My son almost burned the starter cone out of the starter the first time he tried to start his engine. He was holding the starter too loose against the engine and it was creating heat from friction. I find its best to hit the starter button and then jam it onto the nose cone of the engine. If you don't have a nose cone on the front, get one. You never mentioned the capacity of your gel cell battery. A 7 amp hour or 7AH 12 volt battery is recomended. Also before you apply the starter against the nose cone hold the front of the wing with your left hand and hold the starter in your right hand. Its also a good idea to have the tail of the plane tied with a soft rope to keep the plane from jumping ahead when the engine starts. Does this help? [8D]