About 4 years ago, I got hot for a gasser and bought a DLE 20 for my Four Star 120. It was for the usual reasons like being cheaper to run, less slop on the plane and you can put the fuel tank on the CG. Plus, it ran better than most of my glow engines.
Then, about 2 years ago I started researching mixing my own glow fuel and discovered a few interesting things. First and foremost, there is no need to be paying $20+/gallon for glow fuel at the hobby shop. I found a place near me where I can buy Methanol for $4/gallon. There were other places not near me selling it for considerably less. Then, I found a place where I can get (real) castor for $27/gallon delivered. Finally, I read where glow engines don't really need any nitro and that if you're using real castor oil, 12% oil is plenty and that larger engines can even go as low as 10% oil content if real castor oil is used
I mixed up a gallon of my own and I was shocked at how much better my engines ran. First, they started easier and didn't load up when idling. Transition was much better and, despite the lack of nitro, the engines made the same or even a little more power. Also, there was less slop on the plane. Icing on the cake is that the mix is under $7/gallon
I think the reason for the better performance was the fact that I was using less oil. The thinner fuel seemed to eliminate issues of loading up, transition, or fuel starvation with the nose pointed up. The difference was even more pronounced in cooler weather. I had always thought that glow engines needed 18-20% oil to be protected, but the reason the manufacturers specify this is because they have no idea what type of oil you're going to be using and real castor has far higher film strength than synthetics. The weak link in a glow engine, lubrication-wise, is the bottom of the connecting rod and 12% real castor is plenty to protect the bottom of the connecting rod. One of my engines, an ASP .46 has a lot of time now on this thinner, 0%-nitro blend and has never run better. There have also been no issues with the engine gumming up or getting coated with brown varnish.
When switching to this 0% fuel the only thing I changed was to a hotter plug. I also found that fuel consumption went down by about 15% since I'm not just sucking down a bunch of nitro plus a huge amount of oil that isn't adding any power...just making a mess of my plane.
I'd be curious to hear from other flyers from around the world who mix their own fuel and listen to their two cents worth.
PS: I almost forgot, no gasser has that wonderful smell of burning castor! (plus my basement no longer stinks)