I’ve never hand propped an airplane, so I don’t know that thrill. I used to jump-start my manual transmission cars by popping the clutch. It’s not quite the same, but from that I think I can approximate the rush that comes from spinning life into a dead airplane.
In this day and age, should you hand prop an airplane if other conventional methods don’t work in getting the motor running? That’s a solid maybe in my book. The question isn’t can you. It’s should you?
It’s kind of like determining the difference between “legal to fly” and “safe to fly.”
There are airplanes that are specifically designed to be hand propped. Those that are have the procedure outlined in their Pilot Operating Handbooks (POH).
Almost any reciprocating-engine airplane can be hand propped, theoretically. That goes for singles and twins. I write “reciprocating-engine airplanes” to differentiate from turboprops.
The key piece of gear behind hand propping capability is not having a propeller, but having magnetos. Magnetos are small electric generators containing a permanent magnet and are used to provide current for the ignition system of spark-ignition engines. Magnetos produce a high-voltage pulse used by the spark plugs.
Clutches on cars and magnetos both date back to the Wright brothers’ era. Clutches and stick shifts are all but obsolete in passenger cars now, thanks to the technological evolution of starter motors and transmissions. We’re well past magnetos in engines, too, so why do airplane engine makers still manufacture them?
Three reasons: They’re cheap to make; they last a long time; and — most of all — because magnetos work even when the ship’s battery and alternator are dead. If you can get the engine started, the magnetos will keep it operating until you decide to make it quit.
More importantly, if all of your electrical systems fail in flight, your magnetos will keep the spark in your ignition system going, allowing you the opportunity to land safely.
Just one more thing: To properly start an engine using the hand propping method, the correct magneto switch must be in the “on” or “hot” position. It’s the one that has an impulse coupling attached to it.
How do you know which magnetos are correct? Generally speaking, the standard configuration for aircraft engines is the left magneto set.
Let’s go back to the “if you can get the engine started” part and “should you” hand prop question. The three rules of thumb for hand propping are:
- Don’t get hit by the propeller.
- Don’t let the airplane get away.
- Don’t be stupid.
A Cessna 172 pilot decided to include a flight to North Carolina’s Outer Banks as part of a family vacation. He flew the group to First Flight Airport (KFFA) to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. He parked and chocked the plane, but forgot to turn off the master switch, so by the time the family returned from their tour, the aircraft battery was dead.
The Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk.
The pilot went into the local FBO and asked for some assistance. No battery was available for sale, so the hand prop alternative was raised. The FBO manager — an A&P — declined the request to hand prop, but another pilot “eagerly stepped forward and said he would be happy to hand prop the plane.”
The Cessna pilot got in the cockpit while the volunteer positioned himself by the propeller. He then instructed the pilot to turn on the master switch, which the pilot did. The volunteer pilot pulled the propeller through several times unsuccessfully.
The volunteer pilot stopped and returned to the cockpit door to inspect the position of the master switch.
“I was thinking that we should be positioning the magneto switch and not the master switch,” wrote the Cessna pilot in a report to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System.
The volunteer pilot instructed him to put the key in “start” when he pulled the prop through. The Cessna pilot complied and the motor started.
“I do not remember if he was pulling the prop through or positioning it,” the pilot continued in his report. “As he jumped back from the prop, he shook his hand as if he had hit it on something. Only when he came around to the side of the plane did I see blood and realize he was injured.”
It turns out the volunteer pilot broke a bone in his hand that required surgery to fix it. He was lucky. He could have lost his hand or arm — or worse.
The pilot wrote in his conclusion, “It is now obvious that he did not really understand what he was doing. If this ever happens again, I will wait for a new battery.”
Another pilot categorized his hand prop misadventure as “another stupid, it-won’t-happen-to-me scenario.”
He planned to join friends at a fly-in breakfast. He pushed his plane from its hangar onto the grass airfield’s wet, green ramp area. A weak battery prevented the plane from starting normally, so he decided to hand prop it.
“I’ve hand propped it a few times, but only once before by myself,” he wrote in his NASA report.
Still, with nobody around and a desire to share breakfast with friends strongly motivating him, he made the attempt. He was unsuccessful several times before the motor caught and started. The prop blast slammed the cockpit door shut before the pilot could climb in. When he did get the door open, it separated from the plane, and he slipped and fell on the dew-soaked grass while the airplane accelerated away.
It eventually hit his hangar, the prop striking the hangar’s wood frame and metal covering. The aircraft’s left wingtip was crushed and the right wing fabric damaged. The prop striking the hangar also caused sudden engine stoppage, which necessitated a teardown.
