hey, has anyone ever got their backward running engine going the right way by just lightly grabbing at the spinner while it is running (worlds longest sentence)? you just pinch your thumb and forefinger on the spinner very lightly. and bam it goes forward again. i could not believe it.

gr8johnson3,

I'm new to this hobby, but grabbing the spinner does not sound like fun . MY OS 61FX tended to run backwards when I started breaking it in. So I asked (in this forum) how to fix it. I got some advice that said I was over choking the engine or priming too much fuel into the carb before I started the engine. It appears I was overchoking, so I just bring my throttle up a few clicks past idle and it starts like a dream. Now one time when it started backwards it must have backfired or glitched and it immediatly started running correctly without even missing a beat (real wierd).


(Watch those fingers!)

Just lower your throttle and it will reach a point where it will kick the other way and run correctly. You may have to jazz it up and down a little.

Putting your hand anywhere near the running prop is not smart, even though you see other guys doing it. One slip and there's blood everywhere. BAAAD HABIT!!!

If your engine tends to start backwards a lot, flip it backwards and it will start in the right direction. After choking my engines most will start with a gentle bump backwards.

be very careful it doesn't spit the prop when it is transitioning from backwards to forwards running. Bad bad thing to happen...

to be safe: if the engine starts backwards throttle down and shut off. then check the prop tightness again.

New to RCU are we? HAHA!

I have seen sentences on here that were novel length.

Next time your engine starts backward, see if you can fly in reverse! That would be cool!

One of the first times I attempted to start my first 4 stroker, I hooked up the glow clip, touched the spinner, and she started! Took a nice bite out of the flight box. Could have been worse.

Have Fun - N7OR

by no means would i advise anyone to use this method on a regular basis. but i found it hard to believe so i had to try it once. i was amazed. just the slightest touch and boom. of coarse an electric starter avoids all this.

Just the slightest slip and "whack", no more finger. I am as guilty as anyone about doing this though. Not a great idea though.

My OS 40/46 FX engines occasionally do startup backwards. What I found works really well is just to juke the throttle real quick (just give full throttle REAL quick and bring it back immediately). The engine should stall, and start back up in the right direction.

Hope that helps. (I avoid, at all costs, getting your fingers near a running prop)

It's no surprise to me that pinching the spinner like that works. You're slowing the engine down a little so it "backfires" a bit and kicks back in the opposite direction, which in this case is "forward".

But I totally agree that it's not a great way to go about things from a safety perspective, and you'll understand if I don't try it myself.

In two weekends we had 2 guys spray blood around the pits. Bad things can happen, so be careful out there.

I just ignore it

My engine starts backwards just about every time, I just begin setting my idle with the trim tab. When the engine slows down enough, it coughs and changes direction on it's own, then I finish setting the idle.

I love these kinds of threads...

"Here's what I do... but I wouldn't recommend it" LOL

It's the proverbial "Do as I say, not as I do."

My wife is always complaining that I'm not wearing safety glasses, or using a table saw without that annoying safety guard. My reply is always: "I may not be working safely, but I'm working smartly".

After spending many years working in machine shops, I know what I can get away with (safely) and when you need to take proventative measures.

So far, I still don't have the nickname "Lefty"

But be safe. Do as I say, not as I do!

Start it by turning it clockwise instead of counterclock wise if you have that problem (don't try to use an electric starter).
This is how we do here in Sweden anyway if that happens.

Don't grab the spinner on a backwatd running (or forward) engine. Its not safe.

The trick can work... but with small engines, you got small spinners, and you will end up sticking your hand in the prop. When you get to a larger engine with a larger spinner, you gotta grab harder, and there's mor torqu, you can end up breaking a finger on the spinner, never getting it in the prop itself.

Use an electric starter and backward running is virtually impossible.

Use the backflip hand start technique and backward running just doesn't happen either. Set the prop (when installing it) at parallel to wing when the engine enters compression FORWARD, rotate backward till it enters compression, flip downward, with fingers barely contacting prop, when engine kicks, fingers spring off prop, and the engine fires forward. Very safe, very predictable.

Never prime an engine with the glow plug connected... they bite. (I found that one out the hard way 25 years ago)

Use a "Chicken Stick". There's no need to touch the prop on smaller engines.