Pull Start - on a grander scale!

[fatmal]

This looks dodgy - the potential for things going wrong is quite high I think!

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=401176083333530&set=vb.291480754303064&type=2&theater

 

 

[Vev]

What could possibly go wrong with that ... only joking?

 

 

[Marty_d]

Gotta give them points for ingenuity. I'm assuming that they've just been caught out with a blown starter motor or something, and this is not their normal method of starting the aircraft!

 

 

[Riley]

Gotta give them points for ingenuity. I'm assuming that they've just been caught out with a blown starter motor or something, and this is not their normal method of starting the aircraft!

Using a spinning chain on that alloy nose cone would surely restrict them to about 2 attempts per spinner. Hell, in the days when there were still roughnecks on the drill floor (it's all automated now) we used to make up drill pipe connections like that. Those fellows should be protected against themselves! The mind boggles.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Using a spinning chain on that alloy nose cone would surely restrict them to about 2 attempts per spinner. Hell, in the days when there were still roughnecks on the drill floor (it's all automated now) we used to make up drill pipe connections like that. Those fellows should be protected against themselves! The mind boggles.

True - I think it was a rope though, and it was behind the prop so would be fairly well supported by the spinner hub. Not saying it's safe - but it is a solution to their problem, and it worked!

 

 

[Riley]

True - I think it was a rope though, and it was behind the prop so would be fairly well supported by the spinner hub. Not saying it's safe - but it is a solution to their problem, and it worked!

On review I see that it definately is a rope so I stand corrected and withdraw my non-applicable comments (except for the one that they still need protection from themselves).

 

 

[nong]

Good to see some real aviators in action.

 

 

[AVOCET]

Good to see some real aviators in action.

Those guys new exactly what they were doing , I agree it's good to see some real aviators .

By the way , I had a fellow fly in for some work on a cracked jab flap horn , and he got my old southern cross generator going again after 30 years of sitting there ,

 

Nice to be able to have spare electrical generation.

 

Cheers Mike

 

 

[rgmwa]

Some interesting comments below that clip. Seems the method has been around for a while - even been used to start DC3's, Corsairs and B25's in the past. Not sure if a fibreglass spinner would be up to the job though.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[David Isaac]

I am probably as safety conscious on these matters as many these days, I regularly prop swing Tigers and Austers. I don't see anything wrong with this method if properly executed.

 

The way I see it is that you would:

 

need to use rope, so that if it gets hit it will be sacrificial with no damage;

 

the number of winds on the spinner would need to represent the number of assisted revolutions you needed for a likely start;

 

the speed of the towing vehicle would need to represent a little faster than idle speed of the engine.

 

I would also suggest that the reason they did that had nothing to do with a flat battery but more likely a failed starter motor ... jumper leads wont fix a stuffed starter.

 

 

[Neil_S]

This looks dodgy - the potential for things going wrong is quite high I think!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=401176083333530&set=vb.291480754303064&type=2&theater

Hi Mal,

 

Hmmm - will have to ask Terry about that!

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[facthunter]

It was done in PNG with airline DC-3's. It can be a bit tough on the engine mounts I guess if you are rough about it. That spinner is a good size. The DC-3 would have been done on the front of the Hamilton Standard dome which is a bit smaller diameter. If the rope breaks and gets caught up in the prop you just keep away from it. I suppose it could wrap around the front of the engine too if you are unlucky. Nev

 

 

[Hongie]

not sure how kind it would be to the crank though... no doubt that it works though

 

 

[David Isaac]

The load would be far less than gyroscopic precession loads. The real load as Nev has stated is on the engine mounts.

 

 

[facthunter]

The problem with the big round engines is they are geared down 2:1. If you ever have to do this keep the throttle fully closed at first till the rotation is started. By not filling the cylinders the torque required is much less at that point. Move to idle position soon after it turns. Nev

 

 

[Guernsey]

A good pilot can start anything if he's learned the ropes.

 

Alan.

 

 

[facthunter]

You are a very funny man Igor. nev

 

 

[ayavner]

there's always someone without a shirt in these things...

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Been there done that with a jump DC3. About 20 jumpers on the rope and one pulling the blades through. Easy as.

 

Always amazed at the Wallys that go shock horror when they see something a bit different. These are the types Victa invented the wind up impulse starter for.

 

 

[facthunter]

Done with a Land Rover in this instance ozzie. Nev

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

With the amount of willing hands that day we could have hand launched the thing.

 

 

[Geoff]

Worked hear

 

 

 

 

[Hongie]

not sure i'm a wally... just wouldnt particularly like it done on my aircraft.. The mechanic in me knows that the main bearings etc are not made for that force vector if thats the way to term it. My guess, and its just that, a guess, is that the worst time for the bearing in this operation is the 1st compression stroke when they 1st start pulling.. after that the motor is rotating I'm supposing that it would ok.

 

 

[facthunter]

The bearing is large enough and is not on the end of the crank anyhow. Its the reduction gear case taking the load. Nev

 

 

[Hongie]

Not an expert, but i didnt realise that an 0540 would need a redrive? Prop size a factor?

 

edit: ad to that i know nothing about ag trucks