Pilot injured when hand propping plane

#1. Chose as many as necessary of: Chock/tie-down/apply brakes/use line monkey to halt forward motion of the aircraft.
#2. Make sure the ignition is off. (This is not a visual check, physically activate the mags on then off)
#3. Prime the engine.
#4. Crack throttle.
#5. Turn off the fuel.
#6. Make sure the ignition is off.
#7A. Pull the prop as if the ignition is live. A bad "P" lead will kill you right here.
#7B. Pull engine through 4 to 6 times.
#8. Turn on ignition.
#9. Verify the aircraft is immobilized.
#10. Start the engine.
#11. Adjust throttle, turn on fuel.

I have used this method since 1964, and the only incident I have ever had was when I was 15 and slipped off a wet float and fell into the river after starting the engine.
Notice there is no mention of shouting back and forth?
Unless I know, absolutely and without equivocation, that someone knows what they are doing, I will do it myself.
Too many people have watched the Youtube videos, or read the on-line how-to blogs without ever having actually done it.
Talking the talk is not the same as walking the walk.
 
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Clermont county, home of Sporty's could have been Hal Shevers himself. I've never hand-propped an aircraft without a pilot sitting in the cockpit standing on the brakes and ready to kill the engine if need be. Were I doing it myself I think I'd tie off the tail, as well as set the brake. I prefer redundancy when I deal with things that could kill me.
 
Tail not tied down, no one in the cockpit, the FAA is going to want to talk to him.
 
I have big chocks that I place in front of the wheels. A cord is attached to them that hangs on the foot step just below the door. The chocks are pulled from inside the airplane once I'm seated. Only other way I'd do it with a stake in the ground tied to the tail. Old airplane brakes suck.
 
When I shut down the engine 3 bladded prop always come to stop facing the nose wheel and I always have to move the blade to attach the tow bar. Every time I touch that blade I always assume that engine will fire up and I am always prepared to jump back
 
I have a friend that owned a C310,that was destroyed,when a pilot hand started his aircraft,without it being tied down,ran across the parking area,and the rest is history. The pilot had hand started his aircraft several times without tying down the tail.
 
Damn, a friend just ferried that Luscombe to the new owner. He stopped in to see me for a lunch break enroute Sunday.


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blueskyMD said:
When I shut down the engine 3 bladded prop always come to stop facing the nose wheel and I always have to move the blade to attach the tow bar. Every time I touch that blade I always assume that engine will fire up and I am always prepared to jump back
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Turn your prop backwards, it can not fire.
 
DanWilkins said:
How many of us have experience propping a plane without any help? I do.
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I flew the original Fly Baby ~7 years, hand-propping all the way. Rarely had help. Had a glider hook in the tail, so tieing it down/releasing after start was easy.

Ron Wanttaja
 
A friend of mine has a Champ, he stands behind the prop, foot on the wheel, hand on the strut, and spins the prop down with the other hand. He rarely has to do it twice. Then he swings around the strut and climbs in.
 
So call me new school.. but what would be the reasons that you would want or need to hand start a plane??? Starter issues?? To look cool??? I get that there are some really old planes you might have to do that.
 
Phil Benyo said:
So call me new school.. but what would be the reasons that you would want or need to hand start a plane??? Starter issues?? To look cool??? I get that there are some really old planes you might have to do that.
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The biggest reason is there are many antique airplanes that lack electrical systems and starters. Its the only way to start them. Although yes you could do it because of a bad starter or dead battery.
 
AKBill said:
So what is the biggest engine one could hand prop?
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I saw a guy prop the rear engine on a Skymaster. I think it was an IO-360. This guy was short, about 5' 5", and he grabbed the prop with one hand and the tail boom with the other and yanked. Fired up first try.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
The

biggest one I have hand propped was a P&W 1340
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WOW....
Zeldman said:
I saw a guy prop the rear engine on a Skymaster. I think it was an IO-360. This guy was short, about 5' 5", and he grabbed the prop with one hand and the tail boom with the other and yanked. Fired up first try.
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I've never hand propped an engine. Like Shepherd says, you really need do know what you are doing.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Although yes you could do it because of a bad starter or dead battery.
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That is bad advice,
A dead battery will not excite the alternator, so you won't get it started next time either. And a bad starter? how would a private pilot determine it was safe to fly?

