Hey All,

I finished building my first nitro powered plane about a month ago. I tried to start it then but discovered the glow starter was dead and the charger had gone missing, school work stopped me from continuing. Today I tried starting it with a fully charged glow starter. After fiddling for 15 minutes I couldnt get it to start. The enging is an OS LA . 40, Im using a 15% mixture fuel with the proper OS A3 glow plug. I start by putting gas in it, priming it by holding my finger over the air intake and turning the propeller two turns counterclockwise, then turning it two more revolutions to draw fuel into the engine (doing this with throttle open) then the engine is cold and new so the instructions tell me to spin the propellor abut 8-10 more times with my finger OFF the air intake. I then throttle down to 1/3 open and apply the glow starter, and proceed trying to start the engine with my chicken stick. I feel the compression and just hear a little put when spinning the prop. I have a gas rc car and know what to listen for when starting and I dont hear anything, it wont even kick for me. I tried resetting the mixture knob to the proper setting all was in check. I retested the glow plug starter and saw the plug glow so i know that works. The engine has never been started before, except the other time i tried to start it with a dead starter. The instructions say to use an electric starter, do I need to use one in order to start the engine, or should i be able to do it with the stick? I have no idea why this engine wont start. Anyone have any ideas? THanks so much!

Brad Goldberg

Here is what I can offer for any help: Open throttle up to full, put your finger over the carb and flip the prop a few times. Look at the fuel line and keep flipping until you get the fuel line full. Then Bring throttle back down to at least idle. Make sure your glow plug heater is charged, I always have my power panel ready for back up with a glow plug clip. Make sure the plug is good. Keep fingers/cords/ loose clothing, etc away from the prop, (safety first is a must). Now you should be ready to start. Be careful not to flood the engine.
I have always used an Electric Starter to start my engines, I would suggest getting one if you can. It's by far the easiest and most reliable way. I think that might be your problem. Maybe someone else with some experience using a chicken stick on .40's can add some help. If you don''t have much money to spend, I've seen guys just pick up the starter and battery and just use that at the field. Good Luck, hope you get it started soon!

The only trick involved with getting an engine to start easily is having just the right amount of prime in it. Some people do this by the brute force method which is to wack on the electric starter and wind it over and over hoping it'll get some fuel (and OIL!) into it. But if you find the right amount of prime for your engine (and they all differ a little) you'll get it to start with one or two flicks every time.

The manufacturers instructions are only a guide so if it doesn't work then change them a little. I'd suspect that the two choked turns you're giving it may not be enough so try 3 or maybe 4 turns (with the throttle wide open). The 8 or so flicks (not just turns) after that is to spread the fuel through the engine. What you should be looking for in those 8 flicks is for the engine to begin to sound wet. "Wet" is hard to describe but it'll feel a bit looser and the prop might oscillate a little before it stops moving. If it doesn't sound "wet" then choke it a few more turns. Bring the throttle back to about 1/4 to 1/3 open, connect the glow starter and give it a good flick. It should at least run out the prime.

One thing to remember is that an engine will always run rich but it won't run lean...so open up the main needle a turn or so more than the instructions say. Even if it starts blubbering rich it doesn't take long to lean it out a little.

I agree with the previous posts, but if you keep flicking it 8 more turns, you might be flooding the engine. To repeat do the following:

1) Make sure engine is free from access fuel. Open throttle and flip the plane over (nose down), watching for any fuel dripping out of carb. If dry good, if not let it all drain out.
1a) If there was fuel there, flip prop a few times (w/o Glow Starter), this will help to 'dry' it out. (ok, you can turn plane back over)
2) Now open throttle, cover carb, and flip 2-3 times or whatever it takes until you see fuel from the tank enter the intake line into the carb. While keeping the carb covered, close the throttle.
3) Rotate prop (CCW) until you feel the beginning of the compression cycle.
4) Attach glow starter (wait 1-2 seconds for heat), open throttle about 3 clicks or 1/8" travel, and flip prop w/chicken stick.

This should work, if not you might not be giving it a good hard snap. These are the most basic steps that you should keep in mind to start an engine. Even if you use an electric starter, follow the above....4-strokes are different and I can't comment, forget ducted fans, I don't know, and Turbines, I wish!!!

make sure the needle valve is opened to 2 or 3 turns,then repeat as you have been doing ,only using your new electric starter this time.