I have found the "Smart Starter" article by Kelly R Regan. It is an excellent idea enabling the plane to be started from behind the engine. Once I get all the dressings off my hand and it has healed up I will be constructing one of these and won't be starting a plane without using it. I believe apart from a sore hand, impressive bandages a great deal of frustration and annoyance and probably some good scars, I have "got away" with my stupidity of forgetting the prop while trying to adjust the needle valve on the engine. There won't be a next time, I might not so luck (fortunate may be a better word) if there is a next time!! I have seen some old videos of flying in the 1950s and engines were started by pushing the spinner into a rubber fitting in a box. Kelly's design emulates this idea and will be much safer on hands and fingers, by always working behind the engine. The cheap hand held starters are a considerable leap forward over trying to hand start engines, but maybe we have not actually progressed from a safety point of view by starting the engine from in from of the engine and plane. I was thinking electrics may be the way to go as they are safer, but electrics appear to be as bad if not worse in their own different ways. You just have to always be very careful of props that are rotating or could rotate with warning, or bang the prop will get you. THEY ARE VERY DANGEROUS TO FINGERS AND HANDS.

My finger is sore but most annoying is the bandage and finger brace which get in the way all the time still I will have plenty of time to get used to them.

Kelly's article can be found @ http://www.reganspace.com/Planes/hands_free.html

Cheers

David