RE: Starting a plane
 

after reading the posts on this thread I have to add a comment when I was into control line planes my first one was a goldberg wizard .049 engine it was the popular choice, spring start, small glow engine, I can't count how many cuts bruises and abraisions I suffered from those little buggers. with the advent of the electric starter why would you want to start a larger engine with any thing else keeping you fingers away from your prop so you can fly and not getting stitches is the idea.for any beginner I would never recommend trying to hand start a motor,this is the beginners forum is it not.
somegeek just posted a thread about a prop strike on his knee 11+ stitches and then I read he has lost a finger tip, this tells me use a starter and be SAFE not sorry, in all aspects of handling a motor powered airplane.
when and only when there is a level of comfort with the real damage a glow motor can do then fool around with hand starting for the price of a tower starter about 12$ + 12V battery the choice should be obvious its called a chicken stick for a reason,cause I sure am chicken of getting nailed by that prop. heres a question for somegeek how much were those stiches my guess arround 600.00+ thats gotta hurt.

RE: Starting a plane
 

Chicken Stick?
I've gotten cut just priming the carb... them APC props are Airfoiled Razors

RE: Starting a plane
 

Didn't lose my fingertip but got a nice slice in it from the propeller kicking back from a flip start. [:@] Wear a leather glove whenever you're hand starting your plane. Dull the trailing edge of those props with sand paper. Cheap insurance.

I can tell you that I was pretty observant of my plane and moreso after my knee got clipped. Bit of a wake-up call. Since then I've observed folks doing stuff that would hurt them bad pretty easily if something small woulda happened... lose grip on a slick fuse... carrying a large idling plane and controller at the same time... bad timing when getting a good grip on their plane when throttling up... holding the plane back with one foot on one side of the stab...

People get complacent, sh** happens and people get hurt.

Think about what you're doing and take a few extra seconds to do it right and safely. Being safe usually costs nothing but a few extra seconds. Those props can do bad things in a few miliseconds and not only to you.

somegeek

RE: Starting a plane
 

If I place my electric starter on the ground next to my airplane, the engine flip starts every time. So I use it as a deterrent.:D

RE: Starting a plane
 

Most of us speed in cars and run yellow lights routinely. How many aggressive drivers have bad insurance rates and tickets to pay? Live dangerous, pay the consequences. We all know accidents happen to all of us. Prop related accidents do happen. Why not advertise a safer way to do this? Some want to put their fingers near objects that can remove them, some don't. :D Live safely, enjoy the safety buffer. In this respect, use an electric starter. It's common sense on safety for the few seconds of inconvenience. How many use remote needle valve engines and even remote glow starters relocated further away from the plane? You shouldn't put your finger near the prop if you can use another safer option. Otherwise, let's just taxi our planes to our feet on the other side of the fence and tell people you never hit anyone before.

RE: Starting a plane
 

It's been regularly documented that the serious injuries from props nearly always happen AFTER the engine has been started, not during starting. It's also been theorized that the prevalance of electric starters causes people to become more relaxed around props and not treat them with the respect they deserve. If you watch someone who has been hand starting engines for a long time, you'll realize that their method makes it pretty much impossible to get any more than an occasional knuckle rap, if that. I've watched many beginners doing things, while using electric starters, that were much more of a safety concern than an experineced person hand starting their engine.

From a safety perspective, teaching beginners to secure the plane, put the transmitter somewhere they won't accidentally hit the throttle, do all engine adjustments from behind the plane and keep themselves and others out of the prop arc is more important than just telling them to buy an electric starter and considering the subject of prop safety covered.

RE: Starting a plane
 

I'm surprised you feel (even as a moderator) the occasional knuckle rap is an acceptable level of injury for everyone in the hobby. I've witnessed worse, your information is opinion in nature and is not fact, or accurate at all. Composite props are dangerous to be hand started. Chicken stick, fine, fingers, no way. Incredible.

Electric starters to not make any person laxed around the engine. You don't use anything on an electric prop, and it has the potential to harm under power, why aren't all electric motor users running around injured then by this theory?

RE: Starting a plane
 

Its really a matter of preference in the end. For a newbie, just to eliminate the frustration of trying to start a difficult engine by hand I would say that a starter is the only way to go unless you are working with an instructor that is as knowledgeable about engines as he is abuot flight..

Here is what I suggest for a total newbie. If you have an instructor, go with his suggestion. If he uses a starter he will probably (and should) suggest that you use his while training just so that you dont waste the money if you change your mind and decide to back out.. If your instructor hand flips then he will teach you how to do it safely, more than likely using a chicken stick which can be a 6" piece of stiff garden hose, wooden dowel, whatever. If he hand starts, learn how to hand start and take advantage of the expereince on properly tuning an engine he will provide.

If you do not have an instructor, heaven forbid, go with an electric starter. It makes a new stiff engine a lot easier to start even if the needle settings are not perfect. If they are totally off, it wont start regardless of how you go about it. Im not saying that a starter will guarantee you that the engine will start, but it will make a difficult engine or a stiff new engine a lot easier for a new pilot to start.

Once you get a little experience under your belt, always keep a starter with you just in case until you know for SURE that you can start your engines without it. If you can get your engines tuned up right you wont need it and it is just something else to worry about hauling to the flight line, but its nice to have in the truck waiting if you need it. At that point you can decide for yourself what you want to do. There is nothing superior about starting by hand or by starter, its really just a matter of preference and cost.[8D]

RE: Starting a plane
 

Something else,,, no injury is an acceptable part of the hobby. We strive for zero accidents. Do whatever it takes to ensure that no one gets hurt. 2 things that most commonly get caught up in a spinning prop are #1 fingers, and #2 neckstraps.

Last, ALL props will cut your fingers off, in a backfire ALL props will cut you to the bone and at minimum require stitches. Wood, composite, plastic, electric, glow, gas. There is no such thing as a prop that wont cut you. If a dull wood prop backfires it can and will at bare minimum lay your finger wide open unless you are just extremly lucky. A leather glove will certainly up your chances of not getting cut but props will cut leather and flesh like nothing.

I use a leather glove for starting my big gas engines but for glow, my preference is an electric starter.