Bad for Aviation: Hand Propping Run Amuck
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2024
- Hand propping an aircraft engine, at least some engines, is a routine task, but it's woefully unforgiving of carelessness and lack of technique and caution. In this video, AVweb's Paul Bertorelli examines what can go wrong and all too often it ends up with an airplane wrecked and occasionally someone hurt. Sense of humor recommended.
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Paul's dry sense of humor is underrated.
A life goal is to never have him narrating one of my landings on youtube.
It gets the point across and keeps people watching. Ideal.
I see Paul has the same type of t-shirt collection I do. I approve!!
It is a treasure to witness...
I heard about his sense of humor (from jumpers) long before I watched this channel. Always informative and funny.
The two dislikes were from former pilots
operating the mouse with their feet.
Tucker gott
I have the best hand-prop disaster story of all time…I was studying (back in the 80s) in the Purdue aviation library which was the old control tower overlooking the ramp. It had couches by the windows. It was winter and the ramp was icy. I heard an aircraft engine start up and immediately go to full throttle. I jumped up to see what was happening. The scene that greeted my eyes was a man laying on the ramp holding his arm, and a Cessna 172 that had just passed him and was rapidly accelerating towards the covered fuel truck parking shelter with fuel trucks lined up in a nice row. I had a few seconds to decide if I should duck to protect myself from the impending explosion, or watch the firewall and maybe still have enough time to duck down. Curiosity got the best of me and I kept watching. As the plane picked up speed, it turned slightly and wonder of wonders hit squarely in an empty stall with a fuel truck on either side. Both wings peeled back from hitting the support posts. As fuel from the ripped open wing tanks streamed back in the wind stream blown by the prop turning at full power inside the stall, I thought I might yet see an impressive fireball. The man who had been on the ground got up and started running TOWARDS the plane. I kept watching until the carb starved of fuel from the rapidly drained fuel tanks, maybe less than a minute, and then it was quiet. A few moments later, to my surprise, a young woman came running from the stall towards the man! That young woman was very fortunate she was not immolated. Later I found out the back story: This pilot came out to his plane in the morning after spending the night locally and found his battery dead. He elected to hand prop because he was too cheap to pay for a start cart which was available. He was a doctor ‘from up north’ and he was married and the young woman was not his wife or daughter. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall as he explained the broken wrist, destroyed airplane, and the young woman, to his wife…just sayin’.
Geezus. Thanks for that story. I've heard a surprising number of others like it. I had this very thing in mind in making this video. These things are entirely avoidable. No exceptions.
Poor decisions love company I suppose...
Paul has raised smartassedness to an art form. I love it.
1979. Myself and another air traffic controller were working the control tower at SWF INT airport.Our tower was 100 foot high on a hill that was another 250 from the ramp elevation, so we enjoyed a Gods eye view. Guy walks out of the FBO to his J3 on the main ramp and sets up to hand prop by his own self. The Cub starts off along the ramp 20 feet, climbs into the air, and appears to enter left closed traffic to his starting location. There was a huge construction project at the time to make over our main runway. !5,000 foot. Heavy construction equipment and personnel were all over the place.Cub was as high as our tower then descends back down to the ramp and executes a touch and go! It was like watching a movie in slow motion. Or out takes from its a mad, mad world. The two of us just watched in amazement! The Cub settles back down on the ramp and appears to go after the construction crews. All this time it has missed rows and rows of parked aircraft and many heavy construction vehicles. The end came when it ran head on into a BE58 that was half way out of its hanger. No one was hurt. The cub and the Barron suffered major damage. There was nothing like cell phones then. But I will always remember that beautiful fall afternoon. IH air traffic controller 1974- 2001.
A friend successfully hand-propped his cub while his son was holding the brakes. Then my friend bent over to pull the chocks. In doing so, his torso got into the prop arc. I heard he took 18 gallons (yes, gallons) of blood before he finally died. Bad for aviation.
A person at the local airport related his experience of a plane that ran away from him. It managed to get airborne. "You sort of wish it just keeps going" he said, as he would rather never see what happened to it. He had a big spread and his own field, and it circled, planting itself next to his driveway, like new lawn ornament. His wife later pulled in, looked at it, shrugged her shoulders, and asked if he was getting another one.
I like how Paul mentioned the use of the word "contact". I learned how to fly in a Luscombe with an A65 engine, and have hand-propped it and many other planes over the years. I ALWAYS insist on clear communication with pilots and the use of "contact" instead of "mags on" or "mags hot". The words "on", "hot", and "off" all use a short-o sound, and sound too much alike. "Contact" sounds nothing like "mags off", but "mags hot" and "mags on" could easily be mistake for "mags off", especially at a noisy or windy airport. Also, this may sound a little overboard, but if I'm hand-propping, I will call out the word, have the pilot repeat me, then I will repeat the pilot - just to make CERTAIN that we're both on the same page. Make sure all calls are spoken loudly and enunciated clearly.
thumbs up, mags on both
thumbs down, mags off
@@GZA036 Yes, hand signals are also important. I've also seen hand-proppers ask to see the pilot's hands, so that there's no chance the pilot bumps the switch while they're pulling the prop through during priming. I've never asked for that, but I've seen it done multiple times.
