It sure has given us hell cranking though. We fly 35-50 something engines. The Fox 35 is the only cooperative one except for the first cold start. I'm also still learning to deal with an inverted 46fx on the Magnum. We're using a little Ronsonol too. I'm sure glad I bought that starter to give my shoulder a rest. It's made our last few flying days much easier.
I'm kind of a one-flip snob. I caught the disease from a fellow Fireballs member at a contest. Someone was out on the circle, flipping their plane with increasing desperation. Richard leaned over and said "that guy isn't a member of
our club". That motivated me to develop the one-flip skill.
At least on OS engines, if you prime the engine right (by counting prop turns to draw in fuel, or by counting drops of fuel from a priming bulb), then flip the prop briskly about a dozen times to distribute the fuel, you can put the starter on and get a start in just one flip about 90% of the time. As the weather gets cooler you first adjust the amount of prime up, and then you put in a few drops of "Mother's Little Helper".
The two tricks that I know of are that (a) you have to learn how each engine wants to be primed, and (b) you need to flip the prop several times to distribute the fuel/air mixture. Some engines want to be choked and slowly pulled through, some engines want to be choked and smartly flipped (ringed engines don't seem to want to pull fuel unless they're moving smartly), and some engines just want drips from a bottle. Each engine wants its own amount of prime, so you have to get used to it.
Granted, I have been stuck out in the field flipping and flipping and flipping -- but not usually, and I think it adds a bit of elan during a contest to just signal the judges, then casually flip the prop once and go fly.
Topic: Topping off the charge on NiCd sub-C glow igniters (Read 1866 times)
