I have been flying RC for about 15 years now and I still don't own an electric starter. Once you get the hang of starting them by hand, the electric starter and it's battery are just so much more needless weight in your field box.

The key is pre-start preparation. Close the carb inlet with your finger and turn the prop a few times until you see the fuel in the fuel line reach the carb and then do a couple of more flips to get the engine wet inside with fuel. Now close the throttle to a fast idle, light the glow plug, and give the engine a flip with a stick of some kind. I keep a piece of garden hose in my box for that purpose. The throttle at fast idle is not just for safety, the engines are actually easier to start when the throttle is not open too far.

An alternative way to prime the engine is to stop up the exhaust outlet with your finger while flipping the prop. This causes the exhaust to pressurize the fuel tank and force fuel to the carb. This is a good way to prime 4-strokes and other engines with inaccessable carbs.

The backflip method works well on the larger two strokes and is the best way to start four stroke engines. Here, you grab the spinner with your fingertips and spin the engine backward. You do not try to spin the engine through it's compression stroke. You just give the prop enough momentum so that it goes just far enough into the compression stroke to get the fuel to ignite. The explosion reverses the engine's rotation and the engine is running forward.

As far as safety is concerned, most of the really bad accidents happen with engines that are already running, i.e. adjusting the needle. An electric plane can hurt you just as badly as a glow engine. If you are flying electric, treat that prop as if it could start any minute by surprise.