Handswinging A Cessna 172
July 13, 2010
Brian Westin from Sunland Aviation starts VH-MDX by hand, simulating a flat battery. Attemping to recreate this video may result in ‘disarmourment’!
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25 Responses to “Handswinging A Cessna 172”
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OMIGOD dude I got scared only by looking at this video…!!!
That Lycoming bitch almost chopped your arm off…..You’re a brave man…!! PS Would like to go on a tour with you.
Usually you first prime the engine. Then you turn the prop through about 7 times. Then you turn the mag on (usually just the left, non-impluse mag), then you start it.
Actually its not too bad. In the J-3 you could start the prop from the rear (because the cowling is narrow). However,with other planes I’d hand prop it at the dock and then spin it around. Its the same way you pre-flight. You stand in one position at the dock and you spin the plane around.
When I was taught to hand prop I was told that most accidents were caused by pilots trying to stand too far away from the prop, resulting in them leaning into it during the startup. I flew Aeroncas and a J-3 for 10 years and luckily never had any type of an incident. You have to get used to doing it solo, but you learn to secure the plane. I used the 2 of 3 rule (at least 2 of brake, tie down, chaulk).
To be perfectly honest, it was the Fuel Injected bitch BVY beside it that we were trying to start after a student left the master on overnight :-S. However due to fouled plugs and old mags it wouldn’t play the game. We only started this one for the educational benefit, teaching the students *one of* the correct and safe ways to do it. Brian now has over 14,000 hours in GA and has owned everything from 150’s to 310’s, a Queen Air and even a Gypsy Moth. If anyone knows, it’s him. Cheers.
Well, I guess you’d have to be Moses to start a floatplane from in front of the prop on the water… 🙂
It’s all about the respect of that spinning pinwheel, if you stay out of its way then it won’t bite. Thanks.
That’s true.. A lot of times it’s one inexperienced pilot who failed to properly set the parking brake. It’s certainly something I’d never try on my own without a pilot at the controls! Thanks…!
Sorry it took so long to reply 🙂
The strongest compression is most likely to fire. If you keep count, that is when it starts…
As for priming, operating the knob on carburettor-induced engines only injects fuel to the manifold not the cylinder (unlike modern fuel-injected engines). It has to turn over a few times to suck the fresh air and fuel into the cylinder to fire. Plus excess priming dilutes the oil, reducing engine,life… Thanks for the comment..!
Most prop-starting accidents are not the result of bad form, they’re the result of the aircraft moving forward either due to poor brakes or insufficient brake pressure. Chalking or tying down the tail eliminates this danger.
You’ll note that the aircraft in this video is securely tied down… my Ozzie is a bit rusty, but: “Good on ya mates.”
My dad and I own a C172 in Mansfield, MA, USA and sometimes we have to prop start or perform engine diagnostics when the engine is running (Dad’s an A&P plus IA…bloody convenient!).
Anyway, we always make sure to either CHALK the aircraft or leave the tiedowns secured (or both) when prop-starting or performing diagnostics. This ensures the aircraft will not move forward suddenly after starting.
That is the oddiest hand prop’ing technique I’ve ever seen. I spent many years flying non-electrical Aeroncas, and J-3s, including float planes (prop from the rear while standing on the float). I’ve never seen anyone hand prop from the side like that. Doesn’t look too good to me.
youngandeg,
Sunland Aviation is in Archerfield, a suburb of the capital city of Queensland, Brisbane!
Joe
PS: Just Google Sunland Aviation to find their website!
why do u need to find the strongest compression and how do you know when it is done? and cant u just use the primer inside the plane to prime the engine
Where is this School. Am an Instructor from Canada on my way to Aus to teach there
I don’t like how close his head and arm is to the prop arc and how far down he bends in his swing.
I imagine that this has something to do with this being a trike, with tailwheel airplanes, swinging is much easier and safer.
man if he wasnt careful he could have gotten his hand chopped off
Well said with regard to having to hand prop out in the middle of nowhere. Its all in learning the proper technique and practice.
You will always have mixed reviews when hand starting an AC. I’ve personally seen a hand start go wrong. The pilot at the controls was not on the breaks hard enough. The AC lurched forward and the guy outside lost his arm. Granted they may not have done everything proper, but still.. to me I feel that even if it is more convenient to hand start, its best to try to find another solution if available and only to hand start if there was no other alternative. Still best to know HOW to do it Cheers!
Brian has a lot of experience with planes. He is my dads instructor in the Cirrus and the guy in the plane is my instructor on the Cirrus. They know there way around planes and I trust them with my life.
Actaully its good idea to learn, casue there is going to be a time where you at a place where there is no electricy, no chargers and no fuel man to help you. We have lots of airports all over Canada and probably the USA that don’t provide services. Better to be showed, then trying to without being showed.
The point of simulating a flat battery is to demonstrate how to fix the situation with a minimum of repercussion. Especially out west, that said charger or GPU is rarely available. Rather than spend literally thousands of dollars to have a LAME replace a battery, why not use this technique which can executed safely under the right circumstances with the appropriate training.
Why not respond to a simulated flat battery by simulating removing said battery and putting it on a charger, or replacing it with a fresh battery, or connecting a GPU (ground power unit) instead? Hand-propping modern aircraft is ill-advised, dangerous and unnecessary.
i was being taught to put the right hand onto the spinner and hand-prop the plane with the other one so that you can immediately push yourself away from the airplane. as aussieaviationist already said, different people have different ways of doing it. the way you did it looked ok to me. still enough space to back off.
Thanks for posting, although I hope never to have to hand-prop it was great to see it actually being done.
I would really appreciate it if you did post those vids.
Cheers!
Different people have different ways of doing it. Brian, the 13000hr with 37years-in-industry-instructor, teaches people to find their ‘balance’ posture. If you watch, he is in such a position that when she fires he can easily get out of the way. As for the procedure, that is straight out of the POH for a 172N.