Old Model Aircraft Mag

I came across this while looking for something else Had a read of some of the articles. Very interesting. I've actually got the mag in the shed but can't get at it.
rclibrary.co.uk/files_titles/1831/Model_Aircraft_1953_03.pdf
One thing I saw was this phrase NEW CONTAINS ETHER. If this was new what was in it before ? Their caps not mine.
John O/T

John
I can't be sure - it was a while ago - but I think you had to add ether yourself - wouldn't swear to it though. One of the Mercury fuels was, again if memory serve aright, sold etherlless. Ether was the most expensive element of dieself fuel and by selling fuel without it ou could add as much, or as little, as you felt was needed. Oh, and I think 'NEW' was a misprint for 'NOW'
Mike

I wouldn't doubt the misspelling .I Got to thinking about other fluids that might work One being Pentane Boiling point 36.1 Ether 34 something There is another but can't recall it at present. I'll have to have a hunt

Hi I've never heard of the fuel sold etherless but I don't doubt it, although I have been using it since about 1953 or so. and and a mates older brother used Mercury and ED IIRC.before me . In fact it was he who gave me my first engine my Amco .87 that I'm now trying to fix LOL I melted the spinner trying to put an insert in it as I stripped the thread :evil:

John,
The more that I search my memory, the more certain I am about the Mercury fuel. Not 100% sure about the Frog fuel, but it seems logical. Compared to the other constituents, ether was expensive - I used to buy it from the chemist one or two ounces at a time, costing about a shilling an ounce, whereas a pint of paraffin from the hardware shop - bring your own bottle - was tuppence. Can't remember what the oil - Castrol XXL in a pint bottle, which I seem to remember as being plastic - cost. At the time I couldn't afford commercial fuel, hence the home brew, something quite a few other youngsters did. I first made my own fuel in 1951. By the time I left school at 16 in 1954 and started work for the princely wage of £3-18-6 a week I preferred to keep on making my own and use the money saved on other life essentials - dope, balsa, etc!
Mike

Yep I made my own too and you are probably right .Ether if you can get it has gone to a heck of price now. A firm called Mineral Waters are selling it on EBay Or Amazon about £ 35 quid . Not sure if i recall at the mo.I'll have a look and report back. So it's still the dearest component. Just checked £38.45 L £24.59 500ml £17.49 for 200 Mls So buying largest is best value. I wouldn't mind but A guy is holding 2 Ltrs for me FOC but I can't go for it yet 76 miles away

BTW my first wage was £3/.4./6 but 3 weeks later went to £3./11/.6 a good rise at that time. I got the 11/6 and could take my girl to the pics on that and have change. The posh pics in town not the bug houses in the burbs :woohoo: [badass] This was in 1958 so your wages were better than mine by a looooong chalk He He
Just remember paraffin was 2/- a quart 'Cause Gran used a lot of it for lighting and the heater in the stable in the winter where we made up the greengrocery orders.I got 2/6 for delivering them [badass]

Just call me a pluted bloatocrat!
Mike

Ha Ha Ha :lol: :lol: Right going to sleep now if I can first

Two bob a quart - must have been good stuff. Can't remember if Esso Blue and the like were yet around in '51 - the paraffin I got came out of a big drum standing on a shelf in the shop with a tap at the bottom (elf and safty - wot dat den?)- colourless, Our house had a fire in each of the two downstairs rooms but no other heating anywhere - those bedrooms were COLD in winter. If you took a mug of water to drink in the night it would be frozen over come morning. Mum tried a small paraffin heater in the kitchen but unless you opened the window - which rather defeated the object of the idea - the condensation was awful.
Mike

Thinking on it was a shilling a quart cos gran gave me two old quart whiskey bottles and half a crown and i got the tanner change for going. Yes it was dispensed in the same way. from the drum with a tap. The shop near home had a handle they turned to dispense it. Re Esso " What's got 4 bums and is blue?" and the like I think they were late 50 s.There was the plain stuff .A blue one a pink one and a green one I recall.. Were there any other colours ? We had a small fire place in the two bedrooms but they were only lit if someone was ll in bed.The parlour had a posh grate. Faux marble ( slate marbled with paints etc) This was lit if were having a party or something .Was lit in the morning to drive out the damp.Got very snug. The living room had a range grate originally but was changed to a tiled hearth after the war. Later a gas fire as the folks got older We then found we had trouble getting rid of our rubbish. Couldn't burn it any more.Oops got off topic Sorry mods.

If I recall correctly burning one pint of paraffin created one pint of water, so these heaters were great in a greenhouse, as they kept the humidity up, but a nightmare in a house, as everything went damp and mouldy!
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It's your thread, OT, so if you want to wander off-topic, that's up to you! [badass]
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(white flaky things floating past my window - here. Good job they're outside, and I'm not!)

Most of the fuels were originally sold without ether as you could walk into your chemist and buy ether and amy nitrate quite cheaply without restriction. There were some fuels that were designed not to need ether at all. Mercury no.6 was one and I believe Frog did produce one. The actual ingeduents are no longer known but learned opinion is that what was probably used would be considered too hazardous today. Mineral oils where most commonly used, expensive castor being reserved for racing engines. I still use Castrol GP 50 as it never gums up and as long as you are not trying to extract the last bit of performance is more than adequate.
Ether is available from shows. I bought a lot at the Nats from Southern modelcraft. I think it was £12 a litre. If you can't make the shows you are stuck.
Doug

You said it re hazardous chemicals. I think one was to do with Nitro- Benzine somehow. Nasty stuff. Pentane might have been another .It's boiling point is close to Ether's at 36.C and Ether's about 34 or 35 C. Not as bad but a bit more hazardous than Ether. I don't know if it would work but it seems to me that it could with a bit higher .compression and a good strong flick White flaky things ?? Got some to spare here. Luckily with rain and round balls too..Very fresh outside Ha Ha 34C.

John, as you say, nasty stuff - this culled from Wiki:- Nitrobenzene is highly toxic (Threshold Limit Value 5 mg/m3) and readily absorbed through the skin.
Prolonged exposure may cause serious damage to the central nervous system, impair vision, cause liver or kidney damage, anemia and lung irritation. Inhalation of vapors may induce headache, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, cyanosis, weakness in the arms and legs, and in rare cases may be fatal. The oil is readily absorbed through the skin and may increase heart rate, cause convulsions or rarely death. Ingestion may similarly cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal irritation, loss of sensation/use in limbs and also causes internal bleeding.[6]
Nitrobenzene is considered a likely human carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency,[8] and is classified by the IARC as a Group 2B carcinogen which is "possibly carcinogenic to humans".[9] It has been shown to cause liver, kidney, and thyroid adenomas and carcinomas in rats.[10]
It is classified as an extremely hazardous substance in the United States as defined in Section 302 of the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11002), and is subject to strict reporting requirements by facilities which produce, store, or use it in significant quantities.[11]

And to think of how I used to use the stuff in diesel fuel with inevtiably getting it all my hands - if I knew then what I know now (or have in fact known for about 30 years)
Mike :ohmy:

Yes I read that too. Got some in my shoe once and ignored it .At least at first till I felt it burning . Took the skin off one side of my right foot sole. Luckily I got it off in time and it took only dead skin and left my foot tender for 48 hrs. No other damage luckily Yep NASTY . God only knows the results of burning it. :evil: [badass]
Regards John O/T