Would anyone mind telling me the basic start up procedures?

How many different types are there? I've heard of a number of different start-up types (Butane,Propane and Kero) but I don't know which is which. Which manufacturers offer the most convinient start-up systems?

I would assume full kero start is the latest technology... Do most engines support this method?

What is the little valve/device that I see pilots holding at start-up? It has a tube running into the turbine and the operator appears to turning something.

Is there a fully automatic start available? I think I saw a video for a Jetcat turboshaft heli engine, In which the pilot flipped a switch and the turbine pretty much did everything on it's own. Is there any such setup for turbojets?

Any info at all would be great! Thanks!

Pete

The valve you see in the videos is a gas valve that opens up for the butane/propane gas mix that is used
on many turbines to start the heating process and reach a temperature that is high enough to ignite the
kerosine. This is slowly being replaced by the fully automatic kerostart where - as you say - you simply
throttle up and down once, after that the entire start-up is controlled by the ECU and goes through the
heating (obtained by the igniting of a kerosine mist and a heater plug) to the ignition of the regular kero
fuel, throttle up to idle, calibrating at a higher rpm before settling at idle again. At this point the control of
the turbine is turned over to the pilot and the plane is ready to roll out. Most turbines are sold with a manual
or onboard starter gas solution and can be converted to kerostart, while others such as the Graupner GBooster
series is delivered as kerostart only.

Tor

Prior to purchasing my first turbine, I read as many different manufactures turbine manuals as possible. They will describe everything from setup to starting and shutdown. Most have them available on their website. In the end i ended up going with a Jetcat as they were the only one of the three i was looking at (jetcat, jet central, and wren) that offers Kero start. I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. Perhaps the best way to get to know these things is finding someone local and seeing them up close.

Rich

Thanks!

I guess I'll start looking for some manuals!

Pete

any local bubbas you can lean on for guidance, exposure, mentorship etc.?

good luck

Jet Central Manuals
http://www.jetcentral.com.mx/english/descargas.html

JetCat manuals:
www.jetcatusa.com/tech department/downloads/download manuals

Like Tor said that's the propane/butane gas valve on the external cylinder of starting gas. Most gas start engines use a mix of propane & butane as the starting gas.

Even with a full auto start engine some flyers still start from the external cylinder. You save a little weight & space by leaving it out of the model & if it all goes horribly wrong it's one less thing to explode! - John.