I've always used 'mags off' and 'make it hot' but that's just me. Also, it's very little effort to visually verify everything is exactly where it should be (throttle, mags, etc.) I treat the person in the cockpit (always a rated pilot also) to do nothing more than stand on the brakes and work the mag switch with my direction and verification.
I was taught this way too, have the pilot repeat the instruction to confirm. I have hand started a 6 cyclinder C206
@@peterclancy3653 Wow. The biggest engine I've ever tried to hand start was a 360. That 206 has a 520, right?
My first hand start was a 3 blade O-540 hung on the front of a Piper crop-duster. Being ferried 300+ miles 'home' with 'burnt out electrics' by a Welsh engineer plugged into a handheld radio. After fueling of course, he asked for 'a swing'.
Duly briefing me on the different 'angle of dangle' etc., he pulled it through a couple of times, carefully set the prop 'about there will do, boyo', then climbed up & strapped in . . . 'Contact.'
Thankfully, first pull gave a nice 'plopperty-plopperty' on all six & a very relieved trainee-junior-assistant-minion 'gofer' watching a complete madman take off with a sandwich in his mouth. Yorkshire bacon too; hope he made it OK : )
“Bonanza, figures…” Nothing like some doctor-pilot making his prop go ballistic. 😆
Might have been Matt flying through.
it was tested before certification to run full blast without breaking. also contientan enginees suuck anyway with there weak TBO.....run it full blast
@@JohnDoe-nd9mv It's more of a "let's keep the neighbors happy and the airport open" type of thing. If you didn't know that, you might be a Bonanza pilot, and it figures.
Important video Paul. I remember my instructor teaching hand propping the C-150 and referring to a “Hemingway Start” (farewell to arms). It’s forever etched in my mind.
Really amazed how slowly one can move the prop and the engine starts. Need an impulse coupler on my lawn mower.
I watched a vid about modern stop/start engines in cars that stop the engines for red lights. Most of them stop the engine at a point of rotation that all it needs is a spark to fire and start.... Cool tech and scary!
"Farewell to Arms", that is funny stuff right there -- completely memorable
Now that's memorable
Well there goes my coffee.
@@mcduck5 Thank you, that is interesting.
I never had even a remote interest in aviation until I came across this channel.
J-3 owner..I always prop from behind. Paul is right about not having impulse couplings, just awful. The key, not mentioned in the video, is to understand that you don't need to spin the hell out of it with your whole body. With couplings, if primed right and throttle set, a solid one hand pull on the prop will have you clickety clacking along.
J3 owner too .. totally agree. Its all in the correct mixture.
Great video, Paul. I most likely will never fly again as PIC, and I have absolutely zero tail dragger time and never hand propped an airplane. Still, does this apply to me? You betcha! It's attitude, in all aspects of life, be prepared, be honest with yourself, and make sure that you know what you're doing.
I think I'm going to enjoy this series.
I fly a helicopter, and still regard this video as a must-see!
@@Steeyuv You must have long arms when you swing to start. 🤦♂️ _(sorry)_
No Jo, he uses the tail rotor.
@@davidlewis2626 Lol!
A famous story in my neck of the woods is about a very experienced J3 pilot, CFI, A&P-IA re-starting the club's C85 J3 after fueling at the gas pumps. What happened was his own fault for shirking his club A&P duties. He was anxious to give a certain young lady her first ride in a small airplane. Because he had neglected to keep the battery charged, he had to handprop it. And because he had neglected to keep the engine in tune, it was flooded easily. No problem... right? He instructed the young lady in the front seat to hold the brakes while he got out to prop the engine from behind the prop. Because the engine was flooded, he knew he could clear it by pulling it thru with the throttle wide open a couple of flips. He turned off the mags, opened the throttle and got behind the propeller, telling the young lady to hold the brakes. Well, she didn't know that there were two brakes to hold, and he didn't know a P lead was broken, so when he pulled the prop thru... it started... at full throttle... with the left wheelbrake holding the airplane in a left turn. Sensing the airplane trying to run over him, he tried to reach into the cockpit, but was blocked by his non-pilot passenger from reaching the controls, caught between the right side wing strut and wheel. The airplane came to a stop only after the right wing collided with a C152, and the prop ate half way through another C150.
