Can one start a rotary by hand proping?  If properly done, it's not

dangerous on

a recip, and you sure save dragging a lot of weight around for the rest

of the

flight.

Even a variable pitch prop remains directly coupled, so once you have

airborne

momentum, you have an air re-start capability, and like it or not ...

without

power, windmilling is more of a problem than not being able to "turn the

engine

over".

Any problem feeding hand torque back through the PRSU?  Does it "catch"
abruptly?  Too much compression, too quickly?  Or "piece of cake"?

Just curious,

Dale Smith

If you have a distributor you probably can but most computerized systems
using a crank angle sensor (the EC2 included) have to turn over a full turn
before the ECU figures out where the engine is and generates the first
spark.  It would be incredibly dangerous to try hand proping this
combination.  On the class of aircraft able to use 160 - 200 HP, you can
afford the 7.5 pound weight penalty of a starter.

Tracy Crook
tcrook@rotaryaviation.com
www.rotaryaviation.com

I hate to say this Tracy because I know you have a full plate.
Klaus (LSE) arranges his ignition system to fire on top dead center
until the engine starts. This is for hand propping reasons.
I watched him hand prop his airplane many many times and it almost
always starts on the first fling.
 
Paul Lamar
 
The AirCraft Rotary Engine NewsLetter.              Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site. Copyright 1998-2002 All world wide rights reserved.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rotaryeng/            http://www.linux.org