Just get the blinking thing fixed.
 
AKBill said:
So what is the biggest engine one could hand prop?
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Trick question. Some engines take more than one person to hand prop.....
II_Corps_Aeronautical_School_-_Starting_a_DH-4.jpg

Ron Wanttaja
 
I know the Cessna POH for pre-restart 172s suggests hand propping as part of its cold weather start procedure
 
Phil Benyo said:
So call me new school.. but what would be the reasons that you would want or need to hand start a plane??? Starter issues?? To look cool??? I get that there are some really old planes you might have to do that.
Click to expand...

No starter to begin with in some.
 
Somewhere I saw a video of a DC-3 being hand propped. Took several guys...
 
Tom-D said:
That is bad advice,
A dead battery will not excite the alternator, so you won't get it started next time either. And a bad starter? how would a private pilot determine it was safe to fly?

Just get the blinking thing fixed.
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Not bad advice, just incomplete. What if you’re remote with no tools about? Gotta fly back to civilization.
 
Shepherd said:
... #5. Turn off the fuel...
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My 1943 Taylorcraft L2M would run for about 6 seconds with the fuel shut off. It was just enough time to run back, hop in, and turn the fuel back on while you were in the cockpit.
 
Tom-D said:
That is bad advice,
...And a bad starter? how would a private pilot determine it was safe to fly?

Just get the blinking thing fixed.
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I landed a rented 172 at a remote field with no services, and the starter went out (bendix wouldn't engage flywheel) . It was VERY obvious what the problem was (whirring sound when turning key, battery had plenty of power, yet no turny of the prop thingy...see? Even an idiot private pilot like me could tell). We hand propped it to get home.
 
N3368K said:
Damn, a friend just ferried that Luscombe to the new owner. He stopped in to see me for a lunch break enroute Sunday.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Been there...when I sold my Taylorcraft, the very first time the new owner hand propped it, it took off on him and was damaged.
 
I fly a vagabond with an A-65 with straight mags ( no impulse coupler ) and hand prop multiple times a week. What gets people in trouble is the idea that you have to open the throttle. The engine develops the most vacuum thus the best fuel atomization with the throttle plate closed. If an engine will not start and run at idle the darn thing needs to be fixed. I have large chocks with para cord that I run under the plane and tie to the strut so I can pull them and retrieve them from the cockpit I also use a strap with heavy spring clips like a carabiner that I use to tie the tail down when possible. The behind the prop technique only works well for certain aircraft, the distance between the prop and struts on my Vagabond is to close for comfort for me and only one direction of retreat from the spinning baloney slicer. My usual starting procedure when engine is cold is.

Chock - tie down
Verify throttle closed mags off
flip through 4 to 5 blades to prime
Verify throttle closed again left mag hot
usually catches and runs on 1st or second blade
check oil pressure and switch both mags on
untie tail
climb in - with feet on the brakes reach over and use cord to pull and retrieve chocks
 
Is is very easy to become complacent when hand propping a little 65. After awhile everything about a cub, champ, etc. seems docile and polite. And then, bam, you are dead. Many experienced hand proppers have been killed by their own plane. You can never forget the basic rules of hand propping. That being said, hand starting a cub is about as cool as it gets.
By the way. Do you know what airspeed is needed to get your prop to windmill?
 
DanWilkins said:
Is is very easy to become complacent when hand propping a little 65. After awhile everything about a cub, champ, etc. seems docile and polite. And then, bam, you are dead. Many experienced hand proppers have been killed by their own plane. You can never forget the basic rules of hand propping. That being said, hand starting a cub is about as cool as it gets.
By the way. Do you know what airspeed is needed to get your prop to windmill?
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No idea. At the point when it stops making noise I will be real glad that I am an active glider pilot though. :)
 
