Fuel question

[FrankC]

This will fall in the dumb question category but bear with an electric guy for a moment. How many types of fuel are used in the rc helicopters and fixed wing? I have heard of glow and nitro, are there any others?

[Chad Douglas]

I'm sure there's a complete list somewhere.., or someone here can best answer. I am 100% electric.(not personallly lol)

Nitro and gas(maybe 2 stroke oil mixes too)

My understanding is that nitro comes in a variety of mixtures and brands.., gassers are just that.., regular gasoline.. (so 2 basic petros) for the common use....

I'd bet that there are many other types used that include alcohol mixtures and higher octane fuels for rockets and race cars..., may I ask why you're curious?


Chad

[FrankC]

Thanks Chad. I am completing a software application that will manage the business of a free-lance photographer but with extensions to handle the needs of someone doing RCAP as well. That will include fuel purchase and usage so I would like to get all of my jargon correct. It also tracks the purchase, usage, and recharging of batteries. Both the fuel and the battery usage can be tied to a job to allow for tracking of your expenditures. There is equipment management to include usage, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, and upgrades. I am trying to get my tracking and reporting to match up with the inevitable requirements of the FAA. The goal of the program is to manage the business of the photographer and his equipment.

[tonystott]

Frank, glow fuel is basically a mix including methanol and nitro and oil (there may be other components). I suspect that people using glow fuel might like to record the percentage of nitro (you can buy glow fuel with different levels of nitro), and possibly also even the brand of fuel. I think these tthee categories would meet just about everyone's requirements
Type of fuel
Nitro level
Brand of fuel

Hope this helps
Tony

[FrankC]

Thanks Tony. At this point I am recording info for purchases. So far I am allowing entry for Glow or Nitro, and measurement in either Ounces or Milliliters. I am also allowing entries for Brand, Vendor, Price, and Date Purchased. There is also an entry for the Volume purchased. I could either add an entry for Blend, or I could add an entry for Comment and let uses enter whatever they need to record. For the usage I record the Volume Used along with the Date Used, if this was used on a job I link it back to that job for reporting purposes. There is a Consolidated Report for a job that shows the Client info, all location info, and then shows everything you have linked to that job. You may link the personnel and their function, all equipment used and note any damage that happened, and link all usage of fuel or batteries. It also gives an itemized breakout of the charges.

For newer visitors and members there is a long thread on this project here:

http://www.aplanding.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2121

I was away from the project for a while, waiting to see what the FAA was going to do to our industry. Circumstances allow me to get back into this project full-time once more.

[tonystott]

Frank, I think you might have misunderstood regarding the alternatives for fuel.
Glow fuel is methanol and oil plus optional amounts of nitro.

So the fuel choices are
Glow, with a sub-choice of % nitro in the mix
Gas
Kero (for turbines)

[FrankC]

::WHEW:: Thanks Tony, that might have been a bit embarrassing to have sent out the entries I have now. I'll adjust the displays, easily done with the development environment I use.

[FrankC]

For now I am going with an entry field where you type what you want, and also a comment entry where you can type anything you need as a description. That will allow for getting way out there and having multiple blends of glow fuel, just enter each one uniquely and with the comment so you know what it is. All purchases and usages are tied to that entry so you could track these individual blends without a problem. The entry field is large enough you can enter 'Kerosene' so that is covered, and if they come out with something new like 'Nuclear' someday that would also fit. Very flexible.