel consumption. Radio Modeller