Is chocks that expensive? they don’t need to be certified ones, just a rope and bunch of wood 
On Turbs without starter you will always need two people (or five brains if the engine is not in the flying mood) and you definitely need shocks as most don’t have breaks, I will be interested to see a brave pilot prop-handing them alone (even for taxi you may need someone to hold your tail)
I hand prop my Turbulent, and I am happy (enough) to do it alone. I confess it’s not something I’ve ever enjoyed, and I have had some scares. A necessary evil. Well, perhaps there’s part of me that enjoys the romance of swinging a prop on a vintage aircraft on a frosty morning, but the truth is I would very happily have a starter.
I use chocks and I tie the tail down with a corkscrew into the earth. I use the straps to hold the stick back, face the aircraft into wind (and away from anything valuable) and start it with the throttle on idle. I then remove the chocks then walk to the starboard side of the aircraft and untie the tail and remove the tent peg. I can do this with one hand and keep my other hand on top of the aircraft. I then walk slowly to the cockpit whilst keeping my hand on top of the turtledeck. Then I clamber in and undo the straps whilst holding the joystick.
I have had three scares:
One was after I had changed the skid to a tailwheel and started on tarmac for the first time. I was used to the aircraft not moving with the throttle at idle, but this time it started to inch forwards after I had taken the first chock away. I caught it easily enough as it could only just overcome friction, but I’m sure it could have started moving quite quickly. I now only start on grass where you need to open the throttle a bit to keep moving. It will stay put on grass with the tailwheel or tailskid, or on tarmac with the tailskid.
As an aside on this point, I believe most brakes are set with a slight degree of friction so that they don’t spin whilst airborne. My brakes are not. I can envisage someone getting used to an aircraft that will not generally move at idle, but that comes back from maintenance with slightly less rolling resistance leading to it running away.
Second scare was when the aircraft started to tip forward one day. I had just 1) emptied the luggage compartment and 2) refilled the fuel tank and 3) there was a slightly brisker breeze than usual with the occasional gust and 4) whilst starting I had pushed it back a few inches and it rolled gently back to the chocks. I had not tied the stick back as I now always do. Mea culpa. Turbulents have evolved from 1200CC machines to 1600CC machines and are probably slightly nose-heavier than other tailwheel aircraft. They are notorious for nosing over.
Third scare was one day I realised that I had tried to start the aircraft with the throttle fully open. Starting a Turbulent can be frustrating and there can be a fair amount of priming involved. There is no choke so you cycle the throttle and the accelerator pump does the job for you. I think that the psychology behind my mistake is that when you are doing this from in front of the cockpit, the controls are reversed. i.e. push forward for idle; pull back to open the throttle.
I now make sure I lean forward far enough to fully visualise the throttle position prior to starting to swing the prop. I have since caught myself trying to do the same thing again.
Part of the frustration with hand propping is that it can seem quite a hit-and-miss affair. I’ve probably had to swing the prop over a hundred times sometimes. There’s lots of ‘backwards and forwards’ to re-prime. Sometimes it will catch for a few revs of the prop then die. Back to the throttle. Annoying. And being annoyed is never a good thing.
Perhaps some will say that I’ve had so many scares because I’m too careless. Probably they’re even right. I also confess that I was inducted into the ways of hand propping by an old-hand and perhaps if I’d been taught by a seasoned instructor I would have avoided such silliness. I suspect it has to be the right instructor though. However, I think the right way to hand-prop can change subtly from one aircraft to another, and it has often been when I started the aircraft under slightly different conditions that I’ve had my frights. I think hand-propped aircraft can be quite creative in thinking of new ways to catch you out.
Part of my reluctance to look for help at all times is that I don’t want someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing in front of the aircraft and I don’t want someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing inside of the aircraft either. Neither do I want the rigmarole of someone having to get out of the cockpit whilst I’m waiting to get in. That said, if someone I trust offers to swing the prop for me I am always very grateful.
As a p.s. I would always vote for chocks. If you have the right size chocks they may cause a tailwheel aircraft to nose-over if hot-started, which will be preferable to it running away without you. They may not stop an aircraft at full throttle but they can be surprisingly effective in preventing you from going anywhere!
Some people use ropes with a slip-knot so that they can tie the tail down for starting then release it from the cockpit.
