"R Leonard" wrote in news:1117507544.101576.304210
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

And for what it's worth, there were even diesel model airplane engines,
at least in the years immediately after WWII. I've a couple of flying
model airplanes my father built in the 1946 to 1950 period so equipped.

Many model airplane engines today are still two-stroke diesels. They start
with a glow plug and continue running after starting just the way big
diesels do.

Dave in San Diego