Obituary - The passing of Mike McGraw (Glowplugboy)

And Honest to a fault...

I once got a little frisky, and paid for my order before he could invoice me with correct shipping. The guy refunded 2-3 bucks to my Paypal account to square things up, with a patient note to please wait for him to invoice it the next time I bought fuel.

Taking the time, and going to that trouble, for so small an amount to compensate for goofyness on my part, well...we DO miss guys like that...

i had many fuel discussions with Mike.
it was Mike that gave me the formula for mixing the stuff i use in FF.
one tip he gave me about mixing fuels containing Castor was to mix the Methanol and Castor first, let set overnight, and then add the Nitro.
he was right............nitro and Castor don't hit it off right away, but doing the mix his way worked.
he also told me that a small amount of Acetone acted as an igniter for lower nitro fuels.........Thermals to you Mike, we'll miss you.

-mike

Cox International wrote:So, where does everyone get their fuel from, short of mixit it yourself?

Also, does anyone have a recommendation as to where to get diesel fuel in the UK as well as Australia?

I know you asked this question a while ago, but I purchase SIG Champion 1/2a fuel. I checked the other day and it has the right amount of castor mix, although from discussions I have read on this forum, I believe most would add more. The cost is pretty reasonable too. Andy

I don't add any oil to Sig Champion. 20% oil blended 50/50 is perfect for most 1/2A engines. Certainly Coxes. You'll find all sorts of opinions, but it's great fuel as is. I have added an extra 2% for my Fox .35 engine

I have never heard of anyone adding oil to SIG Champion, but when I read fuel posts on this forum, it seems like most people are adding castor to their mix. I have had superb results with SIG Champion 10%, 15%, and 25% fuel. Purchasing from the SIG site is also very reasonable. I checked the other day, and they are even selling 35% Nitro, which I had not noticed before. If anyone has used it, I would like to know how it ran, and if they saw a performance jump. I know that COX use to have a racing blend that had 35% and although I can not confirm it, someone once told me they had a 40% nitro blend too.

I was a close friend of Mike for a long time and helped to facilitate another old friend, Steve, to purchase the Glowplugboy fuel company.  It was upsetting to many of us that Steve was not able to restart the company due to family priorities.  It didn't upset anyone more than it upset Steve.

I am very pleased to announce that there is another transfer in the offing.  It looks like another of Mike's old flying friends might pick up the mantle and resurrect the brand.  All original formulas are included in the title transfer along with Mike's original blending equipment.  With a little luck, Glowplugboy blends will become available shortly.

You've heard it here first, negotiations started today and this is the only place it has been posted.  I hope the principals forgive me for letting the news out but I think something will happen soon.  Mike was my best friend and I want all his customers to know that good things are coming.

Dave

Thanks for the update, Dave. That must have been Steve some time back that was planning to pick up the Glowplug Boy production and posted here. I'm glad to see our old favorite brand coming back. Most of us went to Sig after Mike passed away, and more recently Hobbico reformulated their Cox Super  Power fuel to a 50/50 castor/synthetic blend with 25 and 35% nitro. It's good to have GPB back in the hobby.
Good Luck,
Rusty and everyone at CEF

Thank You for sharing this info with us Dave.

Man that is Good news and to hear it here first is something in its own , Thank You Dave . Eric