Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

Refresh my memory; I have a DLE55, the Prop is Drilled for 2:00 o'clock; when I mount the Prop, the compression should be at the 2:00 o'clock position; so when I flip it I would flip it from right to left horizontally - versus - mounting the prop with compression at the 10:00 o'clock position and would have to flip down wards or vertically.

Thanks, can you tell this is my first Gasser, not a newbie just new to gas.

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

Your memory is working just fine. 2:00 o'clock position it is.

Pete<br type="_moz" />

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

Thanks, thats what I thought, just wanted to be sure.

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

Try flipping from 10 oclock down, you'll see why it's a bad idea pretty quick :)

(legal disclaimer: Wear a thick glove if you follow the above advice)

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

My friend Mel is a lefty, he uses the 10 o'clock position, drives me nuts!

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

I've seen lefty's flip them from the 10:00 position and it scares the hell outa me . I'm a lefty but learned to flip from the 2:00 position using my right arm from day one . At least I won't damage my good arm .

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

flipping behind the prop (safety reasons) also favors the 2 oçlock position.

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

I like it around 1 o clock. 2 is a bit too low for me. Dennis

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

mine is set at the 1500 position

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

I like flipping horizontally. If I tried it your way, i'd probably smack myself in the forehead. I always start my plane on the back of my flatbed, so the prop shaft is at about chest level. Dennis

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

I am scared to death of hand propping gas engines.  I got a high torque starter on a 6:1 gear box to flip over all my stuff.  Was using a chicken stick but that does a number of the prop sometimes. 

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

You should be afraid of finger starting nitro engines. Those are the one's that get you. The gas props come around slow. I can't imagine doing it any other way. I always deburr my new props with a pocket knife and get the sharp edges off, so if my fingers slide on the edge I don't get cut again. lol Yep, learned that lesson early on. Prop starting gassers is a breeze... Dennis

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

One of the keys is a good hard aggressive flip, not a lazy half hearted one. A lazy flip can catch you, especially if the engine is a bit over choked and somewhat flooded. The engine will backfire and slap the back of your hand/fingers and it will hurt like h e l l. I have a good leather welders glove that I added thick stiff foam rubber protectors to each finger top. I only use it on new engines I am unfamiliar with though..... Otherwise I get lazy and don't bother with the glove like most people.

As far as sharp edges cutting the bottoms of your finger, the APC or the carbon fiber props are the worst for that. The wood props generally don't cut you and I feel a lot safer hand propping them.

Do be careful though. I've seen some horrifying pictures of injuries from hand propping engines. Also take your time and think clearly. One time I was adjusting an "unhappy" .40 size glow engine. I had to keep adjusting and fooling with the engine, and I was in somewhat of a hurry. Finally, in my rush, I reached right through the prop arc to make an adjustment. The engine was only a .40 glow engine, and it was only idling, but it still cut several fingers right down to the bone, including three of them right through my finger nails!! [:o]

AV8TOR

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

The guys that really bit me were glow converted Zenoah gas engines. Those were the days before I learned the backflip method on glow engines.
Gas engines are quite well behaved, as long as you don't play around with the prop. Whenever you touch that prop, either grasp it real tight, or flip it decently. Some engines even need a lazy flip to start real good, like the early MVVS (evolution in USA) with Vlach ignition. RCexl ignitions need a decent flip. I never had one hit back on me, so a decent flip is good enough to retard the ignition.
Eh.. no, I do not wear leather gloves for starting. Too clumsy. If a prop decides to kick back, it will swing back my fingers only without doing any harm. Never happened though.
When preparing the plane/engine for starting, do so with ignition off. That is what that little switch is for.
And like AV8tor said, sharp edges on props have no use for them.

RE: Prop Mounting position on a Gas Engine
 

Hey Guys, I appreciate all the replys, but my question was adequately and correctly answered in the 2nd posting, RCU a great place to get the info you need and more, again, much apprected for all the info and replys.