I know what electric and gas airplanes are, but what are nitro? What do they run on? And what is so good(or bad) about them.

"Nitro" refers to glow fuel that is made of Methanol, Oil, and Nitromethane. I guess "nitro" powered is more macho than "glow" powered so people like saying it.

Frequently nitro powered planes are refered to as gas planes. A more common term for nitro powered planes is glow powered or glow planes.

Gas planes use gasoline as a fuel and are typically larger planes (80"+ wingspan ) with engines of 20 cc and larger.

Nitro is a mixture of methanol, nitromethane and oil. MOST nitro engines are under 1.2 cubic inch displacement, although there are some nitro powered engines as large as 2.1 cubic inch displacement (single cylinder - multi cylinder engines can go higher in displacement).

MOST nitro powered planes are typically less than 80" wingspan.

Nitro, or glow fuel is not as hazardous as gasoline, however it is more expensive. Where gas engines use an ignition system and a sparkplug to ignite the gasoline, a glow powered engine uses a glow plug (similar to what is used for car/truck diesel engines). The glow plug is powered by an external 1.5 volt battery. Once the engine starts the battery is disconnected and the heat from the engine keeps the glow plug ignited so the engine stays running.

Glow fuel requires a different tubing from the fuel tank to the engine than gasoline powered engines. Glow fuel has oil in the mixture, so the exhaust is oily and does require that the plane be cleaned at the end of the day. Glow fuel also requires a different type of paint than gasoline. Glow fuel paints are typically acrylic based or epoxy paints, otherwise the exhaust residue softens and destroy the paint in very short order.

Hope this answers most of your questions.

I agree with carrellh, "nitro" engine is completely wrong so it's best not to get into the habit of calling them that. Their main fuel is methanol and nitro is just an additive which you can use or not. The proper common term is glow engine. This has always been one of my pet peeves and it seems to have started with advertising by the RC car people to make them sound powerful .

Basically there are 4 types of engines used in planes.
Glow engines (using methanol)
Gas engines (spark ignition using gasoline/petrol)
Diesel engines (using ether/kerosene/oil)
Gas turbines (whatever they'll run on )

Gas turbines usually run on Jet-A1 fuel. Don't put that in a glow plane.

Those darned Golden Ladies of Wrestling ruined the world "glow" for a lot of folks.

You can use it in a diesel though . It's just a more refined kerosene with an icing inhibitor added.

In a nutshell.. to put the previous replies in context.... glow = nitro. Glow fuel contains mostly ethanol. The Nitro-Methane is added for an increase in the power capablities of the fuel. The oil.. well, is oil. Used to lubricate the engine.

Car engines have a crankcase that has several quarts (liters) of motor oil, so the fuel does not have to contain oil. Most two stroke engines (lawn mower, weed wackers, leaf blowers, model aircraft engines.. including our four-stroke model aircraft engines) use a blend of ethanol, nitro-methane, and some sort of oil, usually a blend of castor and some sort of synthetic oil.



CGr.

Glow engines are light and the power output compares favorably with spark ignited gasoline engines of similar displacement. Another way to phrase that is, they have high power density, or a relatively high power-to-weight ratio.

In the past, very small spark-ignited gasoline engine had to carry around a coil and some other baggage, just to create the spark. Glow fuel and glow plugs eliminated that weight, immediately improving the power-to-weight ratio.

All in response to the last part of your question.
Best wishes,
Dave Olson

I would also point out that to a complete lay-person, they are only either gas or electric. Have gotten that "dog hearing a new noise" look from a lot of people who had just asked me if that was gas powered and I said "No, it's glow.". I know it's not the most technically correct answer, but if some one who doesn't know the hobby starts asking questions there's no reason to be too picky yet. If they have any real interest, they'll eventually ask the same question as the OP here.

Thanks for replying everyone

I'm pretty sure that the alcohol that's in glow fuel is methanol, not ethanol.

Actually they were the "Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling" and Sylvester Stallones mother was on it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252462/