If I owned an airfield I would install recessed hardpoints for people to attach said lines to. I would like to do the same with my corkscrew, but someone would inevitably taxi into it and wreck a prop.
@kwlf probably you are one of the rare ones doing it on Turbs these days but thanks for the post, as you mention people perception on hand-propping depends on “who was your teacher?” tough for chocks I always view them as guarantee to stop the thing in case (even if it means nose over & prop-strike) and preferable a third person holding the tail,
In the long-run, foot breaks or parking breaks will fail you one day, so you are better off assuming they don’t work, so tie the tail, put the shocks and wisely choose your crash spot (a vintage aircraft will not operate safely without getting a fair amount of time and respect)
kwlf wrote:
Third scare was one day I realised that I had tried to start the aircraft with the throttle fully open. Starting a Turbulent can be frustrating and there can be a fair amount of priming involved. There is no choke so you cycle the throttle and the accelerator pump does the job for you. I think that the psychology behind my mistake is that when you are doing this from in front of the cockpit, the controls are reversed. i.e. push forward for idle; pull back to open the throttle.
Agree, I always resisted the temptation to do it by myself and always asked for help, my concern is those volkswagen engines gets very stubborn that you start putting your nose into their exhaust pipes to smell if they are firing, flooded or just sleeping, I am less tempted to do that alone, but in the other hand you may hand-prop for ages because you have wrong guy inside the cockpit…
As always, this tends to happen in very cold days where you are more likely to do some mistakes by rushing it (again the obvious solution is to give some respect & time: put it back in the hangar and bring a heater then wait )
Ibra wrote:
In the long-run, foot breaks or parking breaks will fail you one day, so you are better off assuming they don’t work
Would you say the same thing about the the wing, the elevator, the engine, the aileron, you ability to stay cool/sane in any situation? Seriously, lot’s of people do exactly that, and the answer is BRS. So, you won’t hand prop without chocks, but would you fly without a chute?
Perceived risk is not the same as real risk. And as I have said. Thousands of Cubs are hand propped without chocks, do you hear about any accidents that doesn’t involve turning the prop with no intention of starting, but the mags were on. This can happen to any plane.
But, Cubs are perhaps a special case. You have access to throttle, mags and fuel within a split second when hand propping. If you have to stay in front of the prop, there should be one inside also.
Do you have to stay in front on the Turbulent? The left side in front of the wing, is there no space? (Have to google and see how a turbulent look like )
The only case where I think “rationally, one does not need chocks”
You can reach throttle & prop in a Turb from the left, but you have to step on the wing to get in
The ones I flew don’t have breaks, have tendency to nose over if no one is sitting inside and besides the hand-prop exercise seems more like astrology, so I don’t see how people can do a quick prop & jump as in those super cub videos
@kwlf probably you are one of the rare ones doing it on Turbs these days
Rare because Turbs are rare? Or rare because of Leburg ignition? Or do you mean rare to be hand-propping myself?
It’s a bit off topic but I’ve recently changed the ignition leads to copper core and the plugs to resistor-less and it seems to be starting noticeably more easily.
I’ve admitted to some poor practice that others may benefit from my misadventures, but I can’t ever imagine being comfortable hand-propping without chocks. Aside possibly from Ibra’s example above, and I think people sometimes step onto pontoons of seaplanes? Even then I’d want someone in the cockpit.
Peter wrote:
So, how exactly would one do it, @Michael?It is possible.
If you can’t prime it then you won’t be able to start it, unless it has just been shut down, say less than an hour or two.
I suspect that the Cirrus in the OP had a low battery condition, that is there was enough juice to prime the engine but not enough to turn the prop over.
ps: one MIGHT be able to get enough prime with a high wing plane if the throttle & mixture are placed in full rich and the prop was pulled through a few turns. Never tried it – and never will , so may not work.
Michael wrote:
one MIGHT be able to get enough prime with a high wing plane if the throttle & mixture are placed in full rich and the prop was pulled through a few turns. Never tried it – and never will , so may not work.
That’s how you do it on the Capitaine and the Junior. Both don’t have a separate primer pump. Unlinke the SR2x and TB20, these aren’t fuel injected engines.
What a stupid way to almost die
