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That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 3:47:30 PM   
proptop



Posts: 4509
Joined: 10/18/2002
From: Rome, NY, USA
Status: offline 		One thing that comes to mind every time we get a thread about castor...
The smell...

Something that I often wonder about though is why does todays castor fuel smell different from "yesterdays"?

What I really mean is...as a kid during the 60's I had a few Wen Mac controlliners. They came with a little (1/2 pint? ) can of fuel...

There was just something special about the smell of that fuel when it burned...
Was there a "secret ingredient" in it that's absent in todays fuels?
If so, where can I perhaps get some so I can go back in time?

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 4:55:23 PM   
Matthew Allen



Posts: 160
Joined: 9/6/2005
From: Bofferdange, LUXEMBOURG
Status: offline 		You mean it gets better? I love the smell as it is, though I'm too young to have smelt the old school variety.

I'm one of those weirdos that's always takes deep breaths when at the airport - that burnt kerosene (?) aroma has a similar effect on me.

Matthew

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 5:29:46 PM   
Flyer95


 

Posts: 978
Joined: 9/21/2004
From: STOCKHOLM Akersberga, SWEDEN
Status: offline 		First time I used castor oil was in the mid 80´s running Cox engines and I remeber the smell to the day . Todays fuels are usually mixed with syntetics and I think thats why they smell differently. Castor oil and nitro running slightly rich smells great

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 6:04:19 PM   
RaceCity



Posts: 1842
Joined: 7/10/2002
From: NotUpNorth, USA
Status: offline 		Castor with just a hint of Klotz synthetic is nearly a religious experience.

Oh boy!!



< Message edited by RaceCity -- 3/24/2006 6:05:29 PM >

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 8:04:02 PM   
HaveBlue



Posts: 852
Joined: 1/3/2005
From: Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		I know what you mean...I mix my own fuel and have found that there are different castor types.. mine is listed as bp93 grade
(British pharmaceuticals) and it's definitely not the same as the good ol' stuff you use to buy....it hints at the old stuff but thats as good as it gets!

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 11:42:35 PM   
loughbd


 

Posts: 2111
Joined: 11/29/2003
From: Bremerton, WA, USA
Status: offline 		I've been flying glow engines since the early 50's. Castor based fuel smeels just like it did then. I even have one of my coats from the 60's that is soaked with castor oil. Smells just like the Oil soaked clothes I wear today. I think you guys are getting old and you noses broke.

Now if you REALLY want to smell heaven, try the diesel smell of the an old diesel submarine. It is almost a sexual experiance.

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/24/2006 11:54:03 PM   
Ed Cregger



Posts: 7746
Joined: 1/31/2002
From: Ringgold, GA, USA
Status: offline 		The fuel made for small engines uses more castor and nitro than most of the fuel we sport fly with today.

Let's not forget that our sense of smell changes as we age too.

If you want to recapture a bit of the past, find an old Cox, OK Cub or Wen Mac .049 that was last ran in the Sixties. Put it near your nose and then hook up the booster battery to the glowplug. That little puff of smoke that comes out of the exhaust port will immediately transport you back in time and will put a smile on your face. Don't ask how I know.


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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 12:57:04 AM   
loughbd


 

Posts: 2111
Joined: 11/29/2003
From: Bremerton, WA, USA
Status: offline 		The fuel I use is 70% methanol, 20% castor oil, and 10% nitro methane. Pretty much what I used 40 years ago.

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 1:02:32 AM   
sigrun



Posts: 1023
Joined: 7/18/2003
From: Dunnunda, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: proptop
One thing that comes to mind every time we get a thread about castor...The smell...

I like it too. The stuff of reminiscence, like an old fashioned ice cream cone.

quote:

Something that I often wonder about though is why does todays castor fuel smell different from "yesterdays"?

If it's straight castor, does to me. Aging olfactory and memory?

Could have something to do with percentages or a perfume added to the proprietary pre-mixed fuels you guys buy...or back then. The fuels back in the '60's were usually 25% oil or more. I was around and flying C/L back then, toward the end of the decade..