It was a good thing that our liability insurance paid off the other two airplanes, but shortly after the accident, he developed a deadly desease which he succumbed to less than a year later. The airplane remained wrecked and unflyable for over five years, until we Shanghaied a new A&P and coerced several volunteers into a very expensive complete restoration.
All sound advice.
I was taught hand propping by my dad many years ago. He was a flight instructor and had worked on planes since he was young after WW II.
He taught me the leg kick method, then regardless of starting you are already stepping away. The other point he was adamant about was - ALWAYS assume the ignition is hot when you touch the prop.
Only seen one propping accident, fortunately for the guy only ended up with a bad bruise for quite a while.
Even if I call, throttle closed, ignition off, and I get affirmative reply I still treat the prop as if it's not.
Again great advice and good video.
A loved one owned a Cessna 140 more than 30 years ago. He was a careful and conscientious pilot, but one day he got careless... more than I would have ever thought.
On a fine Saturday morning he prepared to take a short flight. Everything was good except the battery was dead. With the allure of flight just a minute or so away, he set the mixture full rich, cracked the throttle, and turned on the mags. He went around front and propped the plane. That was when things went so very wrong.
The throttle was farther open than he intended and the engine roared to life. The plane was not tied down. The brake was not set. It started rolling toward him so he dodged around and made a grab for the door. He was unable to get in the plane and had no option but to grab the strut and hold on tight. The plane accelerated as it went, until he lost his grip, fell, and was hit in the face by the horizontal stabilizer.
He came to in the ambulance and was briefed on things. The plane had trundled along until it hit a (mercifully empty) fuel truck. He had a couple of facial fractures and a concussion but recovered.
There is no voice in aviation like Paul’s. A treasure!
Thank you for The Fuel Off tip, even if learning that good practice about fifty years late. Most of my J3 flying was on floats and skis and the few weeks in the fall and spring when I flew it on wheels I still propped it from behind like you had to when it was on floats. That was especially safer when on ice with skis so at least I was close to reaching into the cockpit and if the plane did lurch forward I could grab the strut.
All good points, Paul. I learned on Aeronca Champs, Luscombes and Pipers. At a dark Big Beaver Airport, Troy, MI, I landed our family Cessna 150 to find three big souls with a crate standing beside a Mooney Executive. The owner/pilot completed his preflight, loaded the aircraft, yelled clear and got a quarter turn of the prop before his battery gave out. Subsequently, I agreed to give the prop a pull. The pilot had to 1. hold the brakes and 2. keep pressure on the start switch to employ Its' "shower of sparks" to a mag. Having logged hours in a similar type, I told him not to touch the power controls at all. Made him repeat that to me in front of his guests. I press checked to insure braking, called "contact", he nodded an I swung away. Sure enough, it fired and began chugging. As I raved around the ight wing, I witnessed our hero playing with the mixture and throttle. The engine died. No hope after that. A return the following day with a new battery would work. The crate held two toucans bound for Sea World in Ohio. Time was critical. I card in two commercial pilot friends from Detroit City Airport with their Cessna 206. The birds and five souls left in the dark and rain. The following weekend, I ran into my friend and heard how the birds chewed their freedom and terrorized the IFR pilots until captured in jackets. All survived.
I was already a licensed pilot when I was checked out on an L-16 and had to hand start. The instructor properly told me to prop from behind, holding onto the strut. Later, he managed to get an impressive scar across his chest when he hand started on a bitterly cold day, slipped on the ice and was nicked by the prop. I can hand start, but I never liked it.
Malcom - I've had an L16 for about 3 years now. Lucky enough to have an airport buddy help me prop with me in the cockpit most flights. Recently moved and been doing it solo. I have a set of chocks on right tire, and a chock with a rope on rear tire and reel this tailwheel chock in like a fish on a line after starting. Also use the "shut off the fuel" after priming, and only start on impulse coupling mag when starting. Put in place any and all safety features, the extra few seconds will be worth it. Knock wood - not yet had a starting issue! ;)
One the things that saved me was to ALWAYS assume the engine is going to fire. Many, many years ago another lineboy and I were moving a customer's Tri-Pacer from it's hangar to the shop. Dead battery of course. He was inside, on the brakes, with the switch OFF (confirmed), throttle at idle. Now 45 years later, I don't remember why I pulled it through forwards to prime it, but I did. It fired. Luckily I was following what Old Buzzard Jack had taught me and did the leg swing, or else I might have been into the prop.
Excellent Video. In my extensive experience, the only way to hand prop is as a two-man operation with 1. pre-defined communication protocols and 2. two people who know what they are doing. I have never been brave enough to get out of the plane to hand prop without somebody in the plane on the brakes, switch, and throttle. I know it can be done, and a lot of people do it, but I've never been brave enough to solo a hand prop attempt, not saying I wouldn't ever do it, but for me, it would have to be an unusual circumstance. I have forty years of experience hand propping airplanes, and they still have me spooked. I may be chicken, but at least I'm not a dead duck.
