Lost one to hand propping at Gillespie

You have WAY too many news helicopters out there...

Hand propping a nosewheel airplane is not on my to do list. I'm tall and there's no way I'd push down on that prop.

I hand prop my Chief every time I fly it and follow a very narrow sequence, including testing that the chocks are holding, always tying down the tail wheel, and always treating the prop as if it' hot.

Hand propping a small TW should be no more dangerous than running a chain saw.

If I absolutely had to prop a nosewheel, I'd use the rope technique.
 
This is why I put the battery on the charger briefly this morning as it ran down, rather than hand-propping....
 
dmccormack said:
You have WAY too many news helicopters out there...

Hand propping a nosewheel airplane is not on my to do list. I'm tall and there's no way I'd push down on that prop.

I hand prop my Chief every time I fly it and follow a very narrow sequence, including testing that the chocks are holding, always tying down the tail wheel, and always treating the prop as if it' hot.

Hand propping a small TW should be no more dangerous than running a chain saw.

If I absolutely had to prop a nosewheel, I'd use the rope technique.
Click to expand...

I know nothing about tailwheels. Why is hand-propping them okay but not tri-gear aircraft?

I suck at hand-propping, and have decided to keep it out of my aviation repertoire for good.
 
schmookeeg said:
I know nothing about tailwheels. Why is hand-propping them okay but not tri-gear aircraft?

I suck at hand-propping, and have decided to keep it out of my aviation repertoire for good.
Click to expand...


On a TW the prop sits at an angle. When you throw the prop it's easy to step away.

With a nosewheel the prop forces you to push down.
 
dmccormack said:
On a TW the prop sits at an angle. When you throw the prop it's easy to step away.

With a nosewheel the prop forces you to push down.
Click to expand...

Yep- you're already sort of headed away from the prop as you follow through.
Then there's the fact that many light tailwheel aircraft were certified with no starter, with low-compression small-bore engines and no starter flywheel, that require a lot less force to prop by hand... even if you flip it from behind the prop, as many do, especially when such an airplane is on floats.
 
rottydaddy said:
Then there's the fact that many light tailwheel aircraft were certified with no starter, with low-compression small-bore engines and no starter flywheel, that require a lot less force to prop by hand... even if you flip it from behind the prop, as many do, especially when such an airplane is on floats.
Click to expand...

Another good point. My O-145-B2 with 65 HP and 6.5-1 compression is far easier to throw than a 160 HP engine.
 
Also with many smaller tail wheels like Cubs, you can stand behind the prop and do it.
 
Actually decent coverage of it......until they started talking about planes 'stalling out' as a common occurrence.

This one hits really close to home. I don't think I know the guy, but our flying club office at SEE is literally on the other side of that hangar off the plane's left wing. Really sucks.
 
Last edited:
I've been hand prop'd once. I don't know about the mechanic, but I was scared ****! As I recall, I had the parking brake on and practically stood on the brakes.
I've been jumpstarted three times. Not quite a scary but on my warrior, the port is on the right front just behind the cowl. The last guy who did it was a CFI who chose not to step in to pull the cable. Unfortunately, he pulled the cable and left the head stuck to the side. Gave him the close up shot of the spinning prop he was trying to avoid.
Like the instructor they interviewed said, I'd go find a power cart. That's a lot safer for all involved.
 
I've hand propped my Cherokee, but I don't like it much. My airplane sits on a battery tender to make certain I no longer have that particular privilege.
 
Battery was dead on the Grumman I went to fly this weekend. Though about propping it but elected to jump it instead. It's worth spending the extra time to not risk it.
 
The end result of a hand propping is that the propeller comes to life. I don't know why ANYONE would come anywhere near a propeller with that intent in mind. So you can't take off, big whoop. Wait for a mechanic to jump it or push it back inside.

Poor guy. Poor family. His pax will never be the same, either.
 
woodstock said:
The end result of a hand propping is that the propeller comes to life. I don't know why ANYONE would come anywhere near a propeller with that intent in mind.
Click to expand...
While that may be true for most modern airplanes, some airplanes were simply designed to start that way. Many of the smaller pre-WWII airplanes like Champs and Cubs had no electric system and you either hand prop to start....or you don't start.
 
steingar said:
I've hand propped my Cherokee, but I don't like it much. My airplane sits on a battery tender to make certain I no longer have that particular privilege.
Click to expand...
I've handpropped a Cherokee 180 and pretty much decided that was the last time I'd do it.

Ryan
 
Hand propping, like so much in aviation, is perfectly safe if done properly.

I've done it on our old 85 H.P. Ercoupe without trouble. I did it once on our old 150 H.P. Warrior, and it was much harder.

I wouldn't even dream of trying it on the 235 H.P. O-540 in our Pathfinder.

Sad story. A moment of inattention can certainly kill you quickly in aviation.
 
RyanShort1 said:
I've handpropped a Cherokee 180 and pretty much decided that was the last time I'd do it.

Ryan
Click to expand...

It would take a fair amount of motivation to make me do it again. An incoming thunderstorm might do it. Might not.

Wouldn't try under any circumstances without a rated pilot at the controls.
 
steingar said:
It would take a fair amount of motivation to make me do it again. An incoming thunderstorm might do it. Might not.

