"John Miller" wrote in message
...
Dave in San Diego wrote:
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.

Close, but for clarification:

o There are diesel model engines today. They run at a higher
compression than glow engines, and run on diesel fuel, rather than glow
fuel, which is basically a methanol/oil mix. Typically, they don't have
glow plugs.

o Glow engines, although they appear to run on the heat of compression,
won't continue running without a hot glow plug filament. (After the
engine is running, and battery voltage is removed, the filament
continues to glow from the heat of ignition, the ignition having been
caused by the glowing filament.)


Glow plugs were used on gasoline engines long before the
spark plug was invented. On early engines the glow plug
had to be heated with a blowlamp before the engine
could be started. The plug itself was a copper or
brass rod that protruded into the cyliner.

Keith




----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----