The pilot cited as contributing factors failure to chock the wheels, failure to tie down the tail, and failure to wait until later for another person to assist.
“The cause of this is easily the poor judgment I had shown by trying to attempt this whole flight,” he concluded.
Some Aeronca Champ airplanes don’t have an electrical starter system. A normal way to start those Aeroncas is the hand prop method.
Aeronca Champ
An Aeronca Champ pilot claimed in his report that he had hand propped his aircraft hundreds of times in the past. This time he asked a lineman to help hold the Champ’s tail while he conducted the hand prop procedure.
After an unsuccessful series of propeller pulls, the pilot determined he’d flooded the carburetor. He shut off the ignition and pulled 16 blades, per his training. He then turned the ignition switch back on.
“It started on the first pull and went to full power,” he wrote in his NASA report.
The lineman couldn’t hold the plane as it was moving, so the pilot ran back toward the cockpit to retard the throttle. He did, but not before the plane turned and plowed into a Beechcraft Sierra. Both airplanes were damaged.
Each of these NASA reports violated at least one of the three rules of thumb for hand propping an airplane. But these are not isolated incidents. I read through scores of similar tales of woe.
One pilot wrote in his NASA report: “I feel that more emphasis should be given to this procedure in primary training and that it should be discouraged.”
I can think of precious few reasons why a pilot would absolutely have to hand prop an airplane. Those reasons include fleeing from war or a natural disaster.
The pilot of a Commander 100 decided to hand prop his airplane after briefing his non-pilot passenger on how to retard the throttle, close the mixture, and turn off the ignition switch. However, when the pilot pulled the propeller through and the engine started, the throttle was open enough to allow the airplane to jump the tire chocks.
The pilot was unable to get back into the plane. He held onto a wing strut as the plane accelerated, eventually taking flight.
The pilot wrote that he “let go of the strut and abandoned all hope of entry into the airplane.” He fell to the ground. The plane settled back onto the ground, struck a berm, and flipped onto its back. The passenger suffered multiple facial fractures.
A resilient soul, this pilot concluded, “I will certainly never hand prop another plane without taking more precautions (tying the tail) and giving consideration to worst case scenarios, such as passenger panic factor impeding their actions.”
But did he miss the point?
In the 1950s an FAA cameraman happened to be filming at an airfield when a pilot decided to hand prop his plane while a non-pilot remained on board. The video is now on YouTube. It’s worth a watch, or two:
I understand there may be far more examples of pilots successfully, safely hand propping an aircraft than there are those who had to file NASA reports.
That still begs the question of just because pilots can, should they? After all, hand propping often masks larger issues, like an electrical system failure, get-there-itis, or just poor Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM).
Be a better informed pilot.
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Sean Mulligan says
March 16, 2019 at 4:13 pmI thought once about writing an article on dog grooming. But then I realized, if I haven’t groomed a dog so I have nothing to offer other than regurgitated info I’ve been told. Therefore I didn’t write the article.
If you want to explain to me about hand propping an aircraft, learn how to do it. Do it. Then explain it to me. Starting the article on hand propping with “I’ve never done it” is honest yes, but doesn’t give much credence to your content. Frankly, as someone who flies an aircraft that requires to be hand propped…..I find it pretty annoying. You can choose almost ANY aviation topic and site hundreds of instances of untrained people doing stupid things and getting hurt or worse. It’s not the process that is dangerous it’s how they do it. A case in point of don’t write about it unless you do it is your comment that “almost any piston/magneto aircraft engine can be hand started”. LOL. When you start getting into higher horse power 6-8 cylinder high compression engines…. good luck.
Henry K. Cooper says
March 16, 2019 at 4:50 amWithout getting into endless rhetoric, those who have never been trained in the proper method of hand propping should never attempt it. Case closed.
Paul Smith says
March 14, 2019 at 4:29 pmThree rules.
1. The mags are always hot.
2. The gun is always loaded.
3. Your wife will always find out.
Clayton Roney says
February 23, 2019 at 12:42 pmHand propping is dangerous without training, but so is flying an airplane. I have been a pilot for 32 years, and I have hand propped everything from a Beach bonanza to a Taylorcraft. My taylorcraft doesn’t have electric. In order to fly a plane, you first have to start it, but if you use the same precision in starting it as you do in flying it, it’s safe.