Or a lame one either. Amen to that.
I learned in a Champ 7AC and spent many happy hours aloft in a J3 Cu,b. Paul's advice is right on. Never had a problem finding someone to spin a prop and was always ready do it for someone else. But that was 60 years ago. Perhaps 'modern' pilots are unschooled in safely propping an engine, just as few people know how to safely hand-crank a car engine (or have seen a car with a hand crank). When propping for for someone else, ALWAYS grab the prop and try to move the plane forward and back to be sure the pilot has his feet on the brakes. A few times a (usually) student would ask and I"d grab the prop and the plane rolled easily because the pilot did not realize they weren't hydraulic brakes that would lock up easily. Not involving propping but another point was when giving someone a ride in a J3 or Champ back seat (feels "safer" to some since I'd help cushion them in a crash) and I'd notice their feet pressing hard on the brakes on either side of the front seat as we approached the runway. Nothing ruins a landing like touching down with the main gear wheels locked. Making sure their feet were away from the rudder pedals and brakes became a key part of my pre-landing ritual.
My champ had a parking brake when the brakes were mechanical. Now it’s non-functioning because it’s been converted to hydraulic but thankfully it also has an electric starter.
I hand propped an A-75 for 7 years from behind the prop using a rope tied to the chocks (and a rear tie down if available) and it worked great. Never had a problem except once in a while with a warm start on a hot day when somehow I would manage to flood the engine, probably by over priming it. At that point no matter what I tried, including evacuating the cylinders per the Continental manual by turning the prop backwards, etc., it generally would not start. Period. Eventually when I finally learned to just walk away from it for about 15-20 minutes and then try it again, life got much better. No matter how much you sweet talk or cuss out the A-75, when it's flooded, it still won't start.
The leg swing with follow through is to get your body momentum moving away from the prop and plane. The guy in the example starts off swinging, but stops when his foot hits the ground half way through.
@14:39 "Would you like fries with that?"
Old glow/gas powered RC airplanes are a great field study for this video!
Yeah, back when I was flying RC (late 90s) there were quite a few guys on the field with scars on their fingers, and one even was missing a finger tip. Large four strokes can be unforgiving I never flew anything bigger than 7.5cc two stroke, and those generally started pretty easily. To keep my fingers safe, I used the technique of grabbing the spinner, and "throw" the prop in reverse against (not through) the compression. If temperatures weren't too low, it would generally start. Kept my fingers out if the prop arc.
All that hassle went away when I switched to electric though. That just works, in any weather 😉
Growing up I couldn’t afford anything bigger than a Cox .049 and control line models but those little things hurt like the dickens (whatever a dickens is) when they got your finger. You had to shut off the fuel to stop a running engine but I had a buddy whose father wouldn’t waste time doing that. He’d just grab the prop. Needless to say I never tried that.
Had a guy in our club break many bones in his hand a couple years ago getting a pattern plane with an 18 inch prop started. The plane lurched forward and caught him at high throttle. The tail was tied down but the line was slack. Fortunately he still has all his fingers and most of his range of motion.
This experience might help full size hand propping people to stay safe.
I was starting my Fox 46 ABC powered Scat Cat alone at the field. I was regularly flying this same plane over and over, so every action was rote or totally automatic. My then current system (hey, a pun - just noticed it) was to power the glow plug from the field box power panel. When the engine was running, this plug lead is disconnected. I routinely would reach over the prop, grab the plug lead and toss it back toward the field box and away from the plane. This system worked perfectly well, so I had no reason to change it. I am a firm believer that to start a glow engine you must be exactly consistent in your fueling and priming steps. This ensures that your engine will start first time - every time. Like mine always did.
So, the engine fires up, I reach over and disconnect the plug lead and toss it aside BUT, this time I hear a little BZZT sound! Huh? Whats that? I lift up my right arm and on the inside of the elbow, there were about 5, two inch (5 cm) cuts right next to each other where the razor sharp APC 11x6 propeller had diced me up! It stung quite a bit, but it was bleeding slow enough that it didn't look like it any veins or arteries were cut. I was healthy, so I knew it'd stop bleeding some time! My plane was just sitting there, idling - waiting to fly. Screw it, I decided to carry on and fly - I'll just hold my elbow a bit away from my shirt to keep the blood off it.
After the flight, I asked myself, what had gone wrong that now I misjudged the prop arc, but many times before I was okay? The answer lay in the dirt. Our club had concrete starting blocks that were about 1 yard square. My taildragger plane was small enough to fit on this block, but this day I was using a block that had a bit of a depression caused by numskulls running their engines too much and too fast and for too long on the ground. This erodes the dirt away causing a bit of a hole just beyond the cement. This day I hadn't noticed that the tail wheel was off the block and in this depression. Since my plane was a taildragger, the front of the plane was a bit higher than normal, bring the propeller closer to my arm. A seemingly insignificant difference, yet with dire consequences.
