Handcranking precautions

[N3Njeff]

All above is correct, crank will slip out and t-handle to engage flywheel. Our N has it and because the Spark Advance is disabled (Per FAA requirement), it does not really start as well as by hand.
Now here is a youtube vid of a Waco with OUR BELOVED NAF BUILT R760-8 installed instead of the J-5 and they get it going. Pretty cool and dangerous!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkPFRpbSU9o

[Jack Cook]

there shouldn't be a worry about kick-back because of the way the crank fits into the starter shaft. It is unidirectional, so when you stop cranking, the hand-crank will slip freely out of the shaft.

bingo!! I've cranked the Stearman (easy), AT-6 (still easy) and the NP-1
which took 2 people with one on the left main and one on the wing and it about
gave me a coronaey. Jeff had a electric crank set up at home for this but when we went somewhere the cord wasn't long enough I've got a video of us cranking it somewhere

[yakdriver]

Our N3N was stock, no electrical system and we hand cranked it. The secret to getting the inertia flywheel spooled up is to start out slow and build it up slowly, doesn't take near the effort of trying to muscle it. Wind it up, pull the crank out and engage the clutch. It always gathered an audience at airshows. As for the Nanchang, when the mags are timed right it is the easiest starting and smoothest running radial i have flown. I had a great mechanic that knew mags and round motors and had them set up perfect. Mine would usually start on the second or third blade. Don

[wacoykc]

I have hand-propped quite an assortment of aircraft including my wife's Waco RNF every time she wants to fly! First off....ALWAYS consider them hot and ready to go. One BIG thing about hand-propping is to NEVER wrap your fingers around the prop. ALWAYS lay your hands flat on the prop. There is also a HUGE difference if a wood or metal prop. A metal prop is heavier and easier to prop. Virtually all wood props I find that my hands are closer to the hub...metal props are further outboard. Also depends on height of prop. Nothing is worse than a C150 or some other nosewheel critter. Another function is where the prop comes thru compression. Some, like a few Kinners I have propped, actually do better with the blade at about the 7 o'clock position where you just grab the blade and walk away. Our Warner kicks back about 50% of the time.....even when we had a different Warner and with a Y-150 starter....hence a spark retard lever. The Wrights, Jacobs and Continental W670's are fairly straight forward. An OX-5 can be a tad interesting with that long prop.

As far as an inertia starter, the ones I have seen are straight forward. Wind up, disengage, pull starter handle.

[tulsaboy]

I'm with Jack- using the inertia starter is fun but a whale of a workout! I cranked the NP-1 with another guy several times in the same afternoon, and then again a few times the following day. Each time we did it, Jeff caught the start on the first try (thank goodness!) It was pretty simple, though- wind up starting slowly and working into a whale of a frenzy, pull the crank out, pull the engaging cable, bang!

kevin

[Obergrafeter]

Once when trying to crank the handle on our PT-26 for one of the senior master flown everything pilots in the group we were having a heck of a time getting it going. It usually started on one or two blades and everthing I tried from the outside wasn't working. I finally looked inside and informed Sky King if he would push that big red handle over to where it said "both" I would have a little easier time starting it. Guess who had to crank the next time.

[12XU2A3X3]

more of a matter of mental than physical: my first hand crank was a stampe and it was rushed thing at an air show. deliberate motions, no spazzing or tepidness, are the order of the day. know where the prop is and where you are. these points should not be the same. when she turns, stow the crank, and wish the guy or gal a good flight.

[engguy]

Hand cranked an R-1830 one time. It had an inertia starter, works great, they all ought to have em.

If you are talking about proping to start, never grasp with your fingers over the trailling edge, just incase of kick back.

[mustanglover]

I have proped many an airplane over the years. I was taught the fine art by my father when I was about 12 or 13 years old using our Money Mite.

But the most interesting and sometimes scary was proping the Formula 1 racer "Pushy Cat". I was Crew Chief on this airplane for many years. As some may know this airplane is a pusher configuration so to prop this airplane you have to:

1. Put on knee pads and gloves
2. kneel down behind airplane
3. pull prop thru several times
4. ask to go hot
5. one swift pull and hope it starts
6. when it does start keep perfect balance on knees and pray for a second
7. slowly slide backwards and stand up

You have to imagine this prop was very short and made of wood and carbon and when the engine started it would typically go to a higher RPM than most O-200 engines. Almost like starting a big RC airplane.