Richard says
February 23, 2019 at 10:26 amThe safest way to hand prop an aircraft if you don’t have an experienced pilot at the controls, is to turn the fuel on, pull the engine through 3 to 6 times with the switch off and of course at least have the tail tied down. Turn the switch to the mag with the impulse if it is so equipped, if not, to the Both position. TURN THE FUEL OFF. When the engine starts, be sure the throttle is closed before untying the tail and turn the fuel back on. The engine will run for a short with the throttle closed and the fuel turned off and if the plane by some chance gets away, it usually won’t run long enough to do damage to hurt anything. We always turned the fuel back off when propping a J-3 on floats, which is done from behind the prop, just in case we slipped and fell off the float after the engine started. Check it out, start your engine, turn the fuel off and see how long it runs at idle.
Alex Nelon says
February 23, 2019 at 7:47 amI appreciate all the comments on this thread. My own rule of thumb is that when hand propping, the guy in front of the prop is in charge of the start and makes all the calls. On solo starts, my tail is always tied down or a bystander is recruited as a chock to stand in front of the tail feathers. I don’t hand prop tricycle gear airplanes, period. That lesson was learned many years ago but not as a result of a botched job – I just don’t feel comfortable doing it.
Joe Clark says
February 23, 2019 at 7:21 amI completely agree with Lee Taylor’s comments and rules. Like Lee, I am older (not as old as he states) and I have been hand-propping airplanes since 1971 when I learned how to fly as a young pup. I also wrote about this subject in 2015 in my blog, publishing “A Dozen Rules to Spin a Prop.” (joeclarksblog.com/?p=5427)
LEE TAYLOR says
February 23, 2019 at 6:43 amHAND-PROPPING BY A LIFE-LONG EXPERT.
FIRST OFF, until the post-war era, hand propping was the only way to get a plane started, usually. It can be done with complete safety——but it can also kill you and whomever else is involved.
I have been hand-propping planes since I was about 13, (I’m now 74, and still do it), and I was taught the right way right off the bat. Even with that experience, I will share a few war stories after this instruction period.
1. NEVER hand-prop any airplane unless it is thoroughly tied down and chocked, unless you have an EXPERIENCED pilot on board.
NEVER allow a passenger or inexperienced person “to help;”
2. NEVER hand-prop unless the THROTTLE is in IDLE.
MAKE SURE the throttle tension knob is only LIGHTLY tightened. You want to be able to
IMMEDIATELY retard the throttle if necessary, but you don’t want it vibrating open, either.
3. MAKE CERTAIN that the MAG SWITCH is OFF.
4. Pump the throttle a few times to prime the engine.
5. USING THE EXACT SAME PROCEDURE AS YOU WILL WITH THE MAG SWITCH ON, (switch still “OFF”), Pull the prop thru 3-4 times to get the primer fuel up into the engine.
6. CHECK TIEDOWNS AGAIN!!! I can’t overstress this. ONLY if you have an EXPERIENCED PILOT on
board, do you skip this step. DO NOT depend on a passenger doing the right thing.
7. Turn the Mag switch to “both”—-The engine is now “hot”, and fully capable of killing you. Treat it
accordingly.
8. Standing well clear, gently pull the prop in a counter-clockwise motion, (regular prop rotation), until
you can feel it coming up against the compression. STOP! REST! CONTEMPLATE WHAT YOU
ARE ABOUT TO DO!
9. POSITION YOURSELF so that you are leaning slightly INTO the prop, stable foot slightly OUTSIDE of
the prop arc.
10. THINK about what you are about to do–practice it mentally a few times FIRST.
A. PLACE YOUR HAND PALM on the prop blade, —–you ARE NOT going to grab the prop with
your fingers!
To do so just might get them amputated should the engine backfire.
B. Swing your free foot toward the plane, inside the prop arc,
1. Swing your free foot BACKWARDS, simultaneously pulling DOWN on the prop.
C. The swinging foot gets your body moving AWAY from the prop. Keep that motion going for
at least one full step.
D. If the engine starts, IMMEDIATELY continue that backwards motion, and get sideways out
of the prop arc. IF IT DOESN’T, repeat the above steps.
E. MAKE CERTAIN the engine is in dead idle. Go out wide of the wing, come forward and untie
the RIGHT wing. Remove the RIGHT chock. Move IMMEDIATELY towards the tail. DO NOT
CROSS around in FRONT of the spinning prop.
F. Untie the tail.
G. Moving from the tail, again insure the engine is in idle, then untie the right wing. MOVE
BACKWARDS toward the tail, then approach
The left chock. With a hand holding onto the plane somehow, remove the LEFT chock.
H. MOVING BACKWARDS FIRST, then forward to the pilot’s door, climb in and congratulate
yourself on having safely performed one of the most dangerous items in flying. (Except,
of course, —getting off the ground.)