So, to sum up, beware of ANY change that can cause a significant difference to endanger your life. The larger your plane, the larger the BZZT will be!
If we're sharing RC stories now, I've had a near miss that made think. When starting my engines I used to sit directly in front of it, on my knees. Fuel, prime, connect the glow plug driver, start, remove glow plug driver, adjust needle, remove tail rope, go fly. I did it like this for years. Until, one day, I notice my plane's wooden motor mount had soaked up fuel and/or oil and was wobbly. Simple solution, I took off the motor mount, replaced all bad wood, installed a glass fiber motor mount. Problem solved.
Next flying Sunday, started up the plane as per normal, removed the tail rope, walked it to the runway, gave it full throttle to test throttle response and with a loud whirrrrrrrrrrrr followed by the silence of a suddenly stopped engine that I remember to this day, the prop went flying 20 meters or so. When remounting the engine, I had not tightened the prop nut enough. This mistake could have done quite a bit of damage to some... delicate... parts of my body. That was the last time I sat in front of an RC plane engine 😉
I'm never going to try this, but it was interesting and worth watching for the your little chuckle at the end, Paul. And you always have the best T-shirts.
Very good video. But remember, bad for aviation could possibly be good for organ donation
I like your mental state, a silver lining can ALWAYS be found.
Nobody can use ground meat for transplant. Suicide by prop is all around wasteful.
@@Ruger9x19 I mean its not a blender it’s a uncontrolled object in motion meeting a controlled stable object. I’m fairly sure the stable object would be objectively ok all things considered.. the things being of course death lol
@@Halfstep2024 My "What If" concern asks if death often negatively impacts feasibility of organ donations.
Excellent video that covers all the salient points. Two additional pieces of food for thought. First, never be in a hurry and always, always, always use the exact same habit pattern you’ve established for hand propping. Secondly, if you’re out front, once the motor starts, walk parallel to the leading edge, all the way to the wingtip. Move toward the wings trailing edge and then walk all the way back to the cockpit. Having a habit pattern of respectfully avoiding the prop arc by giving it wide berth is really important to establish early on. Nice video, Paul.
Thanks for everything you do for aviation.
Paul, I love your "Sarcastic" humor, It's so much like mine, I can almost tell what your going to say before you say it. I can always get a laugh or chuckle as I watch your presentations. The content is REAL and presented in a humorous manner , it sticks to memory.
Paul, LOVE your sense of humor. I used a similar approach to teaching ground school classes at the airline. It helps keep it in your head. PS: toughest airplane I ever (successfully propped) was a Yak with an empty air bottle. Since it runs backwards I had to retrain all my hand prop muscles plus it didn’t want to start. My copilot wanted to give me oxygen when we finished.
Always a pleasure to watch and learn from you, Paul.
Your closing statement, "... if you don't know that, you probably shouldn't be ..." applies to so many routine but potentially dangerous evolutions. (farm tractor operations come to mind). Good stuff.
I was looking at a hand crank Johnny that popped when I nudged the flywheel, must have been sitting on the wound up impulse magneto also.
So many professions this video could be applied to. Great content and even better delivery. Much appreciated.
Several years ago, my wife and I were looking at some planes parked outside an aviation museum. There was a gentleman hand propping a small plane with a small child seated inside. I don't remember what kind of plane. The engine caught and revved up. The plane started rolling forward. By the time he got around the prop, the wing, and strut, the plane was moving too fast for him to get to the door and the plane was heading for the run way.
I started running for my van parked about 100 feet away. I'm not sure what I would have done, but I figured in the worst case I could get in front and gently slow down letting the plane run into the back of the van and then bring it to a stop. Fortunately, the terrified child managed to push one of the pedals causing the plane to go around in circles and dad managed to catch up with the plane cut the throttle.
At the time, I didn't think about that being bad for aviation. I just thought it would be really bad the child and father.
Paul is the reason I subscribed. So knowledgeable and well presented. I'd love to have him as a CFI. You can tell he's all about safety.
