Strange Brew
 

I read some time ago (here on RCU I think) that you could take

camping lantern fuel like Coleman's or some other such brand,

add castor (and nitro if you like) and use it in your engine.

Is there any truth to this or is it just a bunch of hooey?

Strange Brew
 

No, it won't work in a glow engine.

Glow combusion works on the principle that the platinum in the glow plug catalyzes the methanol. Coleman fuel is NAPHTA, which is a light petroluem distillate.

Some RC'ers do burn coleman fuel in the gasoline model engines. Naphtha (Coleman fuel) has a very low octane rating and should not be used in 2 strokes that are high compression such as some ZDZ engines but work for most other 2 stroke engines.

Strange Brew
 

For what it is worth-
In the late 70s guys in my club including myself used a mixture of half lighter fluid (naptha) and half marvel air tool oil as an after run rust preventative.
We would run the engine dry of glow fuel then load up the carb with the lighter fluid/air tool oil and put on the glow plug battery and start the engine and let it burn off the "prime". The engines always started on one or two flips and would accelerate if the throttle was opened but only for a very short time as the prime would be used up rather quickly.
I never tried/experimented with this mixture to reduced the oil content and try to use it as fuel for flight, but, it is an interesting thought.
As far as thinking that the glow plug cannot ignite the naptha, I wouldnt bet on it, least of all with my fingers. The world is full of exceptions. If you mess around with this, make sure you have a fire extinguisher at hand. Naptha is extremely flamable and even hooking up a glow battery with insuing sparks could ignite the vapors.

blabree