Warbird Information Exchange

The DC-3's I flew in the Arctic had to occasionally be started this way. I have done it twice, once with a rope and the other with a herc strap. THAT one flew off and hit the pick-up truck pulling it......but the engine started! Another trick was when the fuel pump wasn't working. To start the engine we sat on the cowling while the Captain turned it over. After about 4 revolutions you hand primed the intake with a cup of raw 100/130 and scooted off the wing before the engine caught. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Matt:
1830 -1340......I stand corrected. Too much winter around here......I forget my engines in the deep freeze.......Now where was my Merlin turbocharger again? Hmmmm?
Thx,
VL

Vlado,
What is winter ? I have not had to turn on the heat here this year, it will be in the low 80s this weekend. You and Moonbeam need to move out here where it is nice and warm and you can fly year around.

Matt

Oh, and as far as the turbocharger on the merlin, you forgot you took it off and used it for the compressor section of the T-33s engine.

_________________
Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
Jack, You have Debauched my sloth !!!!!!
We tried voting with the Ballot box, When do we start voting from the Ammo box, and am I allowed only one vote ?
Check out the Ercoupe Discussion Group on facebook

Matt:

Rimshot........good one!

Thx,
VL

I saw a Blackburn Beverley get started in up-country Aden in the 1960s during the emergency. Number one engine wouldn't start so a long length of hemp rope was found, and wound in the approved manner. A 3 ton truck provided the pull and with plenty of smoke the engine started. During the process there were worried faces looking out of the windows as the remote airstrip was frequently attacked and neither passengers nor crew fancied being stranded there.

Like this?



http://www.douglasdc3.com/prop/prop.htm

_________________
Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Join us for the Texas Warbird Report on WarbirdRadio.com!
http://www.facebook.com/WarbirdRadio
Listen at http://www.warbirdradio.com

Just thinking out loud ----

Wrapping a rope around the prop hub then pulling it with a truck has got to be inducing some side-loads on the front case and the engine mounts that may not have been considered during the desgin phase....

As long as a loading equivalent to or less than the polar moment of inertia of the prop is maintained, it should be OK. If it is in the manual, rest assured that the loads were evaluated and deemed acceptable.

...just ease off the clutch....and pray the rope doesn't get caught on the prop and pull you back in!

Dig that Holden Ute they have doin' the pullin'!

Cheers!

_________________
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Hi Dean, not to split hairs but it was a Ford Falcon ute. It did snap the rope a few times on the edge of the tow bar but we got home.
FWIW speaking to some of the blokes involved there was a severe shortage of batteries down under during the war and this became a standard operating procedure.
Simmo

I remember the rope thing for a -4 Corsair. IIRC, it had 3 or 4 leather 'gloves' that slipped over the prop tips as seen in the 3 bladed diagram. I saw it used with a pick-up truck once & a big ol' farm tractor once.

told me about how he rope started a merlin with an old tire a rope and a car....it could work although I sure wouldn't want to watch it.....