P-40N start-up video: pilot's view

[JohnB]

A brief video of the Hangar 180 P-40N being started at its base in Lewiston, Idaho.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBxIQxly ... 2-rhsqE7-w

The aircraft is 42-105861, MSN 29623, now N49FG.
Its wartime history was with the 49th in PNG where it was abandoned.
It has quite a recovery and restoration story.

[lucky52]

It's nice not to see a GPS in the middle of the original instrument panel.

[JohnB]

Yes, that's what I thought.

Without consulting my Dash-1, it looks pretty stock.
Interesting to see the pilot/maintainer work what appears to be the choke on startup.
I have to do the same thing with my military Jeep.

[Taylor Stevenson]

Interesting to see the pilot/maintainer work what appears to be the choke on startup.
I have to do the same thing with my military Jeep.

...primer. With a manual primer, its common practice to keep a charge in the barrel if needed on startup. With an electric primer, you'd see the same practice occur with "tickling" the primer switch if needed. These aircraft do not have chokes. They do have mixtures, but you would not "work" them, aside from moving out of ICO.

[JohnB]

Of course, should have thought of that.
Been hanging around old cars lately.

[Saville]

I notice that on a lot of startups - this one, Merlins R-2800's etc - that the prop starts to spin...you can hear cylinders firing...then suddenly no cylinder is firing though the prop is still spinning...but then suddenly the cylinders pick back up again. What causes the pause? Lack of fuel in the lines still? Is that why we see this pilot pumping the primer?

[TheBoy]

I notice that on a lot of startups - this one, Merlins R-2800's etc - that the prop starts to spin...you can hear cylinders firing...then suddenly no cylinder is firing though the prop is still spinning...but then suddenly the cylinders pick back up again. What causes the pause? Lack of fuel in the lines still? Is that why we see this pilot pumping the primer?

The engine is started with the mixture lean in idle cutoff, so it immediately runs out of fuel after firing. Once it lights, you've got to push the mixture forward out of idle cut off. You can see him do it in this video.

[phil65]

I notice that on a lot of startups - this one, Merlins R-2800's etc - that the prop starts to spin...you can hear cylinders firing...then suddenly no cylinder is firing though the prop is still spinning...but then suddenly the cylinders pick back up again. What causes the pause? Lack of fuel in the lines still? Is that why we see this pilot pumping the primer?

The engine is started with the mixture lean in idle cutoff, so it immediately runs out of fuel after firing. Once it lights, you've got to push the mixture forward out of idle cut off. You can see him do it in this video.

Not exactly sure you two guys are talking about. I'm sure the engine was turned off by pulling the mixture to ICO, so it doesn't run out of fuel once it's running. Let a few blades pass bye and if you don't hear anything strange push the mixture forward. That fuel will be coming from the carburetor, some times a little slowly. When you push the primer in, you're ejecting fuel directly into the cylinders, kind of like a poor man's fuel injection.

FYI - Nice video..

Phil