LeSving wrote:
There is no other way to start the L-18 C Super Cub, an I do it all the time with pax on board and no chocks.
Of course it all depends on the aircraft. On a Cub you can almost have your hand on the throttle at the same time as you are handpropping. And you can keep your foot in front of the wheel to stop it from rolling(if idle is set of course). Some aircraft are very suitable for handpropping, others not.
Fly310 wrote:
Some aircraft are very suitable for handpropping, others not.
So was that Cub in 1953. Suitability doesn’t necessarily have much to do with it. It’s more that you should never turn a propeller without checking the magnetos and any other equipment needed to run the engine are OFF. If it’s ready to start, and you turn the propeller, you should expect it to start.
LeSving wrote:
There is no other way to start the L-18 C Super Cub, an I do it all the time with pax on board and no chocks.
Why can’t you put chocks on that aircraft?
Airborne_Again wrote:
Why can’t you put chocks on that aircraft?
How exactly is that going to work? you still have to be outside removing the chocks somehow.
It’s possible to make a setup in which you pull the chocks free with ropes, then perhaps toss them aside. The ideal situation is the have the tail tied to something immobile, with a rope to the cockpit that unleashes it once you’re in. Much easier to set up at your base.
Generally (although it always makes me nervous to do it) once the engine is started and throttle locked at idle, you can pull the chocks from outside the plane and climb in. I think you really need a reliable parking brake for that… and few parking brakes are actually flawlessly reliable. It’s also best if you avoid hitting the throttle with your knee as you climb in…
Cubs are really a special case, I can’t see much reason to have a electric starter on a Cub.
LeSving wrote:
How exactly is that going to work? you still have to be outside removing the chocks somehow.
Silvaire wrote:
Generally (although it always makes me nervous to do it) once the engine is started and throttle locked at idle, you can pull the chocks from outside the plane and climb in.
Like Silvaire said.
In February 1991, I was handpropping a flat-battery Jodel DR1050 on my own, with the poor brakes on, and chocks, on a cold morning. Each time the engine stopped before I could get in.
A senior airline ground engineer was passing, and offered to help.
With him in the right seat, and the engine running, I said thanks, and asked him to close the throttle while I got in.
He pushed the throttle fully in. The brakes didn’t hold and it jumped the chocks. He may have passed out temporarily. The apron had dry and icy patches. When a wheel hit ice, the brake acted, and spun the aircraft when it got to dry tarmac.
I got dragged about on my knees trying to stop it before he eventually closed the throttle. My jeans didn’t tear, but I got knee blisters.
Hefty story, @Maoraigh. When I handpropped our C150 the last time with a student, he did similar stuff, hitting full throttle in the process. I had our big chocks though and it didn’t move. I’d rather not handprop anything without chocks.
Airborne_Again wrote:
Like Silvaire said.
Well, that’s not how you start a L-18 C Super Cub.
(After priming etc). Brakes on, 1 cm throttle, jump out and start while holding the frame with the left hand, rotate propeller with right hand. Jump in again.
There is no lock on the throttle, and I have never used chocks, no one does.
LeSving wrote:
no one does.
That doesn’t make it a good idea.
