I have on-board glow batteries on many of my planes. I've tried all kinds. Currently, I have one glow driver that is plugged into the gear slot on the receiver and I can turn it on and off with the gear switch when I want to. Most planes, if I am not concerned about weight, I will install a heavy duty C or D NiCd, an external jack to charge it, and a switch to turn it on to the glow plug. I turn it on, start, and leave it on all during the flight. Simplest and most effective method. So convenient to have an on-board battery. Just flip the switch and start and fly. The C cells are rated at 2400 MAH and the D at 4500 MAH. Either will supply all the flying I want in a day. Used to get them from Radio Shack, but they discontinued the heavy duty cells. BTW, the best glow plug connector and charging jack I've found is the Hangar 9 unit. Excellent glow plug connector and a jack for the airplane with a short cable with a glow plug connector on the end for charging.

I never worried about the timing thing. They just start easy and run great.

Coop