Phil Benyo said:
So call me new school.. but what would be the reasons that you would want or need to hand start a plane???
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In my experience...
Dead battery and you don't want to leave the airplane sitting in the middle of a ramp all night. As noted, if the battery is totally flat, it won't kick in the master relay and you won't charge the battery - but a generator will kick out the juice just fine so, a bit of wire to jump the master and a charging you will go. Or, just deal with it in the morning. Snow big deal.
Battery low but not 100% flat - couple flips and you are good for a ride. Or, you could **** around for an hour or two trying to track down a charger somewhere on the airport, then pay a "call in" fee to get a line boy to drive out who then spends an hour not finding the charger in the shop, who then calls the A&P who charges you to drive out, and by then, you are three hours and more than a few dollars into this and the airplane still has not moved. (This assumes that the airport even has an FBO...)
Or,just for the fun of it. Like when some "expert" is telling you that it is impossible to hand prop a Rotax. (It ain't even hard.)
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
In my experience...
Dead battery and you don't want to leave the airplane sitting in the middle of a ramp all night. As noted, if the battery is totally flat, it won't kick in the master relay and you won't charge the battery - but a generator will kick out the juice just fine so, a bit of wire to jump the master and a charging you will go. Or, just deal with it in the morning. Snow big deal.
Battery low but not 100% flat - couple flips and you are good for a ride. Or, you could **** around for an hour or two trying to track down a charger somewhere on the airport, then pay a "call in" fee to get a line boy to drive out who then spends an hour not finding the charger in the shop, who then calls the A&P who charges you to drive out, and by then, you are three hours and more than a few dollars into this and the airplane still has not moved. (This assumes that the airport even has an FBO...)
Or,just for the fun of it. Like when some "expert" is telling you that it is impossible to hand prop a Rotax. (It ain't even hard.)
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When you place a dead battery on full charge from an old generator, That generator will last about 10 minutes. now you got real problems.
Be safe folks,, don't use a simple battery charge to create a real problem. Fine some one with jumper cables to give you a jump, but place the cables on the battery and allow the car to partially charge the battery before you crank the engine. About 5 minutes from a car will charge the aircraft's battery enough to start it.
 
jkoper said:
I fly a vagabond with an A-65 with straight mags ( no impulse coupler ) and hand prop multiple times a week. What gets people in trouble is the idea that you have to open the throttle. The engine develops the most vacuum thus the best fuel atomization with the throttle plate closed. If an engine will not start and run at idle the darn thing needs to be fixed. I have large chocks with para cord that I run under the plane and tie to the strut so I can pull them and retrieve them from the cockpit I also use a strap with heavy spring clips like a carabiner that I use to tie the tail down when possible. The behind the prop technique only works well for certain aircraft, the distance between the prop and struts on my Vagabond is to close for comfort for me and only one direction of retreat from the spinning baloney slicer. My usual starting procedure when engine is cold is.

Chock - tie down
Verify throttle closed mags off
flip through 4 to 5 blades to prime
Verify throttle closed again left mag hot
usually catches and runs on 1st or second blade
check oil pressure and switch both mags on
untie tail
climb in - with feet on the brakes reach over and use cord to pull and retrieve chocks
Click to expand...

This is a good procedure. My little A-65 came to me with Slick mags and both have impulse couplers, so it starts pretty easy. Surprises most people that watch because it's running so slow.
 
jkoper said:
I fly a vagabond with an A-65 with straight mags ( no impulse coupler ) and hand prop multiple times a week. What gets people in trouble is the idea that you have to open the throttle. The engine develops the most vacuum thus the best fuel atomization with the throttle plate closed. If an engine will not start and run at idle the darn thing needs to be fixed. I have large chocks with para cord that I run under the plane and tie to the strut so I can pull them and retrieve them from the cockpit I also use a strap with heavy spring clips like a carabiner that I use to tie the tail down when possible. The behind the prop technique only works well for certain aircraft, the distance between the prop and struts on my Vagabond is to close for comfort for me and only one direction of retreat from the spinning baloney slicer. My usual starting procedure when engine is cold is.

Chock - tie down
Verify throttle closed mags off
flip through 4 to 5 blades to prime
Verify throttle closed again left mag hot
usually catches and runs on 1st or second blade
check oil pressure and switch both mags on
untie tail
climb in - with feet on the brakes reach over and use cord to pull and retrieve chocks
Click to expand...

Yep that works, of course hot starts in my experience require opening the throttle a little above dead idle to keep it from coughing a couple blades, flooding and dying.
 
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