Elad:

Best wishes for your father.

Flying. Sounds like you're getting there. Keep it up.

On the starter set up. The early electric starters were used only by people flying control line speed, they were ordinary automotive starters on a cart with a heavy 12v lead acid battery included. Quite awkward to hold the starter to the plane, so the plane was held to the starter. Just what you had wondered about, except the switch.

The hand held starters and large r/c planes were pretty much a parallel development - as the planes got larger they reached the point where it became more awkward to hold the plane to the starter, and with flex cables between the starter motor and the battery moving the starter became the more convenient option. Multi engines made moving the starter an even bigger win.

But the foot switch? Of course it can be done, but that sounds like you want to go flying by yourself. Very bad idea. So long as you have someone with you it seems to me like needless complication. You can always have someone else hold the starter for you.

Bill.