[Obergrafeter]

Every time you and Jim cranked up that thing I just cringed. Spent lots of time next door trying to glean a little info from the old man. What a master craftsman.

[Dan Jones]

Hand cranked an R-1830 one time. It had an inertia starter, works great, they all ought to have em.

If you are talking about proping to start, never grasp with your fingers over the trailling edge, just incase of kick back.

And never hook your thumps UNDER the leading edge. It's been done and it's broken thumbs.

Dan

[Kyleb]

I have proped many an airplane over the years. I was taught the fine art by my father when I was about 12 or 13 years old using our Money Mite.

But the most interesting and sometimes scary was proping the Formula 1 racer "Pushy Cat". I was Crew Chief on this airplane for many years. As some may know this airplane is a pusher configuration so to prop this airplane you have to:

1. Put on knee pads and gloves
2. kneel down behind airplane
3. pull prop thru several times
4. ask to go hot
5. one swift pull and hope it starts
6. when it does start keep perfect balance on knees and pray for a second
7. slowly slide backwards and stand up

You have to imagine this prop was very short and made of wood and carbon and when the engine started it would typically go to a higher RPM than most O-200 engines. Almost like starting a big RC airplane.

Yikes!

[FG1D Pilot]

As Bill said, tie down the tail. I once propped my Stits by myself with the tail tied and when I untied it, it started to roll forward against my legs. I could hold it still but couldn't run fast enough to jump on the wing. It was Sunday and no one was around. I wondered what the fuel burn of a Cont. A65 was at fast idle and how long I was going to have to stand there until it ran out of fuel. Finally someone came along and held it while I jumped in. I reduced the idle speed after that. And Ober, I just thought you needed a workout.

[mustanglover]

Every time you and Jim cranked up that thing I just cringed. Spent lots of time next door trying to glean a little info from the old man. What a master craftsman.

Back in the early 90s we were at an airshow and air-race in Stockton, California. All the performers were put up in a very nice hotel including the Blue Angels. The bulk of the BA crew members were on my floor and one night I was coming back to my room after dinner and ended up in the party room with the BA crews and all the groupie girls. I had a long (read drinking) night and the next morning I felt far from fresh. We had an early race and I was dreading starting that thing up out on the line. I searched all over our pit area for something to make me feel better. Finally one of the girls next to our pit handed me some Midol and a glass of water. I took those and MAN, they really helped me come out of my ummm.....hangover. What a day, I really learned to not party too hard before race days after that.

[Bill Greenwood]

Ober,

Don't be too hard on your senior master pilot that forgot the ignition switch turned to on.

There is a famous Spitfire at Duxford, the Grace Spitfire. It was a sister ship, #162 in the Irish Air Corp to my #163. Unlike mine, 162 was an instrucitnal airframe for mechanics at the end of Irish service and fell into disrepair. Nick Grace bought it, and over about 7 years restored it. Finally all the work is done, it is no longer a project, it is now an airplane and not just any airplane, but it is a SPITFIRE, perhaps the greatest of all.

Now comes the BIG MOMENT, they roll it out in front of the hangar, and there she sits, with a fresh O H Rolls Royce Merlin, all ready to fire after perhaps 20 years of silence, with fresh fuel and a new prop. Spits also have the coolest looking props.

They hook up the AC trolley (that's Brit lingo for a battery cart, or as they say in Texas, a batry cart) and prime it and push the start button.

IT FIRES, BLOWS A BIG PUFF OF SMOKE OUT THOSE 12 FABULOUS STACKS!

But it won't run. Over and over it fires when primed, but dies. They try different amounts of primer, of throttle opening. Still she won't run. They Brits adjourn for lunch and for tea. They think best after hot tea.
Finally a light dawns. They come back to the plane and Nick Grace reaches into the rear cockpit.

They try again and SHE FIRES AND SHE RUNS!!!!! JUST LIKE A MERLIN SHOULD. Now it is not just a project, it is a fighter and a Spitfire!

While the ignition switches in the front cockpit were on, those in the rear cockpit were off and overrode the front ones. The engine would fire on the booster coil,but not pick up and run since the mags were off.

She runs and flies great now, sadly Nick was lost in a car wreck, but Carolyn carries on the tradition.