Ibrake,

Back in the early 1960s I lived in Hong Kong. We flew some control line and ROW free flight. Because commercial glow fuel was prohibitively expensive and hard to come by, I began to mix my own glow fuel (with the help of my chemist father) from methanol and castor oil, both of which were easily available. It ran pretty well at a 4:1 methanol/oil mixture, but the castor oil (which was not always the highest quality) left a pretty nasty black gunk all over everything. Still, it got us flying and that was all that mattered.

Castor oil comes from a bean like many other oils we use. The advantage to castor oil is its ability to withstand the very high combustion temperatures in 2-stroke engines and still provide lubrication. I don't see where another oil couldn't provide the same, provided it didn't burn off in the cylinder.

The real problem today comes from trying to get Methanol (methyl alcohol). It's not readily available (at least where I am it's not) due to the fact that it's used to make crack cocaine, so if you get enough to make fuel out of, I'll bet you can expect a visit from the DEA. Besides, fuel is affordable now and in better supply, so my days of mixing my own are behind me. Still, it was good experience.

papermache