Basic Aeronautics

[Celwin]

Dennis and I were talking about glow plugs on the day you posted this Brian. We were talking about how today's plugs don't last like they did 20 years ago. Back then, plugs still worked even if they had been in a model for so long, carbon/gloomp would build up around the plug and surround the hole where the element is. I experience it myself. During the last Scanner race, I was blowing a plug (OS #8 and some Wolf ones) at the conclusion of almost every round. I would land and then the engine would stop. I'd try to re-start for the next race (or to check tuning, as it was off-song due to dying bearings so I was trying to squeeze the most RPM's out of it) and it wouldn't start. Dead plug. The instructions call for A3 plugs or #6 to be used in the 46AX, but a plug is a plug right? Obviously, the 46AX's are a bit particular on plugs.
I found it weird that the plug would blow at low revs or idle every time and not at full throttle. Spark plugs fail at high temperatures, compression and high rpm's from my experience with motorcycles.

We had heard (Dennis and I) that plugs nowadays are only coated in platinum, not solid like they used to be. The Enya plugs are apparently still made of solid platinum, so if you're having problems like me, either use the plug that is recommended or try an Enya.

Brian Winch once wrote about converting glow engines to spark ignition using petrol as the fuel. He claimed that there was little or no difference in power. That was something that I would disagree with (rare occurrence with his articles), as a tinkerer at my last club converted several engines, both small and fuel-guzzling larger Super Tigers. He said that anything under 15cc wasn't worth converting due to the power loss and increased weight.

I wonder if your deformed bug juice friend is still around Brian. Serious affects on the body like that are rarely localised as we reach our senior years.

Thanks for writing this sort of stuff Brian. It is appreciated.