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Handpropping turns out badly for Cessa pilot
Davenport Municipal Airport personnel temporarily boarded up a window and repaired a column after a single-engine Cessna crashed into the west side of a terminal building late Saturday, according to the Davenport Police Department. (qctimes.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
http://avstop.com/news_january_2012/san_diego_pilot_killed_hand_propping_engine.htm
http://www.wqad.com/news/wqad-photos-plane-crashes-into-davenport-airport-terminal-20120123,0,7883695.photogallery for more photos
If possible, the most important and often overlooked part of proper technique is to make sure your weight is shifting backwards away from the prop as you pull down. You'll see this in old film footage where they usually kick one leg up and then down and back. This was to ensure weight shift away from the prop should you slip, trip, or fall. Also, just put your fingertips on the back edge, don't wrap half your fingers around the back edge. Engines occasionaly fire and spin backwards.
I hand prop a variety of vintage and homebuilt aircraft on a regular basis. In addition to the many great tips posted here, my practice is ALWAYS hand prop from BEHIND the prop. It simply is safer this way and gives you a greater distance between your lower body & the prop disc. In many aircraft, you can also "chock" the right main with your foot for greater stability. The exception to this technique is when propping a pusher, such as the Vari-Eze I once owned.
Crank from behind the prop...excellent! Thanks.
If done PROPERLY - handpropping is no big deal. I owned an aircraft for 5 years that had no starter (varieze) and started by handpropping quite easily. I also learned that it will restart in flight from a dead stop at about 150 knots while exiting a hammerhead...
Don't we learn?