Past '46 7AC owner. I flew every morning one summer back when I was still flight instructing building hours... During my first week with the Champ, before arranging hanger space, he was tied down out in the boonies. I untied the plane. Even with positioning the prop before the impulse, the first prop flip was always wasted, and he'd start on prop number two. I had gotten good at guessing throttle position, but not quite good enough. The engine fired and the plane went to taxi power. I was a front prop'er. I cleared the prop and landing gear, but the widdle champ passed me before I could get to that car style cockpit doorhandle by mere inches. Lucky me I had the where with all to then run towards the tail, and arrest the Champ's forward motion. You get a minute to think out what just happened while getting your hair blown wildly by 1200 RPM trying to think out your next move. Two hands firmly pressing down on the top of the FUSE, was not enough friction to keep him from rolling. Back to the tail... I figured at that point, my sprinting speed needed to be > taxi speed to get me to the door handle.... I gathered my wits, and with an imagined starters pistol, off I went. I managed to outrun my plucky craft, get the door open and collapse on the pilot seat simultaneously with a flip of the throttle to idle. Fly these things long enough, you get to tell a few "I learned about flying from this" type of lessons. From then on I either chocked or left the tail tied until "we" were ready to Aviate together... Thanks for the old memories...
Magnetos with impulse couplings have been around in oil fields since before I was around them at a pretty young age. I'm retired now. But I was really surprised when I was caught far out in the field with a dead starter battery on my Lincoln welding machine. One quick crank on the supplied crank and she started right up.
often hand propping is an irregular operation. Loads of talking, but little actual training for hand propping. It's a wild and risky world of rumors and bravado. Slow down, get some help, you don't need to be in the air bad enough to risk life and treasure.
You're always a kind and respectful aviation ambassador. I'd sure love to see you collaborate with AVWeb!
@@bradhowardphd2810 +1
Paul - you're a naturally gifted teacher, as well as a very amusing man to listen to!
Thank you for your focus on safety Paul
This is the best video you have ever produced - great work.
Awesome video. I appreciate the melding of humor and seriousness in this. I only hand propped a Jacobs in aeronautical school once. Hat's off to you folks.
Thank you for doing this! Last week I had to prop a Vultee BT-13 at the fuel pumps when the starter choose that great moment to fail. That turned into a lesson with a few people (after the word got around the airport) on hand propping safety.
Great informative, safety-conscious video. Thank you Paul!
Very good video, thanks Paul! I have zero tail dragger time, so pardon my ignorance please. I'd add that if the plane has a parking brake, always set it. If it has one but it doesn't work, get it fixed. If you never use one, well I hope Paul never gets the opportunity to examine anything you do. Cheers! Ken
Hello paul . As always a great video . Very entertaining dry sense of humor as well as packed with useful info . I once witnessed this exact type of incident where a tiger moth jumped the chocks at rand airport FAGM in Johannesburg . ZS OOR duly chased the pilot as it did a spectacular ground loop, hot on the heels of the albeit very experienced pilot . It then unceremoniously had a prop strike and incurred great expense.
I use chocks and a rope but I tie the rope thru the aft fuselage hand hold with a quick release knot. Once started and I'm inside the cockpit I can pull on the loose end of the rope to release the knot. This way the tail is more securely held down and the aircraft is also secured until I'm at the controls. Look up quick release knot and after tie the knot pull on the aircraft to make sure it is secure.
I cleaned a clogged lawnmower deck once, and verrrrrrry slowly turned the blade for better access. Damn thing started!
LOVED IT! .........you're awesome. Great presentation. You know a lot about aviation without being uptight about it. Thanks Paul.
When I read Paul's articles, I hear his voice and dry humor in my head.
After nearly 500 hand prop starts of my A75 Cub in all seasons, I heartily agree with all Paul's advice. Never becoming complacent and always tying the tail wheel is a key. I once had the engine start at a considerably higher RPM than I thought it would...the tiedown and chocks saved the day.
The video about propping I've always wanted to make. Well done Paul!
"Then well?" "At least cold weather suppresses bleeding..." What an IP should sound like !
Great new series, Paul.
For me it's always been about primer. If it needs any, tie it back. Lot of J-3 time and below about 40F I found it difficult to cold-start from behind despite being nearly too big to fit in the Cub. And the extra primer to get it started in the cold makes it all the more "exciting." Have to tie it or have someone trustworthy on the brakes. If it's warm it will start at idle or 1 tinch up and I prop from behind. It just takes 1 slap and it starts. I think I would have mentioned getting in the plane... it is very easy to bump the throttle. "I'm about to sit on my headset/gps/hat/camera bag. Let's toss it on the front seat until I am settled. OMG, the cables/handle/strap/cord caught the throttle." Ask me how I know...
As a lineman at my college airport I got talked into hand starting a 300hp Mooney. ONCE. Had to grip around the blades, use a lot of upper body and follow-through, and a 3 blade prop has a buddy coming along behind it real soon. Got it started but felt like I had just juggled running chain saws. Dumbest aviation thing I ever did.
Really well-presented and informative. I'd be inclined to secure those chocks thrown on the front seat, wouldn't want any controls jammed due to an unseated chock.
Love the humor, kept it very interesting!
