superclown

What is the difference between glow versus diesel engines? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Do diesels require a source of ignition that a glow engine does, and what type of fuel does the diesel require? Thank you for any input you can give me.

Jim Thomerson

There is a diesel forum here as a subsection of the engine forum. All your questions and many others are answered there. Model diesels depend on compression heat for ignition. The fuel is ether, kerosene, and castor oil (variations, of course). You have to get the needlevalve set right, and there is usually a compression screw on the top of the head which moves a contrapiston up or down to give the correct compression. So they are a little more fiddly than a glow engine to get just right. Power is similar to a comparable glow engine, but the diesel will swing an oversize prop more happily. Most modelers have never seen a diesel powered airplane fly, and even fewer have seen one fly with the engine adjusted right.

Jim