Ryan PT-22 question

[N3Njeff]

Hey you Ryan fans...........Got a question. The airplane was built with no electrical system correct?? Start procedure was?? Hand prop or did the Kinner have a inertia starter?

[JDK]

My friend's PT-22 here in Aus is hand-swung start.

[marine air]

It had an Eclipse Y manual inertia starter. It goes into the cowling on the left side. The hand crank is
stowed in the baggage compartment. The Kinner engine (R-54, R-55, R-550) is very particular and dangerous to hand prop. Hand propping should be avoided. Ask any of the old timers to show you their scars from hand propping.

[Baldeagle]

I owned a Kinner Fleet for several years and have hand propped a number of other Kinners including the R series, I would say that it's one of the easier engines to hand prop.



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[Fleet16b]

I owned a Kinner Fleet for several years and have hand propped a number of other Kinners including the R series, I would say that it's one of the easier engines to hand prop.



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I agree with Baldeagle , I also have hand propped lots of Kinners both B-5 nad R-55 .
They are easy to prop and offer no more problems than any other aircraft out there
The hand crank starters are no real issue either.
Over the past ten years I have been collecting Kinner parts , pm me if anyone is looking for something
I also have two or three hand crank starters available if anyone needs one

[ignomini]

Growing up around SoCal, I don't thinking I ever saw anyone start a Ryan by any other method than hand prop, and the procedure looked a lot easier than any other engine. My father used to hand prop the K-5 on his fleet too.

[Pogo]

Yep, it's strictly hand propping on the two Kinners I know well: one on a Meyers OTW, and the other on a PT-22. Owners say the impulse mags need to be understood, but once you get the hang of 'em they're relatively easy to swing, just pull 'em through and stay clear. I've seen both started this way too many times to count.

Last edited by Pogo on Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Sully]

I enjoyed hand propping the Kinner. Set the blade at 7:00 and pull it while walking past it. If it didn't hit the first time, which was seldom, it did the second.

[Obergrafeter]

The PT-22 that was in the hangar behind me always hand propped. He did it different than any way I have ever seen...................he walked in front of the plane and grabbed the prop at the 6 o'clock position and pulled it threw underhanded. Don't think I would have the balls to do it that way!

[N3Njeff]

Thanks guys for the information. Last weekend I was at a Living History event when a friend introduced me to a author who was writing a fiction book that took place at the beginning of WW2. One of the characters from a farm in New England enlists in the army before the outbreak of the war and becomes a mechanic at a training field. The author has him killed by the propeller while trying to start the airplane. He wanted to be reasonably accurate so I gave him some suggestions and off the top of my head at the time, the only airplanes to hand prop would have been something like a J-3 in a civilian pilot program for the war or possibly the Ryan PT-22. I only mentioned the ryan as I was not sure how the Kinner was started.

[Obergrafeter]

The author has him killed by the propeller while trying to start the airplane

Maybe he was trying to start it like the guy I described with the underhanded spin! Sure looked dangerous to me.

[Fleet16b]

With the Kinner , there is no real prop position that you cannot hand start from .
I have been hand propping my R55 on the Fleet for years
Kinners sometimes like to kick backwards if they are not primed enough The important thing is to keep your hand near the curve of the tip so that the prop will slide way from you and you get to keep your fingers
Forget the method of swinging a leg high in the air and pullling thru. That is just pure Hollywood bullcrap.
Swinging your leg back moves your upper body forward ie your head moves towards the blades
That is not good
also I see many people pulling the prop thru as hard as possible as if the faster the pull the better the chances of a start . Wrong again thats not how it works Just prop normally , the mag will do the rest

[Kenny Chapman]

I hand start my PT-22 all the time. Just like everyone else said, set it at about seven o'clock, pull it through with one hand and let the impulse coupler do the work. Easiest engine to start I've ever had. Just avoid the "Waldo Pepper / Blue Max" stuff. (Giant leg kick.)

[marine air]

About 10 years ago I flew a Chipmunk to Oshkosh for a local owner that also owned a T-28 and had just purchased a PT-22. I took the time to talk to all the PT-22 guys there that year. We had been hand propping it.
There was a WW II vet there with his PT-22 in the same markings as the PT-22 he had soloed in during the war. I don't remember the guys name but he had bringing a PT-22 to Oshkosh for about 35 years.
He showed us a scar on his hand and said his brother almost lost an arm propping PT-22's. That's when we purchased a hand crank. Yes, he said if you have to hand prop to use your fingertips only. " The Kinner is real bad about kicking back" "that's when it gets you" he said.
After hand propping aircraft occasionally the last 25 years I am no longer a fan. A student in our Cub, sitting in the rear(behind me) turned the mags on while my dad was pulling the blades through. It started and missed my 80 year old dad's head by 2 inches.
Hand prop if you have to, but there are a lot of great options out there to upgrade your plane.

[airnutz]

For Ryan lovers, TCM has a movie on right now "Marines Fly High (1940) featuring the Ryan ST-A (as well as some biplanes in the background) in the Marines "banana" period.