Paul covered the hand propping topic well. I have owned and flown Champs since 1987 and much of what was covered is how I was taught. I was also taught to start on the left mag since it will be the impulse mag if the plane only has one, and to start on both mags if both mags have an impulse. The reason is to reduce the chance of a kickback of the prop.
Pilots are taught from day one to fear the prop and never turn it. A healthy respect of the prop is always good, especially when you get so used to spinning the prop every time you fly. Bottom line is never turn the prop unless you are prepared for the engine to start and the throttle is in the closed or cracked position.
A lifetime of aviation experience in 14:50. Outstanding video sir!
"At least cold weather suppresses bleeding." Your sarcastic, and very accurate, comments are well worth the price of admission. Woe to anyone with ears if you, Dan Gryder and I got together.
I worked the Line as I built time and could write a book on what I have seen. At least 2 run aways from hand propping and one Aerostar got his #2 motor running and noticed he was chocked so he got out and it proceeded to do 360s amazingly not hitting anyone. Other were all Mu-2, Commander types and were deadly. "Never ever even OFF walk under a wing. It teaches bad habits.
A 172 quick tie dwn for a storm, no tail rope so someone used a concrete block. Yes, he taxied with the block dragging. OT but a Baron came in and had soiled underwear wrapped around the tail flying proudly. A charter 402B had a man relieve himself into a fire ext nozzle and discharged it inflight. Mistook it for a Little John. On Dixie in KATL a Delta told ground that they had a schedule and to tell the F-28 ahead to stop dragging his feet. The F-28 opened his rear center clamshell SB and made a farting noise. 1st time I ever heard the full lineup on Dixie break out laughing.
I could go on and on.....
Thank you, Paul. I have learned a lot from you. Fly safely!
Looks like your friend who put their plane into the ditch is Canadian.
Btw: I NEED THAT SHIRT, Paul!
I was skeptical about what you might say about hand-propping, but this video is well balanced and informative. Thanks Paul
I thoroughly enjoy your witty writing and informative presentation style
That's nice for warm weather but what you do in the middle of winter when it's minus 20? Many years ago (50) I was taught winter starting by an old bush pilot and yes he had all his fingers. First make sure the tail is securely tied and wheel chocks are in place if you have them. With the magnetos off prime the engine about 6 pumps then turn the prop foreward a few times. Next do your full walk around then turn the prop foreward a few times again safely. This draws evaporated gas fumes into the cylinders. With the mags turned on and the throttle just cracked open swing the prop again or hit the starter. The engine fires right up on one or 2 cylinders and shakes like h... for a few seconds untill all 4 cylinders are firing. This has worked for me down to minus 40. I baby the engine untill it has fully warmed up. The airport mechanic winterized my engine.... he stuffed an old sock into my oil cooler.
I absolutely LOVE this guy's sense of humor!!!!!
Reminds me of a movie I saw back in the seventies. A pilot and his family had to make a forced landing in some desert. After some time of relying on doing desert survival techniques such as eating crayons and such the father was able to repair the aircraft but got sliced up when hand propping and his son was coached through flying the plane with family back to civilization
The title of that movie was "Family Flight." It's on RUclips.
Best propping video I've seen, Thanks you have saved some lives !
Putting the chock loose in the front seat creates the opportunity for it to jam the controls.
My thoughts exactly. Especially the way he said throw them in the front seat. Even if it wasn't the cause of the accident, I will think of Snort whenever I see an empty seat with loose cargo on it. Did anyone ever conclude what happened to Capt Snodgrass during the crash?
@@jamesordwayultralightpilot I wish we knew, but it is possible that was the reason.
@@DumbledoreMcCracken i keep checking for tin kicker reports on it... In the process I've seen some awesome content about him. Feels good nobody will ever fly the Tomcat longer than he did.
My dad had a J3 back in the 60's. When he started it by swinging the prop I as a small boy would stand on those brakes as hard as I could in fear of dicing him up. He was a good pilot and ex RCAF flight instructor. He would show us how to clear 50 feet on 500 feet of gravel runway. Back then it was just a used aircraft, now it's a classic.
I use a big ol' towing strap on the tail wheel and low profile chocks on a string. I get it fired up, undo the strap and climb in. After letting the engine warm up a bit I power over the chocks and pull them in once they're behind the wheels. Seems to work pretty well.
Love you Paul. The leg swing helps with that motivational direction you were talking about. I always take the 20% of my body weight and use it for moving in the right direction.
Because....
That's GOOD for Aviation (and me). Like the new series. Funny.
A very thorough lesson on how to properly hand prop a plane. Have seen a lot of attempts where the hand propper stands on one leg to get a lot of body weight behind the pull and the other leg within the arc of the propeller. It would not be hard to imagine falling into the prop even during a no-start or losing a leg or other valuable body part. Hope this video helps people properly prop a plane. NH
I always enjoy your videos keep them coming!
