On June 9, 2021, Gary Orloff fired up the 1950 Johnson PO-15 outboard he spent the last few months rebuilding. It’s a 30 cubic inch, 22 horsepower “blue smoke generator”, that hasn’t run in a very long time. Nice!
This is a Konig Sailboat outboard motor, that was built from 1930 to 1935. This particular unit hasn’t run for many years, but thanks to Gary Orloff of the AOMCI, it’s running again! Note that the long shaft and propeller are missing. The reason is that there is no transmission or clutch on this motor, and running a spinning propeller out of the water is dangerous for the people around it. Safety first!
Gary’s 1950 Johnson PO-15 22HP running again on July 14th…..this time in slow motion. Notice the engine misfiring quite a bit at idle (2 stroke motors commonly do this anyways, but 1950s carburetors were still rather crude by modern standards). This is an interesting study!
The Antique Outboard Motor Club International (Western Reserve Chapter) held a meet on Pymatuning Lake on Saturday, July 17th, 2021. It was a “wet meet”, and more than just because they brought boats to run on the water; it rained a lot of the day. That didn’t dampen the spirits of the club members, though!