Turning over Rotax pre start?

[philipnz]

Theres a very good dvd you can get on Rotax engines, worth a look.

 

Basically it's this. You turn the engine over by hand to check the oil before flight. The engine by default will be cold. If the ignition is off you can't start it. If the ignition for some silly reason or faulty switch is on then you will have to spin the engine 300 rpm to start it which is very very unlikely. Honestly you'd have to be absolutely committed to giving the prop the biggest heave you could muster.

 

You don't check the oil in a hot engine after flight because A) the oil is hot and expanded and if it was all in the tank it would overread and B) you wont get all the oil in the tank because all a lot of it is still hung up in the moving bits. It takes a while, ie the period between flights, for it all to filter down to the sump where it is all scavenged by pulling through the prop when cold. C) you have to remove the cap to get to the dipstick and doing this on a hot engine could remove your eyelashes or at least burn your fingers

 

I always leave my anti collision strobe turned on. In fact i'd hard wire it to the master switch if i could. That way you always know the ignition is on when you're outside the aircraft. But as said, you aren't going to start the engine anyway.

 

Sometimes when I land and shutdown I'll have to return the prop to horizontal. I may turn the prop backwards to do this (less than an eight of a turn maximun) or very carefully and very slowly standing to the side bring it around.

 

 

[Guest skipd]

As a safety precaution, make sure that you do mag grounding checks regularly. That pretty much insures that you will not be handling a "hot" prop when pulling it through. It is tough to hear the oil gurgle when using the starter to do the same job. But, as always, any prop is a hot prop.

 

 

[Guest airsick]

...you will never wind a Rotax over fast enough by hand to activate the magneto's.

I thought this too until Narromine last year when I saw someone handswing a Rotax into life. It can be done. If you don't believe me then be it at your own peril.

 

 

[Flyingphot]

Hi Skip

 

""As a safety precaution, make sure that you do mag grounding checks regularly""

 

This mag grounding check is (or should be) done when carrying out a mag drop check prior to take off at every flight. If you don't get a drop in one mag it could be one of two things - 1. that circuit not working, or 2. mag switch not grounding. In either case you would not fly until the cause is located.

 

Happy flying

 

Bill:wave:

 

 

[Guest skipd]

That's the way to do it, at the run up- and also prior to shutting down. Personally, I always stand behind a prop when moving it. At least in a Cub you even prop it from the cabin side...........beware of the large quisinart blades.

 

 

[Guest TOSGcentral]

Hand Starting Rotax 2 strokes

 

This is exclusively about Rotax 2 strokes.

 

 

The 277, 377, 477 and 503 can be hand started. In fact this is quite normal practice on traditional ultralights as many did not have electrical systems at all.

 

 

The 532, 582 and 618 cannot be started by hand swinging due to the RPM required to energise their CDIs

 

 

On the other hand they can be easily hand started via a hand recoil starter (lawnmower style thing) that does generate enough prop speed.

 

 

This has made me a big fan of the E type reduction gear box that goes on the front of the engine leaving the back free for a recoil starter as well. Big safety and convenience factor for remote area ops where a flat battery can keep you firmly on the ground and the recoil starter can get you off again.