Thanks. There’s no filter as such, so I’m not sure what this would achieve beyond the use of the accelerator pump. But interesting that it works so well for you. I can see that pulling the air through mesh saturated with fuel might work really well in terms of vapourising it.
Hi Kwlf,
I don’t currently fly anything with a hand-propped VW, but do have a share in a starter-less 2-cylinder Citroen-Visa powered MiniMax, so I feel your pain. We found that the whole staring ritual according to the flight manual worked fine in summer, but as soon as the temperatures dropped it became very hit and miss, with several lengthy prop-swinging sessions resulting in nothing more than a sore shoulder. In the case of the Visa motor, things get even more complicated when the reduction drive fan belts start slipping under load – but that’s another story.
We solved all our starting problems permanently by following the advice of a fellow pilot who had wandered over to observe me once again sweating and grunting through another winter (no) starting session. His simple recipe, which we have followed ever since, was to procure a small medical syringe and squirt 2 or 3 ml of fuel onto each of the two air filters, directly onto the mesh filter element. The exact amount does not seem to be too critical (at least in our case), as the motor has one Suzuki side-draft carb on each side, with the air filters set at the back, which means that if you overdo it the excess fuel just drips through the filter and onto the ground. So now the procedure is: (1) forget all steps of the traditional starting ritual (other than chocks and brakes, obviously), (2) squirt some fuel into each air filter, (3) crack the throttle about 1/5, at “fast idle”, (4) ignition on and swing the prop. We find this works consistently in summer and winter, and starting on the first 2-3 blades is almost guaranteed.
I am not sure if your Solex carb is as easily accessible (ours are completely exposed), but if it is this could be a technique worth trying. You may need to be careful not to flood the engine if your air filter is top mounted, and experiment with the exact size of syringe to employ …
I can´t say anything about the ignition timing, other than the motor runs on the original Citroen electronic ignition so I presume it uses whatever timing was set by the factory. The builder of the plane who did the whole Citroen conversion would know.
Hope this is helpful. Happy “Turbing” ;-)
Indeed, it was WnB choice why fuel was limited to 6.5USG 
I wonder whether you could get a nice rich and even mixture by rocking the propeller back and forth rather than turning the prop in the same direction, which will dilute any vapourised fuel with fresh air. I know there are some engine accessories on other aircraft that can be damaged by turning props backwards, but I don’t think there’s anything on an average Turb for which it would matter?
No worries turning the prop backward in the Turb, no engine vacuum pump and no mags 
It could be possible to play with prop & mixture but the only way to be sure (for hot start) that vaporised fuel is no longer in the fuel lines is to “suck-in” untill you see Avgas comming out of the exhaust (fully flodded) then “purge” and start again
The rules:
1) Prop turning normal + throttle slightly open = more fuel
2) Leaving few rich aircraft for 30 minutes = less fuel
3) Prop turning normal + fuel close throttle wide open = more air
4) Prop turning backward + throttle wide open = zero fuel
If you make few hours stop for hot start to become an issue 1) & 2) are enough to start it sometimes but you need patience
If you make quick stop (15min), just switch mags off on idle, leave everything as it is, mags on and prop it
Every Turbulent is different. According to the internet, the Stark Turbulents have 39 L tanks and most other sources mention either 10.5 US gallons or 8.8 Imperial gallons, both of which are 39 litres. I recall that mine held 36 when I filled it from empty. I looked through the logbook and my longest flight so far has been 2 hours 55 (Blackbushe to Welshpool slowly avoiding clouds and airspace) and I landed with plenty of fuel left. I’ve never fancied working out what the min usable fuel is.
Other aircraft seem to have about 95% usable fuel so if the Turbulent had only 6.5 gallons (24 litres) usable out of 10.5 it would be doing something terribly wrong. Unless of course your fuel is limited by weight rather than volume? Even then, if you pull the throttle back you can stay up at low power levels. I’ve seen 6 Litres per hour, though I wasn’t going anywhere fast. The original 25hp Turbulent reportedly cruised at 7.5 liters/hour.
I wonder whether you could get a nice rich and even mixture by rocking the propeller back and forth rather than turning the prop in the same direction, which will dilute any vapourised fuel with fresh air. I know there are some engine accessories on other aircraft that can be damaged by turning props backwards, but I don’t think there’s anything on an average Turb for which it would matter?
How many useable USG you have? I recall max 6.5USG, 3h is feasible as record preferably overhead the airfield, 5h no way? there is no mixture to lean it I have flown did a UK tour (Lands End & Scotland) with other 3 pilots, 2*1h30 leg max everyday, every evening: the word was “knackered”
Not going anywhere you should be looking at 5+ hours endurance. Even at 12 lph you have nearly 3 hours (without reserves).
My fuel pump, it was a cork gasket.
You should get more endurance with tailwind or if not going anywhere
I don’t recall exactly if diaphragm or some sealant ring that failed
Fuel endurance with VFR reserves is 1h anyway
I get a lot more than that, again with a 1600cc engine. Which part of the fuel pump broke?
Trying to smell when the mixture is right sounds an excellent idea.
That is good know, I guess wiring & earthing is very important in electronic ignitions Leburg or FADECs there are lot of flimsy parts and huge lack of redundancy in Turbs that can spoil someone’s day but I never had an issue with electronic ignition: as long as one can understand their flashing volts lights and make sure battery is well charged before flight as the aircraft has a very “weak alternator” (fuel endurance with VFR reserves is 1h anyway)
The aircraft originally never had an alternator, I only installed one to feed the new electrical backup fuel pump (the engine driven mechanical did gave up on one flight)
In the thread that spawned this one, Flying – Aches, pains and aeroplanes, Ibra wrote:- “Tubs I used to fly had WW1600cc with Leburg Dual Ignition Kit (electronic ignition not an impulse mag)”
On that theme this AAIB report could be of interest to some as it was concluded that mis-wiring of the Leburg sensors caused an EFATO when one of the triggering magnets was shed in flight probably due to a poor Araldited connection.
I understand that later versions of Leburg use a pre-made wiring harness which avoids the issue, that and a more reliable method of fixing the magnets.
