Originally Posted by
ThunderBoat42
I personally love glow. Yeah, the smell tooo. :-). Aside from difficult starting 'Testors' of poor design in the early 70's I have always has great reliable performance out of them. Low idle has never been a problem. Some don't like the oil on the plane... I don't mind it. Keeps my shop smellimg good.
I've run glow for more than 40 years of my 46 years in the hobby. I know the ins and outs of glow better than most. I loved the power/weight, the smell, the ease of starting. I hated the maintenance headaches with plugs, bearings and pump replacements. Also the occasional dead starting battery or starter and most recently the considerable cost increase in feeding the beasties.
I went all small gas (30cc to 60cc) about 5 years ago when smaller gassies really started coming into their own. Purchase cost wise they are a wash. Weightwise, they are a wash power for power and that includes the extra 4 ounces of the CDI box. Maintenance really favors the gas engines. Longevity favors the gas engines. And operating cost favors the gas engines. Ease of starting really favors today's gas engines. Super simple field manners.
I have NO intention of ever going back to glow. In addition, with the "new" plugs that don't need a CDI that some companies are playing with, there won't be any reason not to run gas. Well, gas stinks and doesn't store well; that's why I don't run anything other than Avgas in my small gassies. YMMV as always