What a difference!

RCflier

I had posted before that I had trouble getting my egg hot, no matter what I tried. cleaning, aligning, calibrating, adding charcoal, my egg never wanted to pass 275 (which is usually fine). Any time I tried to go hotter I'd just burn through the coal quicker.

Last night I bought some Royal Oak, instead of Cowboy lump I usually get, and built my fire.

just stirred the old lump, and threw some big chunks of the Royal Oak in, filled it up, and lit it... it got hot quick!

Threw the turkey meatloaf on at 375, and by the end I had a hard time staying below 400 indirect!! :cheer:

I think I'll have to try some steaks and veggies this weekend with this new found heat

BigDaddy - OCT

Glad you got that figured out.

On a side note, based on your handle, what RC product do you fly? I used to do a lot of planes but stepped away for grad school, etc. and just got back in by buying a pair of e-flite Blade 400 helicopters...man that's a lot of fun!

Bruce

RCflier

Planes, but fallen out of it as well. I want to get back into it this year now that I have the time. Still have all my old stuff, just needs a little work to get back in order.

stike

the funny thing is, when i want a hot fast fire, i use cowboy.

comes down to chunks and airflow i think, more than even how light the lump is.

but any sizeable chunks with lots of airflow will help

Fidel

I think the hardwood species plays a role here. I have use the SA Royal Oak and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the temps over about 550.

If he has some of this Cowboy that people have been suspecting is a SA blend, then perhaps that has something to do with it. I dunno, because I've never even seen Cowboy lump, just tossing out a random thought.

stike

cowboy is pretty light. maple and oak. oak flooring scraps and maple (i think) S4S wood chunks.

the SA royal oak i got was incredibly dense. it took 45 minutes or so to get going, but i had no problems (eventually) getting over 700, but it took a while

sparked like a raped ape, though, at those temps

Rascal

My experience with Cowboy has been the same. I remember the first time I tried it in a Weber kettle (Pre-Egg days). Lit a substantial fire and in no time it was so hot that I thought for sure it would melt the grill! And with so much O2, it was over in no time!

Rascal

Curious... Which model do you have and how did you learn to fly it? I've been fixed-wing all my life...

Cpt'n Cook

I just bought 200 lbs. of Cowboy from Ace, $12.99 for 20lb. bag. I have always found it hot,easy to light and clean burning. Maybe not the best for low slows though.

FlaPoolman

Curious as to how you found out about the raped ape never mind I don't want to know :laugh: :laugh:

Rascal

I seemed to have found one way... http://www.xheli.com/e4chflsitrki.html

Grandpas Grub

In the past, fixed and rotary here. Never did get rotary down well. Now I only have a couple of mini rotary.

Thought it might be fun to fly 3D but also thinking that would require a lot of money (crashes).

GG

Grandpas Grub

Cowboy & RO have produced good hot burns. The high temp problem for me is more to do with air flow into the bottom of the firebox itself and flow up through the lump.

GG

BigDaddy - OCT

Hey GG,

I bought my first new Blade 400 for $330 and flew it a month before my first crash. It was my fault for being in a hurry and not waiting for the gyros but anyway, I bought a second so I didn't have to wait on parts.

Now I train on the rebuilt one and was able to take it out this weekend for my first 3D flying. Just the basics but did some loops and rolls and that was pretty cool. I have a flight sim for the PC that I credit with helping. In fact, I never had a single minute of training other than the simulator when I started flying 14 years ago...local club could not believe it.

stike

first, get an ape....

Grandpas Grub

Planes always fascinated me, loved watching war movies especially air core movies. When I was 8 during summer recess I bought donughts from a local baker and went out on my bike selling door to door. Picked up my first .35 U Control.

Got into RC when I could afford a Heathkit pulse tx & receiver. 1 click left rudder, 2 click right. The left/right control was powered by a large rubber band. I found out the hard way the power band lost power well before the engine ran out of gas. It was very sad watching my RC fly over countless houses and into the sunset. From that point on I always put my name & number somewhere on the plane.

My cousin built a pulse jet airline, free flight which ended up as another into the sunset experience on the first flight.

Went back to U Control for a lot of years then into RC when I could finally afford it. Did that until I found my lovely bride and the new family is where any extra money went.

Ended up getting back into it when my two oldest boys were 7 to 10 years old then sold everything. Back to RC Helicopters but there wasn't much sophistication back then. I had 3 30 size helicopters. Needed 3 to keep them all flying (hovering). Every time one crashed it was like watching a dying grasshopper. They energy in the blades kept slamming the boom and tearing up everything.

The only thing I think I really accomplished was learning how to straighten things out and repairing. I think I only had one good flight, that is out of hover into flight.

Fixed wing, had a lot of fun, 60 class Formula 1 for quite a while. I had a Byron 1/3 scale biplane that was fun.

I have some of the cheap micro helicopters that the grand kids get to fly.

I don't have much confidence on my ability for rotary and they are expensive when they crash, which I did often (weekly - well every time I went out).

I think I would like to get some larger size electric but I would miss the smell of the exhaust and the sound of the engines.

I think a jet would also be fun.

Thanks for the comments, brought back a lot of fun memories.

GG