Diesels function very well.
The engines mentioned are not high quality engines.
The Diesel compression pressure is similar to glow, the ether in the fuel takes care of that.
I use Davis fuel exclusively, you can count on it day in and day out, they make ABC blend for ball bearing engines and Plane fuel for bushing engines.
Mr. Davis actually recommends using a starter until you learn the flip start.
They work fine inverted, just like glow, do not over prime.

My conversions are Fox, SuperTigre, MVVS, OS LA, K&B, Fitzpatrick, MDS, Webra and then I have PAW, Irvine and Enya purpose built Diesel engines. An example of a conversion would be a Fox .74, it turns a 12x8 Graupner at 11,200 rpm on 5% nitro and a Graupner 12x8 3 blade at 9,200 on Davis ABC. It burns exactly half as much fuel as a Diesel.