Starting Procedure for older 35's

G.

Besides, I've heard so many fright tales about what a starter may do to the inside of the backplate (aluminum shavings mixed with the fuel, AACCK!) of old engines that I'm a bit afraid that some of that scarey stuff could be partly true!

I always disliked exhaust primes before the backflip thing took hold, because it might flood the engine. I preferred a choke as a priming method if at all possible, and didn't even use that in stunters with inverted engines, just forced fuel through the line after filling the tank, pinching off or capping the overflow and then squeezing a little more on the syringe or fuel bulb.

>
>Kiwi

Kiwi,

I'm a bit behind the times in todays C/L world, being out of it so long, Could you elaborate on the "back flip method".

Thanks,
G.

You have seen Scott Hamilton ice skate, haven't you? Well, when you attempt to start the engine and fail, you do one of those, and....

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Actually this works better on some engines than others. The basic procedure is to choke the engine until you feel a "bump". Maybe with some you can just choke to get a prime, I don't know. When we have tried it, we have always needed that "bump". When you get it, you grab the spinner and give it a sharp twist backwards against compression. You don't have to snap it all the way through, just enough to get it to "bump" again. If it does, it will back fire (which really means forward fire) and start up.

This works especially well with multiple blade props where timing is so critical to get your finger out of the way.

Give it a try. Wow the people at your flying field. Show those RC type guys that you don't need that electrical starter gadget. Just a twist of the wrist, a flip of the finger, and off she goes into the wild blue yonder.

1. After setting needle at around 3.5-4 turns, fill tank.

2. Choke by putting finger over venturi; turn prop through 2 or 3 times, until fuel is in the line.

3. Shoot just a little into the exhaust.

4. Start engine.

On your second and following flights of the day, you usually can skip the exhaust prime part.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-30-00 AT 12:12 PM (EST)

1. Fill the tank and the fuel line,
2. Turn the plane/engine so the exhaust faces upward,
(at first, very straight up to see how much prime, which is the few drops it takes to cover the exposed part of the CLOSED piston)
3. Dribble in the prime and then let it into the combustion chamber, closing the exhaust afterward, in the normal counter- clockwise direction,
4. Attach the starting battery to the glow plug,
5. "Check for a bump" as Leonard says, by slowly turning the prop further in the normal direction to see if you feel a pre- ignition mix of fuel and air - this may take some practice to feel what it is,
(if not, add a drop or two more of prime, or blow into the exhaust to blast out some and reduce the flooding, as needed)
6. Raise your hand a foot or two above the engine and whip down rapidly, striking the back of the prop blade quite hard with two or three fingers, following through downward to move all digits out of harm's way,
(some pit crewmen prefer to wear a glove for use with the various glass and carbon- filled props that may have sharper edges than they can round off adequately)
7. A single partial combustion that amounts to a backfire spins the prop forward even more violently than the starter's hand has done spinning it backward, and suddenly the engine's running. The frequency of one-flip starts goes way up this way.