Over on Cox Forum, Levent Suberk came up with a nifty, home-made starter for his Cox motors. I took his idea, modified it (of course!), and came up with the following. It works well.

The motor is a beefy, three-volt DC critter from some kind of hand-held vacuum cleaner. No other ratings shown on it. But I set it up for my 12-volt panel anyway, figuring that the off center mass in the coupler and the short-burst runs wouldn't allow it to over-rev or heat up. Good to go for the hard-to-start, Tee Dee-type motors under the varying temperature and humidity conditions 'round these parts.

Dave Mo...

 

Jim:

Thanks. Yes, my bench test indicated good operation, even with the imbalance. Am running the starter a third or half of second, just as one would expect a spring starter to operate. Shakes neither the plane nor the hand much at all.

Dave Mo...