RE: Why are helicopter glow engines so smoky????
The 50 size helicopter engine is constantly turnig about 17.000 RPM , and that alone will give more smoke than an airplane engine maybe running 12000 at full throttle.
Planes move quite quickly away from the exhast smoke when flying, so you dont notice it as much as a helicopter hovering.
Also, the prop on a plane is blowing away the exhaust, deluting the smoke
Im still a newbie in helis, and I only use 10% nitro in my raptor 50.
The other guys at my field use 20-30%, and they sure smoke more than mine does, so high nitro content also makes more smoke for sure.