jon.emmons

OK, I am also fairly new... well, getting back into the hobby after 15 years off, so I call that new. Here's the three ways I start my OS 40 2 stroke (FP, the old one)

As a preliminary step, it helps a lot to have your prop lined up right to flip. I line mine up by turning the prop shaft to the left (ccw) until I feel compression start. I then put the prop on horizontally. Blades at 3 and 9 o'clock. This gives you a solid angle for starting forward or backward. If the prop won't turn on the shaft, get or borrow a reamer, the position makes a big difference in my opinion.

First, I prime it. There are many ways to do this, but as long as the engine isn't already too hot, I open the throttle about half way, cover the exhaust on the muffler and flip the prop until I see a little squirt of fuel come out the carb. Perhaps one more flip past that (these are all counter-clockwise at this point) Take your finger of the exhaust and flip one or two more times.

Method 1 - flipping forward... Turn the prop ccw (counter clockwise) to the horizontal position. (blades at 3 and 9) With plane secured (staked down, someone holding it for you etc.) attach glow starter, put chicken stick under the blade at 3 o'clock and give it a brisk flip counter clockwise with your hand/chicken stick ending up clear of the prop to the left. The chicken stick should have pushed the prop from 3 o'clock, past 12 o'clock, to nearly 9 o'clock before sliding off and going clear. Repeat as necessary. I even practice this before hand (often while priming the engine) to get the feel for the compression. If you feel the engine fire before it makes it past 12:00 (don't worry, you'll know if it does. It doesn't bite, just kicks a little) try back flipping...

Method 2 - back flipping... Similar to forward, but you don't push the prop as far. Turn the prop clockwise until you reach the start of compression. Blades should be at 3 and 9 o'clock. Attach the glow adapter and put the chicken stick on top of the 3:00 blade. Give it a brisk flip clockwise (downward) so your hand/chicken stick end up below and away from the prop. You should push the prop to roughly the 6:00 position. If everything worked right, the engine would fire at about 5:00 or 5:30 and push the prop back in a counter clockwise direction with enough force to start it through the next stroke.

Method 3 - electric starter... There is one big trick with the electric. Turn the prop in a clockwise direction until you feel compression start. This gives the starter a half turn head start with little resistance to build up enough speed to get past the compression stroke. Once it is set, attach glow starter, press the starter firmly on the cone, and push the button. It shouldn't take more than a second or two for the engine to fire. Be careful of the starter slipping off the cone. If you use a spinner nut, things are a little different, but that's another story.

Well, that took longer than I thought it would. I pretty much try those steps in that order. I do prefer to hand start whenever possible. I wouldn't give up my electric starter though, when an engine is misbehaving, it's as good as gold.

jon