Tom-D
Taxi to Parking
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Tom-D
You would have found that you didn't need that second shot.
Cold Starting Procedure and I'm an Idiot
- Thread starter Stingray Don
- Start date
Have a battery charger and be within extension cord to an outlet until you get it down. Have jumper cables (some planes they are ok jumped, check with mechanic)
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GeorgeC
Just for grins, I tried cranking while delivering the first/only shot of primer, no joy.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Yup. The 182 likes one shot of prime when cold and always likes the mixture about halfway out at this altitude (another one people forget... full rich takes forever to crank over up here, pull it back and it starts instantly... a trick I learned watching our mechanic start and stop a few times in a row to test something one day).
If you start cranking on the turbo Seminole when it's hot, with the mixture open at all, you'll be there a while. Crank with hand on closed mixture knob and at the first sign of ignition, slide the mixture to full rich. Works every time. Cold, it's prime for three seconds and mixture full rich and it fires right off.
I always hunt down someone who's flown that particular airplane a whole bunch and ask them the easy start methods both hot and cold and try to tweak them to easy starts every time.
We will not talk about the day the Seminole wouldn't start because *someone* forgot to turn on the mags... that... never happened. ;-)
Funny how much you have to crank and still can't get the thing started when you didn't turn on the ignition system. Haha. You're sitting there thinking, "I should let those starters both cool down a bit...", and your eyeball catches the rocker switches on the sidewall... "Awww fffffff...."
The biggest PITA airplane I hated to start was the Turbo 182 RG when it was hot. That was a flurry of screwing around with hands everywhere trying to get the silly thing to kick over. Never found out if that was just the behavior of that specific airplane and engine or what, but everyone cussed that thing when it was time for a second flight of the day.
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Acrodustertoo
Ejection Handle Pulled
Good thinking , you don't want to be a " two pump chump"
Tried it on the Skycatcher. It didn't quite work as advertised.
I pulled the primer out, hit the starter, waited a blade then shot the primer. Two more blades went by with no sign of catching, so I pumped the throttle a couple times and then it caught.
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GeorgeC
That was my experience with the 162 as well.
Hank S
En-Route
You guys sure make me glad that my O-360 doesn't have a primer! I wouldn't know how to start it.
paflyer
Final Approach
Likewise.
Yes, and no. The 162 I was flying *does* have a primer, unlike yours. Normally, it's 3 shots and then hit start. I tried Tom's suggestion but no go. I probably could have paused the starter and then shot the primer another couple of times. But I decided to not stop cranking and pump the throttle instead because I didn't want to waste a good starter cycle.
Tantalum
Final Approach
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San_Diego_Pilot
The OP is not alone, up until about 6 months I would just pump the primer and wonder why the carb planes had a hard time starting, always figured it was just the simple (and dependable once running) construction that made starting tough. Now that I wait for the prime to fill they start right up without any problem, assuming you crank immediately after the last primer shot
I haven't tried priming and starting, but maybe will try that next time
I haven't tried priming and starting, but maybe will try that next time
BrianNC
En-Route
I got to thinking about turbo Seminoles and did a search here and found your post. How do you like that plane? Those turbos make a lot of difference in performance? Pretty nice plane to fly? Looking for a PIREP on it if you don't mind.
denverpilot
Tied Down
I got to thinking about turbo Seminoles and did a search here and found your post. How do you like that plane? Those turbos make a lot of difference in performance? Pretty nice plane to fly? Looking for a PIREP on it if you don't mind.
Well the turbos at least keep the engines giving sea level power at ground level sound here, but I wouldn't call a Seminole a "good performer" even at sea level.
The bigger problem with them is that there were only 82 built and Piper has run out of certain parts. The local one has been down for six weeks awaiting a crack repair in an exhaust manifold which is kinda a Big Deal (TM) on any turbo' engine.
Talking to my CFI who owns it, shipping an exhaust manifold somewhere isn't exactly cheap these days either.
For the altitude -- it's pretty good. But if it's for travel there's (much) faster twins. It's a trainer.
This one is in "extra trainer" mode in that the on board O2 system was removed and placarded a long time ago. I suppose taking it up high would help if one were traveling in it.
Cockpit is "roomy enough" and the current owner has updated it with better seat belts and leather seats over the years so it's probably more comfortable than the typical beater on the line at a pilot mill. At one time it was also decked out with stuff like an onboard radar and a Sandel HSI attached to a Garmin 430 when those were new, so it was being used by someone to go places. But you'd burn a lot of gas getting there.
It's like a number of the light twins of the seventies that weren't produced in quantity. If you didn't mind taking care of a "classic" (and I'm pushing classic age and maintain old cars, so I'm cool with that) and didn't mind the *occasional* long downtime messing up your dispatch numbers, it'd be a nice little personal traveling machine for someone who stayed proficient at single engine ops and wanted the comfort of a twin.
I think the owner of this one picked exactly the right airplane for the kind of training he does and some of his clientele, but I'm not sure I'd buy one for personal use here. A 310 or Seneca would probably get that job done better just as a wild assed guess.
I'll stay "slumming it" in the 182. Haha. Happier with the fuel burn and speed is okay for what we use it for.
BrianNC
En-Route
Thanks Nate.
I love the 182. Back in the day (2002) a guy at my airport had a 182 and wanted his instrument, and I did too, so we did safety pilot for each other in his plane to build hours. Coincidentally, when I wanted to get my instrument rating, the place I was going to do my accelerated had a guy that owned a 182, and they paired me up with him. I paid all the gas and oil, and he supplied the plane. So I got my instrument in a 182 rather cheaply. I think I've got about 50-60 hours total. Might be the most solid/load carrying/fast enough/'roomy' all around single out there.