I LOVE Handpropping

[lfries]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

I have no problem hand propping by myself. Tail is tied down and wheels chalked. Only people I know who have had them get away haven't followed these simple rules. I don't use the from behind position. Simply because I would hate. To lose a finger and you have to wrap a finger over the prop to get a pull. I know several people who do and they haven't had issues.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

As to front or rear, it is all in what you are comfortable with. Only been one person in history who could prop a Taylorcraft float plane from the front. ;-)

I know the great frozen north guys have different procedures, but for a beginner I would just not fly if the ground was too slick for good footing. You guys are so comfortable around your planes it looks too easy to us "southerners". That could be a danger to a new guy. Not everyone can (or SHOULD) do what we see the Alaska guys do, but you have a lot of other safety procedures that a new guy doesn't need yet.

Hank

Most guys who fly the bush are more comfortable with their planes than we are with our cars.

[NC43501]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Over the last 20 years or so, I've often referred to mine as a "Tcart", and never meant it as anything other than a term of endearment. I can't imagine anyone loving an airplane more than I love mine, so it seems to me it all depends on what you intend to portray when you use it.

[M Towsley]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Hey Anthony! Long time, no see. T-Cart has the connotation of something being pulled by a plow horse. Not necessarily endearing to the airplane. Perhaps that is what keeps the prices so low.

[crispy critter]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Hey guys, the way I see it, it's all a matter of personal perspective. I love taylorcrafts more then about anyone and I have called them tcrafts, tcarts, tbirds, well done, and extra crispy,lol.... Its not about the name you give it, but the way it makes you feel when you say it.

[Jim Hartley]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Hey guys, the way I see it, it's all a matter of personal perspective. I love taylorcrafts more then about anyone and I have called them tcrafts, tcarts, tbirds, well done, and extra crispy,lol.... Its not about the name you give it, but the way it makes you feel when you say it.

The old saying" Smile when you say that pardner!"

[senior]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Keep up the derogatory terms like T-Crate fellows

It keeps the prices down so we can afford the best performing plane for $$

[waltermrich]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Carl I saw your Taylorcraft display at the Children's museum in Iowa City, Thanks for having it, it was very intersesting to read the story of the original purchase by your dad and all of of the restorations over the years. Thanks

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Keep up the derogatory terms like T-Crate fellows

It keeps the prices down so we can afford the best performing plane for $$

I paid ten grand for my flying 1940 BC65 in 2003.

[astjp2]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

How many of you have been to an unimproved strip that has no tie downs and you are alone and have to restart? Its real fun to sand behind the prop with your foot against the right main, and pulling the prop on the back side. Makes for an interesting start. Tim

[Guest]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Never did that Tim, I've been scared to prop from behind.

Maybe I should try it. No impulse mags though, will that make a diff?

I have proped with only a parking brake set and then being sure that the throttle is closed.

My a65 engine with idle at 350-375 RPM.

On skis I didn't have a brake but the 350-375 RPM was saving grace.

Dave

p.s. BTW - I don't love hand propping

[Pearson]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Dave,

The only way I prop is from behind. I open the door all the way back against the boot cowl and always hold on to the vertical tube at the aft end of the windshield. I don't try to use my foot as a chock in front of the right wheel. It just didn't feel right. As I pull down on the prop with my right arm, I am pulling back just a little with my left. That way it pulls me back away from the prop. The lift strut hits me right in the hip or buttock area in case it were to try to roll forward, and my hip would stop the airplane. The best part of all is not having to go all the way around the left strut and across the cockpit to access the mag switch, throttle, fuel, etc. With the door folded all the way open against the boot cowl and my hand holding the vertical tube, if I need to reach the controls it is an easy transition to just rock my weight from my right foot, which is forward, to my left foot, which is closer to the door opening. It sounds more complicated than it is. I definitely feel more comfortable doing it this way than standing on the side of the prop in the direction it wants to travel. Having my hand on that vertical tube is my life line. I know I can always pull my self away from the prop as long as I have ahold of that tube.

[Guest]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

Thanks Richard,

Do you have impulse mags?

Dave

[astjp2]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

I did it without impulse mags, but it's so much easier with slicks. Tim

[n6346m]

Re: I LOVE Handpropping

I agree with "senior". If I had to follow all of Hank's rules, I wouldn't get to fly much. I prefer to prop from the back because I have never seen an airplane (except for turbines) go backwards when they start. The one rule I have always used since I started hand propping airplanes in 1973 is to always TURN OFF THE FUEL VALVE before starting. If things go wrong and you are acting like a wheel chock or hanging onto the wing strut while your airplane goes around in circles or watching your airplane go across the airport or down the lake, it's comforting to know that the engine will stop when the carburetor bowl runs dry rather than when the fuel tank runs dry. As for not curling your fingers around the trailing edge of the prop, I don't know how you can do that. It seems to me that to get enough friction on the front of the blade to pull it through using just the palms of your hands you either need to get your compression checked or you're pushing on your airplane way too hard in the wrong direction.