Treven,
The mineral oil I was using was fresh oil not used crankcase oil. It came from draining out the dregs from the container that had housed the fresh oil for my car's oil change. It is part synthetic and has all sorts of additives. The amount of additives ensures that they are nowhere depleted by the time the oil is due for a change. There is a big safety factor with this oil, it is produced by a company which specialise in oils and additives for the diesel fleets of haulage and transport companies. They have been in the business for 100 years or so. I got 1/2 a jam jar full which gave me enough to try without going out and buying some more. The oil is alkaline to offset the acidity produced by diesel engines.

Just as an aside..... PAW recommend leaving the piston at the bottom of the stroke for 3 days or so after using a diesel engine to allow the acid vapours to escape.

Thanks for your comments on the temperature of crankcase and head, I was a bit concerned that the crankcase was so hot - even though it's logical really without the cooling effect of ether. I can't measure the temps so am glad that you reckon they are O.K.

I will probably try pump diesel at some stage. I want to limit my testing to just a few things at first so I get a better idea of what is interacting with what.

Andy,
The photos I put up are not of the moors. I live on an island and one side of the island faces west and has lovely, firm, sandy beaches. The other side of the island faces east and looks over a channel that seperates us from the mainland. This side has large areas of salt marsh. In the photos the stony areas are the pebbly beach which fringes the salt marsh.

I will put up some photos of the area where I test my engines, but will have to go take some first
I go there as it's not far from home, 10 minute drive, and is far enough away to not cause a noise nuisance. I will take some photos of the moors where I fly when I get chance and put them up as well.

You could have a look around the website.....
http://www.lakesgc.co.uk/indexfirstpage.htm

This is the local gliding club, a mile up the road from me. They do aerotow most weekends and there are some photos of the Island and some of the surrounding area.

I must admit that the testing I have done so far using olive oil as lubricant makes me think that it is superior in a number of ways to castor. It does seem to give improved starting and running and it does give the impression that it is improving combustion. Unless used with a fairly high percentage of ether then castor gives nothing but trouble... as we are trying to eliminate, or at least reduce to a minimum, the ether the castor is not much good for our purpose.

I like the olive oil when combined with a small amount of ether and castor. I like the car engine oil when used with a small amount of ether and castor and also as a non-ether mix. I want to try olive oil as the only lubricant in a non-ether mix and I also want to try a mix of olive oil and car engine oil.... just to see what happens [X(]

Reg