We mainly mix our own over here, and when I mix the occasional 20% pure castor brew for initial running/bedding in, it smells the same.

quote:

There was just something special about the smell of that fuel when it burned...
Was there a "secret ingredient" in it that's absent in todays fuels?
If so, where can I perhaps get some so I can go back in time?

Possbily. Elixir of youth perhaps?

Although, on a more serious note, perhaps it was something proprietary they actually did include. Even back then, glow fuels usd to smell a little different according to formula. I remember the smell of burnt Shell A substituted in a brew for straight methanol burnt with a distinctively different and discernable smell. I doubt I could pick the difference now though.

I can still tell whether someone is running Klotz, Coolpower (oil), Castor or electric from the smell though! Electric stinks! <just joking - before I start a war>

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 1:22:29 AM   
downunder



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Joined: 10/10/2002
From: Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: sigrun
I remember the smell of burnt Shell A substituted in a brew for straight methanol burnt with a distinctively different and discernable smell.

Shell A has 3% acetone so maybe that's what gave the different smell. I used to love the smell of castor when I went to the old speedway tracks but I never seem to take much notice of how our engines smell nowadays although when I use a turbine oil it's distinctly different.

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 1:27:54 AM   
bldrums



Posts: 478
Joined: 9/30/2002
From: C-Ville, VA, USA
Status: offline 		emmm, yeah.....And you know what else smells great ( but its not of memories): Marvel Mystery Oil! Not too dry , not too heavy , even a slight sweetness ; a nice full bodied red oil for those after runs. Excellent. Pricy but Excellent.


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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 2:03:56 AM   
w8ye



Posts: 17493
Joined: 12/11/2001
From: Taylortown, OH, USA
Status: offline 		I little cherry lamp oil scent from the grocery store would help out

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 2:32:19 AM   
TPAGEL


 

Posts: 40
Joined: 12/23/2002
From: Milbank, SD, USA
Status: offline 		Back in the good old days(1950's) many fuels had additives that were later banned as they were found to cause cancer. Power Mist , which was very popular, also had Benzene added and when you got a whiff of that brew it smelled just wonderful.

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RE: That special smell of spent castor fuel? - 3/25/2006 2:51:34 AM   
sigrun



Posts: 1023
Joined: 7/18/2003
From: Dunnunda, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: downunder
Shell A has 3% acetone so maybe that's what gave the different smell.

I think so. It was dyed purple with a vegetable dye, but insofar as I remember that was allegedly odourless. You can discern the different odour in the unburnt state as well. I used to use Shell A it when it was pretty close to price parity with methanol in a 20 litre drum buy from the distributor depots. Circa 1990. That changed when Shell pumped the price up on both and coincidentally altered the pricing differential significantly. In 1998, I was paying AUD$25 for a sealed in date certified 20 litre drum of aviation grade methanol from the Shell depot inc. drum. When I last enquired in 2003, the price had jumped up to AUD$47-. A drum of Shell A was by then....wait for it...an absurd AUD$76-! - I suspect it must have been blessed by His holyness, the Pope. About that time, I started buying bulk decanted methanol from a source which facilitated BYO drum so I could be assured of my own clean drum and a reasonable surety of uncontamiinated methanol. Currently paying AUD$30- a BYO drum (refill). Club (bulk) is about the same (but BYO exchange drum).

Detest the odour of burnt/burning Avtur. Used to love of it and the emotion it evoked once, but it gets "on the nose" and loses that novelty when you're around it all day. Much like the sound of jet and turbine engines. Now they're just noise, something I'd rather not hear (as long as they're turning) and the further down the back and quieter the better. The smell of burnt Avtur almost makes me ill now. Haven't used turbine oil in IC model engines, so am unfamiliar with the smell of the residual of it burning with methanol.

Don't know if you guys get them in the states, but have you seen the range of commerical scents intended as additives to perfume your fuel. Fair dinkum! One of the guys at the club puts the coconut scented one in his heli-brew which punches out exhaust smoke like a smoker unit. Burns slightly more whitish (smoke) and the smell evokes the memory of the taste of ....dessicated coconut. Me, I'll just stick with the current smell of Klotz Techniplate. Remember the old stinky one? OMG!

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