Subject: Factory-made "Schreckling" turbine

From: [email-masked] (Alan Frisbie)
Date: 23 May 95 21:42:23 PDT

Since I am building a copy of the Schreckling gas turbine, I get a
lot of e-mail from people who want more information.   Some of
them may not feel that they are ready for such a complex project.
This report is for them and others who would prefer a ready-made
product.

Those who have purchased the English translation of Kurt Schreckling's
book, "Gas Turbine Engines for Model Aircraft" are aware that an
improved version, the FD3/67, is available from a company in Austria.
A company in the Los Angeles area has purchased the American rights
and the two companies are now producing the engine as a joint effort.
Today I visited the company and viewed one of the prototypes.

Schneider-Sanchez GmbH (St. Lambrecht, Austria) took the Schreckling
design and developed it much further.   The plywood compressor was
replaced with a casting, as was the diffuser and front housing.
The turbine disk was completely redesigned, allowing the RPM to be
increased to 80,000, providing considerably more thrust.   An
electronic engine control/monitoring module was developed that
makes it much easier and safer to operate.

Golden West Models has taken that design and made it easier to
manufacture, as well as enhancing the electronic monitoring unit.
As a result, some parts are now being produced in Austria, while
the rest are made in the USA.   The first production run of 50
engines (plus 20% spares) is under way and the completed engines
are expected to be available for sale by September 1st.   The
price will be $2750.00.

Since I dropped in unannounced, I did not know what to expect.
What I found was more than just a garage or basement operation.
The company is located next to Van Nuys Airport in a light
industrial park.   It is obvious that Golden West Models is a
start-up offshoot of an existing company that makes large
aircraft models, both for movies and individuals.   One hanging
>from  the roof had an estimated 18' wingspan.   Some are obviously
intended for use with this turbine.

They gave me a warm, if somewhat hesitant, welcome and took
me into their workshop to view the turbine.   It was mounted
on a test board with instrumentation for all vital parameters.
One feature of the electronics allows test data to be collected
and down-loaded (via RS-232) to a PC for analysis.   At least
five of the engineers took turns proudly showing me features
of the engine and describing how they improved it.

I was allowed to handle some of the parts and was impressed
with the quality.   It makes Kurt Schreckling's work look
positively crude.   Instead of hand welding, they used furnace
brazing throughout.   I consider it a high standard to gauge
my own engine by.   

Although none of the mechanical parts would be interchangable
with mine, I was interested in buying the electronics unit
(when it is complete) for use with my own engine.   Unfortunately,
they will not sell it without a complete engine.   This is sad,
as I am sure that many home-builders would love to buy this
part ready-made.   For the electronics-minded, it is built
around the PIC microprocessor.

Currently, the manual is the one from Schneider-Sanchez and
they say it needs to be translated from pseudo-English to
real English.   I was not allowed to view the manual except
as one of the engineers rapidly flipped through it, so I
cannot comment on it.

Besides the usual lathe and manual mill, they also had a brand
new Fadal VMC-15 CNC mill.   This turbine appears to be their
first engine project.   I neglected to ask if they use
Mastercam, BobCAD or some other CAD/CAM software for their
design work.

They have promised to call me the next time they plan to run
the engine.   When I have seen it run I will have a more
complete report.   For more information, contact:

        Golden West Models, LLC
        16520 Arminta Street
        Van Nuys, CA 91406

        818-781-7364 (Voice)
        818-781-4112 (FAX)

--  Alan E. Frisbie               [email-masked]
--  Flying Disk Systems, Inc.
--  4759 Round Top Drive          (213) 256-2575 (voice)
--  Los Angeles, CA 90065         (213) 258-3585 (FAX)