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Not just hot-air hype
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•Unique engines fill the fairgrounds as K&O Show begins.
By ROY GRABER
People who come out to roam the Winfield Fairgrounds for the Kansas and Oklahoma Steam and Gas Engine Association’s annual K&O Show today through Sunday will get the opportunity to see engines that instead of running on traditional fuels, run simply on hot air.
And it won’t be just a few of them. The west exterior wall of the grandstands is filled with them, as well as much of the nearby beef barn.
K&O association secretary Linda Keasling said they had inquiries from all over the United States, as well as Europe. Some people had engines to display; others just wanted to come and see the rare engines.
At the show’s registration table on Thursday afternoon, K&O members said 35 exhibitors had registered for hot air engines alone, with nearly all of them having multiple engines. Those at the table guessed there were others who had not yet registered.
While the fairgrounds were steadily filling up with vintage gasoline engines, as well as gas- and steam-powered tractors, many of the early birds were intrigued by the engines that ran on hot air.
“This is pretty amazing,” said Ed Malcom, a gas-engine collector from Pineville, Mo. “This isn’t just a bunch of hot-air hype.”
Jerry Swedberg, a 77-year-old retired post-secondary vocational school teacher from Minnesota, was sitting at a table with four small hot-air engines. He had one hooked up to a propane bottle and running with a rotating platform on top.
“Most people just don’t get how these work,” said Swedberg. “Hot air expands, and cold air contracts. When the hot air expands, it pushes the piston up, and when it contracts, it pulls it down.”
The pistons on his engine move smoothly up and down while a small flame burns at the base.
Swedberg laughs when he talks of those doubters who have come and left his displays at past shows.
“I’ll explain how it works and have had people just say ‘BS’ and walk away,” he says with a chuckle.
One of Swedberg’s engines, he guessed, was used for a rotating display. He isn’t sure about the use of two others.
“This one doesn’t have enough power to pull a mouse off a table,” he said.
Swedberg believes three of his four engines were manufactured between 1880 and 1900. He described an old advertisement of an engine that says you no longer need a steam engine or a strong man to pump water. All you need to know how to do is start a fire.
Swedberg said he drove 800 miles for this show. He has traveled as far as 1,200 to go to a show, but this is the farthest he has driven for one.
“It’s an unusual hobby. It’s getting quite expensive,” he said.
While his smaller engines don’t have quite as much of a price tag on them, he estimated that some of the larger ones at the show are worth as much as $15,000.
Swedberg speaks well of the friendship and fellowship hot air enthusiasts share, though he admits he doesn’t always remember everybody.
“I’ll have lots of people come up to me and say ‘Hi, Jerry. How are you doing?’ And I won’t have any idea of what their name is. But that goes along with being 77,” he said.
And it won’t be just a few of them. The west exterior wall of the grandstands is filled with them, as well as much of the nearby beef barn.
K&O association secretary Linda Keasling said they had inquiries from all over the United States, as well as Europe. Some people had engines to display; others just wanted to come and see the rare engines.
At the show’s registration table on Thursday afternoon, K&O members said 35 exhibitors had registered for hot air engines alone, with nearly all of them having multiple engines. Those at the table guessed there were others who had not yet registered.
While the fairgrounds were steadily filling up with vintage gasoline engines, as well as gas- and steam-powered tractors, many of the early birds were intrigued by the engines that ran on hot air.
“This is pretty amazing,” said Ed Malcom, a gas-engine collector from Pineville, Mo. “This isn’t just a bunch of hot-air hype.”
Jerry Swedberg, a 77-year-old retired post-secondary vocational school teacher from Minnesota, was sitting at a table with four small hot-air engines. He had one hooked up to a propane bottle and running with a rotating platform on top.
“Most people just don’t get how these work,” said Swedberg. “Hot air expands, and cold air contracts. When the hot air expands, it pushes the piston up, and when it contracts, it pulls it down.”
The pistons on his engine move smoothly up and down while a small flame burns at the base.
Swedberg laughs when he talks of those doubters who have come and left his displays at past shows.
“I’ll explain how it works and have had people just say ‘BS’ and walk away,” he says with a chuckle.
One of Swedberg’s engines, he guessed, was used for a rotating display. He isn’t sure about the use of two others.
“This one doesn’t have enough power to pull a mouse off a table,” he said.
Swedberg believes three of his four engines were manufactured between 1880 and 1900. He described an old advertisement of an engine that says you no longer need a steam engine or a strong man to pump water. All you need to know how to do is start a fire.
Swedberg said he drove 800 miles for this show. He has traveled as far as 1,200 to go to a show, but this is the farthest he has driven for one.
“It’s an unusual hobby. It’s getting quite expensive,” he said.
While his smaller engines don’t have quite as much of a price tag on them, he estimated that some of the larger ones at the show are worth as much as $15,000.
Swedberg speaks well of the friendship and fellowship hot air enthusiasts share, though he admits he doesn’t always remember everybody.
“I’ll have lots of people come up to me and say ‘Hi, Jerry. How are you doing?’ And I won’t have any idea of what their name is. But that goes along with being 77,” he said.
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