Wouldn't try under any circumstances without a rated pilot at the controls.
Click to expand...

Incoming thunderstorm, supplemented by "my battery is dead, maybe I should hand prop" would have my brain screaming "first step in the chain!!". Plane would go right back in the hangar, on a charger, and I'd be at a nearby restaurant having dinner while the front passed.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Incoming thunderstorm, supplemented by "my battery is dead, maybe I should hand prop" would have my brain screaming "first step in the chain!!". Plane would go right back in the hangar, on a charger, and I'd be at a nearby restaurant having dinner while the front passed.
Click to expand...

I was thinking more at a remote field where I didn't have a hangar. Then the choice becomes hand prop or buy a new airplane with the insurance money. I keep my airplane on an inexpensive tender, so at home I don't have this problem.
 
woodstock said:
The end result of a hand propping is that the propeller comes to life. I don't know why ANYONE would come anywhere near a propeller with that intent in mind. So you can't take off, big whoop. Wait for a mechanic to jump it or push it back inside.
Click to expand...

That's the only way my airplane will start.

It would get awfully expensive to have a mechanic start me every time.

:D
 
".......well, this is going to have a lot of those pilots rethinking those options. Thanks, Marcella"

The evidence suggests otherwise.

Those hangars have power. A $40 battery pulse charger would have prevented the problem.
 
bbchien said:
".......well, this is going to have a lot of those pilots rethinking those options. Thanks, Marcella"

The evidence suggests otherwise.

Those hangars have power. A $40 battery pulse charger would have prevented the problem.
Click to expand...

Bruce, I've been lots of places where that just wasn't an option. Some of the strips I frequent most often come to mind.
 
My neighbor and his brother-in-law hand-prop a 9 cylinder radial on a regular basis. I consider just watching it something of a religious experience.
 
From my non-aviator co-worker:

"Wet cleanup! Aisle five!"

He's not right in the head, but at least I can tell that any media "unsafe airplanes" rhetoric won't work on him.
 
steingar said:
I was thinking more at a remote field where I didn't have a hangar. Then the choice becomes hand prop or buy a new airplane with the insurance money. I keep my airplane on an inexpensive tender, so at home I don't have this problem.
Click to expand...

Gotcha... there's always variables! Each decision is indeed unique.
 
I've had to jump start my Turbo Arrow on a fairly regular basis. Which, is an awkward process if you have to do it by yourself. Normally I'd nose the car in, jump it, get it started and run in long enough for the battery to charge a bit, shut it down, repark the car, and start it up again.

But that didn't always work. Sometimes I'd have to leave it running, and get out to disconnect the jumper plug and back the car away. In that case I'd have it both chocked and the tail chained down, and I'd pull the chain before jumping in. Then I'd just taxi it over the chocks.
 
bigred177 said:
Battery was dead on the Grumman I went to fly this weekend. Though about propping it but elected to jump it instead. It's worth spending the extra time to not risk it.
Click to expand...
While jump starting is generally safer than hand propping, neither is a very good way to deal with a dead battery. First of all, if the plane has an alternator it may not even come online and provide power for the flight and even if it does, turning on a high current load (landing gear, landing light etc) may kick the alternator off with no way to get it back on. And even if you don't have that problem, you will be without electrical power if the alternator actually dies for some reason (perhaps from the unusually high load of charging the dead battery). Finally, this is really hard on batteries because the alternator will do all it can to recharge the battery at the highest current it can muster. That can lead to warped plates and always shortens a battery's life.

The right thing to do is to charge the battery at a rate that takes an hour or more to reach about 75% of it's capacity while you borrow the crew car and have lunch somewhere.
 
In A&P school we were taught a simple rule, if it has a starter DO NOT hand prop - fix it instead. I've hand propped one plane and it had a TW.

I have once been asked to hand prop a plane, a late model 206, I declined as soon as the conversation started "Hey I have a dead battery, mind hand propping it for me?" Once I found out it was a high compression six cylinder nose wheel I was happy I had.
 
Skylane81E said:
In A&P school we were taught a simple rule, if it has a starter DO NOT hand prop - fix it instead.

That is the correct approach.
Click to expand...

When you are an A&P why would you send work away?
 
Skylane81E said:
In A&P school we were taught a simple rule, if it has a starter DO NOT hand prop - fix it instead. I've hand propped one plane and it had a TW.

I have once been asked to hand prop a plane, a late model 206, I declined as soon as the conversation started "Hey I have a dead battery, mind hand propping it for me?" Once I found out it was a high compression six cylinder nose wheel I was happy I had.
Click to expand...

Why is that worse? More power/more likely to jump forward?
 
Compression makes it harder to spin, more cylinders make the compression strokes closer together and the nose wheel thing has been discussed.

Not to mention the three blade prop that doesn't give you sufficient time to get out of the way before the next blade comes around.
 
I've been in the pilot seat while an owner of a citabria propped it. And I've had my 152 propped once by a big guy wearing gloves who knew what to do and assured me that he had experience. He was one of the fire guys flying during the season last summer.
I felt less concerned with the citabria situation. Anyway, it worked out but it is certainly something I'd never do.
 
woodstock said:
Why is that worse? More power/more likely to jump forward?
Click to expand...

High compression = harder to turn. That requires more force (more downward effort) with more of a risk of falling into the prop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top