Mon Sep 13, 2021 11:24 pm
#1870170
David Wood wrote:VRB_20kt wrote:PB on Avweb suggested started the engine with the fuel supply turned off so that even if one got away it wouldn’t get very far. Never having used the Armstrong method I don’t know how viable that suggestion is.
I used to do that but I think it's a silly idea. My Moth will run on tickover for a good 2-3 minutes on the fuel in the lines and so if it does start moving it's going to have gone a fair way before it stops.
@David Wood I always solo start with the fuel off, and I'm intrigued to know why you think it's a "silly idea". What's the worse that can happen? Forgetting to turn it back on again? And that just means unbuckling, getting out, and going through the complete starting process again (been there, done that). I agree that an engine will run perhaps 2-3 minutes at tickover on the fuel in the lines - it will run a damn sight longer with the fuel on, whatever the power setting, so what is the gain?
Start with fuel on though, and what is the worse that can happen? Well, a few years ago I was in a fire-truck Land Rover chasing a pilotless biplane gyrating across the airfield on full power which eventually straightened up and took off - I still recall the sick feeling in my stomach - and was only stopped when it hit a tree at the airfield boundary, and piled in. I still don't understand how in it's gyrations it did not nose-over, or wipe the undercarriage off. Had the fuel been off, the whole incident would have been over in a fraction of the time, and a beautiful aeroplane would, probably, not have been totally wrecked.
And that's why I solo start always with the fuel off. I take the view that that there is potentially a lot to be gained, and very little to lose.
Rich