ykol20

i never got around to buying a starter, can anyone give me advise on starting a new engine without a starter?

impulse

Use a chicken stick. NOT YOUR FINGER!!!!!!!

ykol20

well yes, i know that part, anything else like where to start "flipping" or how hard.

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

Well, once primed you turn the engine to compression, then spin it with the stick, as hard as you can.

ykol20

so its not that hard right?, even on a brand new engine?

flianbrian

Throttle full open, cover carb with thumb, flip prop counterclockwise till primed, remove thumb, flip a few more times to get fuel into cylinder. Throttle about 1/4 open, move prop against compression, put glow starter on, flip prop BACKWARDS! Usually works even with the new ones. Don't have to flip HARD. Just sharply.

ykol20

i read that flipping the prop backwards only works for gas and 4-strokes, i have a .65 2-stroke, wont it run backwards?, does the engine running backwards hurt it?

beardking

My Feedback: (4)

If your engine starts running backward pretty much as soon as you give it a little throttle it'll die so it won't run that way for long. Oh, and go get yourself a starter and save yourself a lot of time.

ykol20

alot of time as in how much?, is it hard to flipstart a prop, not that this has anything to do with starting planes but ive had a nitro rc car for a while and the electric starter on it is screwed up it takes up to an hour to start it, but when it starts first shot with a press of a button its pretty nice, i get really annoyed of trying to start an engine in the hot sun tho, is it really that hard without a starter?

beardking

My Feedback: (4)

As long as your engines are tuned well and your glow plug is fine and your glow starter is fully charged, then flip starting is fine. Somehow I have gotten just the right combination and I can flip start all of my engines normally on the first try. But I still carry a starter for when my engines decide to be cantankerous.

Oh, and for the most part the "get a starter and save yourself a lot of time" was being sarcastic. But they are definitely nice to have.

murphyj

I'm brand new to the rc hobby having just finished my pipercub. I can honestly say that after firing up the engine for the first time there is no way I'd do it without a starter. Its scary enough taking the glow plug off while the motor is running. Check out some of the pictures of the fingers and hands that have met the running prop. I don't want to get near it.

ykol20

you either meant glowclip not glowplug or i read it wrong. its proabably pretty much the same reaction time as a starter, you hear the engine crank up and you jump back.

ykol20

im brand new to the hobby too, thats my first plane in my avatar, i dont plan to use it to train on tho, i hear it flies smooth, once i saw it i just had to have it, ill figure out how to maybe borrow a trainer later when i join a club and start to fly but theres no way im flying that thing by my self, i just finished building it also.

ykol20

another thing, i have a remote glow plug adapter, or however you call it, installed to eliminate the hole in the cowl and having to reach so close to the prop, does anybody have experience with them, do they work just as good as putting the clip on directly?

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

I've always flipped my two strokes counter clockwise, not backwards. Started fine that way.

With a new engine it's hit or miss. Some are easy to start, some are a real bear until they're broken in and properly tuned. A starter is generally much easier, and they WILL save time if your engine is a finicky one.
Dennis-

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

BingoFlyer

Larger two stroke and most four stroke engines can be started by back flipping but you DO NOT flip the engine through the compression stroke, it is just bumped against the compression.

I start my Moki 1.8 suing this method after priming it I set it to idle and using the spinner I just back snap it against the compression, the engine back fires and spins very rapidly through the compression stoke in the forward direction and starts the first time in most cases.

ykol20

thanks, hopefully i can get my plane started up this weekend and drive it around my driveway before i find an instructor. if anyone has anymore advise post away.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

I would advise against taxiing it around. I have seen more planes busted that way. Get help starting it so they can teach you the right and wrong way of doing it to save damage to it and you.

The remote glow adapter you asked about, I use them all the time. They are great.

ykol20

even in the engine instruction manual it says to run a tank through it on the ground, thats what im planning to do, then go to a club and have someone test fly it for me.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Yea, I agree with running it, but I have seen a lot of people start it, taxi it in the driveway, let it get away from them and all of a sudden it is airborn. I have seen it a lot. Just hate to see a new plane wrecked that way. Not saying you will wreck it, just don't want to see you do it. It looks like a nice plane.

ykol20

im gonna go slow, just to run a tank through it, make sure everything works, its a great planes lancair.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Looks great. Do you have any other pictures of it?

RobStagis

I'm with Jon.emmons on technique. Electric starters can mask a lot of tuning issues and learning to flipstart an engine forces you to get intimate with it.

Prop-mounting is number one. My technique was a little different than jon's: I mounted the prop so that when on compression, the prop (if you're in front of the plane) was at 2 and8 o'clock. kneeling on the right side of the plane (starboard) I would put the chicken stick under the 2 0'clock blade and flip toward me.

Priming: Yep - open the throttle, put your finger over the carb and turn the engine in the running direction (with no plug-lighter, thankyouverymuch) slowly by hand while watching your fuel line. When the fuel hits the carb, stop. You're done.

Radio on, open the throttle 1/4 way. With a well-trained engine, this is a nice place to start. Stick on the plug-lighter and flip in the running direction. I, personally, never had any luck flipping 'em backwards, but then I was running cheap engines...they didn't have the 'snap' that the good ones have.

If it starts and runs backwards (in spite of having flipped it forwards) you simply have too much fuel in it - you choked it too much.

It's nice to walk to the flight line with your plane, radio, lighter and chicken stick - and watch the guys with the handtrucks loaded with gear as they head to the flightline. *gloat*

ykol20

ya, i do, ill post some pics of it a bit later, i gotta go now, installed the engine toatally in cowl, looks very sleek.