What To Do When The Starter Dies...

[Balou]

You can have your friend push on the wing strut,and after you get moving down the taxiway fast enough, pop the clutch and it may start. You may have to do this multiple times to get it to start, but keep trying at least until your friend gets to exhusted.

or just do what Avbug said !

 

[FL420]

Ausfi, I'm fond of both of the subjects in your avatar, but the photo is printed backwards.

You're joking, right?

If not, your post illustrates Avbug's point about instruction from the internet. I can just imagine someone looking at AUCFI's avatar and trying to hand prop an American-designed engine based on that information.

 

[Magic1872]

To hand prop safely, see my avatar. Removal of any loose clothing is required.

To bad she's pull the prop the wrong way!!!

 

[ackattacker]

Ausfi, I'm fond of both of the subjects in your avatar, but the photo is printed backwards.

I agree, show us the other side of that photo... the front side.

 

[Northern Lights]

So now I'm contemplating what to do today:

A. Go another local airport and take pictures and beg for rides
B. Go to work
C. Sit at home

If I beg for rides, what's a polite way to do it without sounding pushy or rude?

So which one did you choose?

 

[Rally]

If you would have had a old timer around they would have just propped you off. However, if came with the aircraft it is required to work. However if labled inop (and rendered safe) I think you could fly it. Since a starter is not required by the FARs unless required by a MEL. Most passengers would give you a strange look when you said arrrrggh starter is not working. Inflight above stall speed it will windmill for a nonmechanical engine failure, so I don't see it as a safety of flight issue. (think cub, chief, taylorcraft champ etc) A starter will be of very little use in a engine failure in a normal piston aircraft.

 

[FL420]

To bad she's pull the prop the wrong way!!!

Proved my point.

 

[gfvalvo]

To bad she's pull the prop the wrong way!!!

Gives the pilot a better view.

 

[avbug]

Inflight above stall speed it will windmill for a nonmechanical engine failure, so I don't see it as a safety of flight issue.

Not sure I get your meaning there...either you mean it will windmill with the starter engaged (common when the starter fails and doesn't withdraw the bendix...which may or may not disengage the engine as it spins up, especially if it's the bendix drive that's failed), or you mean that the engine can windmill in flight for a restart. Either way, that's not really the issue.

Suppose the starter has failed for another reason, such as a short in the start circuitry? The starter is wired close to or directly to the battery, or the battery through the start relay. It has the potential to receive a lot of amperage which may be going some place else, which in turn may result in a fire, or damage to another component. Merely suggesting that it doesn't work and "is made safe" won't cut it. How do you propose to "make it safe?"

Suppose that starter isn't properly disengaging, or is making metal, which is entering the starter ring area...if the bendix has come apart, it may make big metal parts which may engage the starter ring or gear which can cause havoc, balance and vibration problems, or worse.

Suppose the starter has experienced a failed bearing internally and hasn't disengaged. You're potentially creating a lot of heat which could result in a starter frame fire, for lightweight starters with magnesium in the frame. That becomes an uncontrollable Class D fire which you're not going to put out, and a fire of that type will consume your engine and keep going.

What is it that you don't know yet? Keep asking that question when faced with something so seemingly simple. Yes, you can handprop the engine, but suppose that's really not the problem? When you have a mechanical problem, the soloution isn't to handprop it and go fly anyway. The airplane is talking to you, and you may not understand it's language. It may be telling you about something else entirely, and how well you understand depends on how close you listen. You don't listen with your ears, but through a mechanic who finds and fixes the small problem before it becomes a big problem.

I've seen starters and generators fall off engines, doing damage along the way. You could have something as simple as a poor connection, loose or corroded. Fix it. You could have a broken brush...but what broke it? Find out. Then fix it. This is important to know, and with most things mechanical, what you see on the surface is seldom the entire picture.

 

[ShawnC]

Works well on the larger engines too, I uhhh... I mean a friend of mine hand propped a 402. Of course he would never do something like take that aircraft flying because the AI would go spinning like a top on the climb out.