I saw a Cub go round and round about three times with the pilot holding the right wing strut. Just missed the gas pumps each time. He finally dove into the cockpit and cut the throttle. I figured he may have flooded it and set full throttle to clear it.
Maybe the p lead was broke.
Last edited by Bill Berson; 05-03-2017 at 12:55 AM.
In the deep dark past, before light weight starters and batteries existed, I was flying airplanes without starters a lot on long X-country flights. These were Pitts airplanes with a lot of power for the weight so they would be more than happy to move under idle power. I could almost always find someone to help but it was rare to find anyone I felt good enough about to prop the airplane for me. And there were times when I was completely on my own. If the airplane was fuel injected it was a PITA to start a hot or warm engine with the throttle closed. If the airplane had a PS5-C pressure carb it was fairly easy since the engine would start at idle hot or cold.
Generally it went like this;
Tie the tail down to a good strong tie down and find one with decent rope.
Put two small stones in front of the tires to serve as chocks when the airplane is running at idle power. I did not use regular chocks, it's too dangerous to pull the chocks when the engine is running given how close the tires, prop and lower wing leading edge are to each other.
Set it up for the start.
If you have help and the throttle needs to be pulled back when it starts the helper stands outside the cockpit ready to pull it to idle. If the helper is fairly sharp you can also show him/her the mag switch to kill the engine (just in case).
You prop the airplane. You make any changes to the set up in the cockpit during the starting process, not the helper.
Once the airplane is running at idle you can untie the tail. This is easy if you have help because you can get in the cockpit and have the helper untie the tail. Not a big deal solo, just make sure the airplane will stay put with the rope loose before you commit to completely untying it
Once you're strapped in you simply taxi over the small stone chocks and you're on your way.
I never put anyone in the cockpit because you can easily bump the throttle getting out. And the helper could damage the airplane getting in or out in what might be a fairly stressful situation for them. There were just too many negative possibilities.
I did as I describe above dozens of times without any problems of the safety sort. The problems I encountered were mainly due to hot FI engines not wanting to cooperate with my attempts to start them at low throttle settings. If you're going to do this you have to be ready to accept that the FI engine may not start for you until it cools off. You can't be on a schedule.
That cable system looks pretty snazzy as long as it doesn't snag on something. Neat idea. Thanks for sharing.
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Before I married my wife and she was flying by herself, she did the secure via chock/tie downs, handprop, and the. just walk around and remove. I think the cub would stay put once pulled back to idle. Other options I have heard are propping from behind which is how the floatplane guys do it standing on the pontoon. I have also heard folks say they prime the engine and then shut the fuel off so she will run out of fuel if something goes wrong and they can't get back inside. Not sure about this one. Lastly, we went with the lightweight skytec starter gel battery. We can just jump in, press a button and go. If I have a spare person and in the mood I can still handprop when I want. Gives us options and takes away an impediment when one us wants to fly and no one is around.
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While folks have been successfully hand propping aircraft since, well, there have been aircraft, with today's lightweight options (including total loss battery systems, which are just fine) I can't see a solid reason to rely on it solely.
Starters answer more questions than they offer, in my humble opinion.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
The only reason I would have would be if I got a killer deal on, say, a nice C-85-8F or C-90-8F. If the engine I end up with can have a starter, it most likely will. I would certainly not go without one, barring some compelling circumstance.
Measure twice, cut once...
scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.
Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.
Install hydraulic brakes and plumb in a parking brake. They are sold at Wag and ACS. Use the parking brake and you can forget about all those ideas about tail tie downs and rope releases. I did that with my Champ and have been extremely happy with it for well over 100 hours.
I would not shut off the fuel. Too many takeoff crashes from forgetting to turn the fuel on.
How long does it take to deplete the carburetor bowl and perhaps some of the gascolator?
Another potential safety feature for hand propping would be to install a second set of magneto switches outside the cockpit as was done on DH Tiger Moths and I am sure many other planes of the era. That way the person winging the prop knows for sure when the magnetos are on or off, and it's easier to stop a runaway plane if that does happen.
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cluttonfred.info
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On my Champ with an A-65, it takes less than a minute for it to die, more than enough time to make it from the front and to climb in. You would never have enough time to taxi and TO from any normal airport setting. I always shut mine off for starting, it would be hard to miss it while doing any preflight checks.Originally Posted by Bill Berson
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