Nitro Engines
 

I looked around the forum for some time now, and cant fine a thread discussing nitro engines.

What nitro engines are the best for the money, where can you buy them, and what would an rc engine that is quality usually cost me to buy? There are so many listings on eBay that run around $20-$30 for a somewhat rusted "working" engine. Where can I buy one new? That may not exactly be what I want though, as new may cost quite a large sum of cash. Now onto my new issue, what is the best fuel to run them on? I have seen so many brands of fuel, such as Traxxas, and Cool Power, but I am not sure which would work best in an engine. My thoughts are that it doesnt exactly matter the brand of fuel you buy, but the nitromethane and oil levels in the fuel. Am I correct in saying this?

Thank you all for your time,
Noah

When you say "nitro" I assume you mean "glow" engines as the fuel is really alcohol and, if in the USA, may contain some nitro. On the other side of the pond, nitro is often not allowed as an additive. As to fuel, any of the major brands will do very well, most differences are just in the advertising. In most cases 5% to 10% nitro is quite enough (the less nitro the less expensive the fuel). Both synthetic or castor oil (or a mix of both) are quite suitable, no need to be particular. Unless you are running a very old Fox (which likes castor best) the synthetics work well with easier clean up from exhaust residue as long as you DO NOT RUN IT LEAN. A lean run on fuel with synthetic oil can overheat and ruin you engine quicker than a fuel with castor oil.

Oops.

Hi, thank you for your time.
You seem quite knowledgeable in these things, so can I ask you some questions?

I am looking into nitro airplanes after my first electric highwing trainer. What plane would be the best to start with? I have looked around on Craigslist in my area, but havent found much worthy of looking at. I am thinking I should build my own at this point. My question is, what would I need to do so? As far as I know, I need an engine, fuel lines, muffler, gas tank, fuel filter, servos, and batteries for the servos. That isnt including the plane itself, which I am open to suggestions on, and the materials to start it, such as glow ignitor, electric starter, and fuel.

Thank you very much for your time.

There is a RCU forum devoted to glow [aka nitro ] engines Glow Engines - RCU Forums

A good general purpose fuel for the average RC glow engine will have around 16 % synthetic oil 2 castor oil 10 % nitromethane and the balance methanol.

But there are engines which need more nitromethane eg the small Cox engines and others which need less oil eg the big Super Tigres.

As for buying an engine well there are some specialist suppliers still around eg Just Engines Online Ltd

Buying a used engine is gamble buying one off Ebay is a big gamble. Lots of over priced iunk on EBAY. I just had a quick look and out of the first 100 there was nothing worth buying unless you were a collector

It would help if we knew what sort of engine size you were looking for and what sort of plane