what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

When I first heard of a Glow Plane i though the plane would "glow" in the dark or something. Then I heard someone say he needed fuel for his glow plane and now I don't know what the heck one is. I have only flown electric and I would like to know this.

RE: what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

A glow plane is powered by an internal combustion engine that is primarily driven by a glow plug, occasionally a spark plug, and more rarely a diesiel. Electric flyers call them slimers because of the waste caster oil that comes out of the exhaust.

The engines can be two strokes just like in a lawn mower or chainsaw, or a four stroke just like in you r car.

HTH
tom

RE: what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

Glow planes have generally been flowen in the vicinity of Chernobyl or Three Mile Island.:D

Cheers,

Colin

RE: what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

And to answer the question that's sure to follow, a "glow plug" is a device that is used to ignite the fuel/air mixture inside the cylinder of the engine. A glow plug is generally scewed into the top of the motor casing, with a metal piece protruding from the middle of it. In order to start the combustion process, you need to use a battery-powered device called a glow igniter, which clips onto the glow plug to make an element on the bottom of the plug (which is pointed into the cylider out of your view) become red hot (hence the "glow" part). Once fuel is introduced into the cylinder and the prop is rotating and the piston is doing its up and down thing, the fuel is ignited by the glow plug. Once a constant ignition is established, the igniter can be removed. Thereafter, the platinum in the glowing element I mentioned before reacts chemically with the nitro in the fuel to sustain the ignition cycle, ideally until the fuel is exhausted or the pilot hits the kill switch (or loweres the throttle below a sustainable idle), cutting off the air and making continued ignition impossible. I know there are more detailed technical explanations, but this is the simplified version.

RE: what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

These are glow engines:

[link=http://www.towerhobbies.com/listings/cat-cat-g.html]Glow Engines[/link]



Of course, these are not all the engines...there are probably thousands of them

Hope this helps,
IBrakeForNobody

EDIT: Oops...wrong link...the glow engines are at the top of the page.

RE: what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

Glow planes are what the average person would call a "Gas Engine Plane". The fuel they burn is a mixture of Alcohol, Oil, and Nitromethane

We use the term "Glow Plane" (Because of their Glow Plug) to distinguish them from the really BIG planes whose engines actually burn gasoline (and use a conventional Spark Plug)

RE: what is a "glow" plane? Does it use fuel? How does the engine work?
 

When I first heard of an electric plane I thought maybe it would electrocute me if I touched it,,but then I heard someone say they needed batteries for the thing and now I dont know what the heck one is..I have only flown glow and would like to know this:eek:

Sorry I couldnt resist ,,I have the day off and my Smart***** bone is overworked..

not buying this troll