Information is always captured better with humor. Great work here.
You are a "perfect" presenter! A true master. Were you ever in the military? Most importantly, it's a plesure, just to watch. I have finally learned that an impusle coupling, can be used on an airplane. Thich Nhat Hanh said that "What ever we do, should be pleasant as possible and free from form!". At 64, I just study what I want and do it like following any mystery for fun. No formal, approach, which would be work,lol. Setting up a new laptop or ver much more than that, calls for outside help and I'm miserable until it works. I only fly in my head and I prefer simple, lol. My dream vehicles, only have electonic ignition as their highest technical level. No AC, 'cause it's too complicated and I'm lazy. Long live the choke and points and condensers, lol.
New series is a great idea.
"Propellers are like guns. Treat them like they are loaded."
"Airplanes are safe until you introduce the human."
Love your T-shirt.
"The most dangerous part of an automobile is the nut behind the wheel"
what a great video Paul - very sound advice, love what you do and greetings from Australia.
Great video. My dad was a veteran light aircraft instructor and examiner (UK) and always taught you never place yourself in the prop arc.
awesome series looking forward to more
Great video. Thanks Paul.
“My 747 Chock Blocks”
Very much looking forward to this series
You guys area doing some great videos....thank you.
Off topic but there's a video of a guy about to foot launch his paramotor. He went cheap on the actual brand of paramotor. Cheap netting. Cheap thin aluminum frame. After starting the forward launch and wing overhead, His riser lines got caught in the prop on his right side and pulled his hand directly into the prop. Took 1 finger all the way off and left another finger barely hanging on. When flying, don't buy the cheapest. If you can't afford a safe, durable, highly reviewed aircraft or experimental aircraft then don't risk it. If this guy had bought a Blackhawk or FlatTop, he'd still have his fingers. Your video title reminded me of that incident
Thanks for the video. I have a 65hp Luscombe, and I'm always on the lookout for the best ways.
I always swing the leg as a way to step aside from the prop arc and I never prop an acft that has a starter. I've always just get it fixed. We had a guy with a 260Comanche and he tied it down (not tight enough) hand prop it and it jumped forward and kill him. I treat ALL props are hot regardless. In shop we had a new rebuilt engine and that bugger started up when the prop was turned (click-click )and that prop took off that Piper Colt and bounced all over the shop with several of us jumping all over, what a sight.
I had a friend growing up who had some burn scars he got curtesy of a clueless pilot trying to fly an F-86. The pilot had been told not to over rotate on take off but he did it anyway.
The jet fighter never left the the ground, over shot the runway, smashed through the airport fence, crossed a busy street, crossed a parking lot, and smashed into an ice cream parlor killing and injuring many people, mostly children, but he survived.
Doing what you have been told not to do is bad for aviation.
Well said enjoyed that very much.
I have never hand propped a full scale plane but plenty of R/C planes ,and have gotten bit a time or two . So this info is good to keep model avation from have a bad day.
I learned to prop from in from and made sure of clear communication as to brakes on, switch off to pull prop through. Position prop at top of compression stroke. Then it was “brakes, cracked, contact” and wait for the same response back. Then push on the prop near hub to make sure brakes on. Put tips of fingers just at the trailing edge of the prop blade so your hand covers the prop surface. I was taught to just stand up straight, lot lean in, but bring your right foot forward about a foot balanced and swing that leg back as you bring the prop down which moves you back away from the arc of the prop. Later when I instructed in Cubs I propped them from behind holding on to the windshield strut. Many years of doing it that way with no problems or incidents 😉
Great content and presentation as usual…Thanks!
I was hoping for more out of the plane into the Boy Scouts depiction...
Cub scouts attract Piper Cubs.
Excellent piece. I would only add that I might have a slight problem with putting the chocks in the front seat as they could easily slip off and jam a control cable at exactly the wrong moment. I'm a firm believer of having nothing loose in an empty seat while flying.
This would be my only addition to this otherwise really well done tutorial piece.
Happy flying !
Drove all the way to Airventure to take this class.
There is massive knowledge gap between the young pilots and the seasoned aviators.
This content is great for bridging the gap!
Thanks for fessing up and having a teachable moment.
Last summer I took care of a friends Chief after he moved away. He showed me a good trick that works well if you have a Marvel carb and not the old Stromberg. 2 shots of prime, 3 blades, mixture idle cutoff, mags hot. 4th blade always starts and gives you just enough time to calmly walk around and push in the mixture while the engine putts along at about 450 RPM. If the throttle is even slightly off idle, the engine roars and dies immediately. The only way it works is if everything is set right, and it works every time it's done right, hot or cold. The Chief eventually sold and I had to turn over the...keys? mag switch? to the new owner. I really miss flying that simple old bird.