I was having a look through Youtube to see some engines running (I need my fix somehow...) and just saw that Brian Winch has passed away.
He was famous for writing about REAL ENGINES in all the Australian magazines as well as a few overseas. He was a real guru when it came to model aircraft engines and was the only approved warranty repairer for Saito engines amongst others. He wasn't always right, but certainly was 98% of the time. Steve Todd didn't speak highly of him, mainly due to his know-it-all attitude. I spoke to him quite a few times in my early years of playing with REAL ENGINES and more recently, when talking about converting glow engines to petrol (before every Chinese man and his edible dog started making them). One article I remember reading was how he was viewed as a grumpy old guy at his model field and he usually kept to himself. He carried his gear out to the pits and proceeded to flick start his engine. Some young smart-buttocks commented to him that he'll never be able to start his engine because he forgot to plug his glow-starter onto the glow plug. He made fun of him as he walked back to his mates. Before he even got to his mates, the engine sprang into life (it was a diesel - no glow plug in them) and the young smart-buttocks was gob-smacked. When this fellow commented to his mates in awe that Brian was able to flick-start an engine without a glow-starter attached, the other guys apparently said something like "yeah, Brian is a funny old fellow that does weird things". Brian got quite a chuckle out of that one.
His articles were the first thing I read whenever I bought a magazine. I kept most of my magazines because of his articles so that I had references to engine fixes.
Many people will miss you Brian 'Oily Hands' Winch. You had international respect from everywhere, especially the Japanese manufacturers in the early post-war modelling boom.
Big oily boots to fill there...
He was famous for writing about REAL ENGINES in all the Australian magazines as well as a few overseas. He was a real guru when it came to model aircraft engines and was the only approved warranty repairer for Saito engines amongst others. He wasn't always right, but certainly was 98% of the time. Steve Todd didn't speak highly of him, mainly due to his know-it-all attitude. I spoke to him quite a few times in my early years of playing with REAL ENGINES and more recently, when talking about converting glow engines to petrol (before every Chinese man and his edible dog started making them). One article I remember reading was how he was viewed as a grumpy old guy at his model field and he usually kept to himself. He carried his gear out to the pits and proceeded to flick start his engine. Some young smart-buttocks commented to him that he'll never be able to start his engine because he forgot to plug his glow-starter onto the glow plug. He made fun of him as he walked back to his mates. Before he even got to his mates, the engine sprang into life (it was a diesel - no glow plug in them) and the young smart-buttocks was gob-smacked. When this fellow commented to his mates in awe that Brian was able to flick-start an engine without a glow-starter attached, the other guys apparently said something like "yeah, Brian is a funny old fellow that does weird things". Brian got quite a chuckle out of that one.
His articles were the first thing I read whenever I bought a magazine. I kept most of my magazines because of his articles so that I had references to engine fixes.
Many people will miss you Brian 'Oily Hands' Winch. You had international respect from everywhere, especially the Japanese manufacturers in the early post-war modelling boom.
Big oily boots to fill there...
![[Image: SaitoFS82b.jpg]](http://www.kingslynnmodelshop.co.uk/images/SaitoFS82b.jpg)
Everyone knows that REAL ENGINES are used by REAL men. Eklectic motors are best left for use in toothbrushes and other unnecessary things.