First, Last, Foremost, THINK about what you are doing, EVERY SINGLE STEP, always keep your mind active, SLOW DOWN, and do it all safely. You are a PILOT, after all, not some idiot just off the street. PILOTS do things SAFELY, all the time
O-K! Experience-sharing time.
1. Young guy, (me) with my first plane, a T-Craft, with no starter. Taking my airplane partner for one of his first rides, (he was a pilot, but hadn’t been around planes for many years), and was going to hand-start the plane after fueling it.
We didn’t have brakes on the passenger side, so I instructed Don to stand in the pilot’s door, hand on the throttle, and as soon as the engine started, to immediately pull the throttle all the way to idle. (I had it just barely cracked) He understood.
I propped the plane, it started just fine, (always did), and Don, standing in the door, thought it was going to die. HE PUSHED THE THROTTLE IN !!!!!!
As the plane jumped away from him, he stumbled, bending the throttle arm as he fell beside the plane. I leaped out of the way, and grabbed the strut as the plane passed me, throwing the plane into a ground loop. (Look at the video above for the exact same situation). As I was hanging on for dear life and fighting my way toward the cockpit, a famous movie actor in his antique biplane taxied immediately in front of the spinning plane, and shook his fist at me, flashing me the bird.
I got to the cockpit, and yanked the throttle to idle, Had to replace the throttle rod, it was bent so badly. End of that day’s flying!
Episode 2. I was a kid working my way thru flying at the local GA field, Lincoln, California. Living my lifelong dream, I was in hog heaven.
I had been flying for some time, in my boss’s beautiful little Cessna 120. One that had individual lever-type mag switches. This plane was set up per factory, which for some reason, had the ON position being SWITCH DOWN. I had gotten used to that.
My boss came out, and for some reason, the battery was dead. No big deal, my boss would just hand-prop it. We all did it all the time, and this engine was SO easy to hand-prop and start. It was never a problem.
Boss called, “MAGS ON”, and I assured the switches were down. He propped, and he propped, and he propped. Nothing.
“O-K, I guess it’s flooded.” “Switches OFF” I verified to him that the switches were off.
He stepped up casually, flipped the prop backwards,
AND IT FIRED UP!!!
VERY SHAKEN, MEE TOO, he came around to the cockpit, looked in, and about croaked. “DAMMIT, LEE!” “I FORGOT TO TELL YOU I HAD TURNED THE SWITCHES AROUND SO THAT THEY WERE “NATURAL” NOW—Up- HOT, Down,- OFF.” —-When he had called, “Switches OFF”, I flipped them up, which is the way I had always done it. Before, when he had called for hot, I had them down, which is why the engine failed to fire, causing him to be worn out flipping the prop before deciding he had flooded it. Only because he was halfway careful in pulling it thru after he had called “Switches OFF” did he avoid being made into hamburger. Remember, it fired after being pulled BACKWARDS.
Episode 3. My FBO operation, had a wonderful, older C-172 we rented out. An Air Force Colonel, commander of the local SR-71 Squadron, came up to rent the plane to take his wife to visit their family. Fantastically experienced pilot, no problems whatsoever with renting HIM our plane. We were honored.
He landed at his destination, and being a real hotshot flying a dorky Cessna, he didn’t do a proper shutdown check. Left the master switch on.
Arriving back after his family visit, discovered the battery dead. Now, remember this is a v-e-r-y proud AIR FORCE COLONEL. He hain’t ha’bout to hadmit he’uns had made such an idiotic mistake. “I’ll just handprop this idiot plane myself!”
Didn’t tie the plane down.
Didn’t chock it.
Didn’t tell his wife anything about what to do–(Hell, NO WAY am I gonna tell her I had done such a stupid thing, and ask for HER help!) Left her with her seat back all the way, AND NO SEATBELT ON—-
Turned the mags on, AND PUSHED THE THROTTLE HALFWAY IN. (see where this is going???)
Went around to the front, pulled the prop thru, and guys, I gotta tell ya, the older C-172’s are one of the easiest-hand-prop-starting planes in the world.
Engine fired immediately, going to very high rpm, and damned near chopped him into hamburger, getting away from it only by inches as he dove out of the way. Picked gravel out of his teeth, IDIOT! . Plane accelerated THRU a line of parked planes, crossed the grass, crossed the active runway with a half-dozen student pilots shooting touch-and-goes, —
Went out into the field across the runway, and almost got airborne before hitting a ditch and flipping upside down. Destroyed the beautiful plane.
And threw the Colonel’s wife out through the windshield, damned near killing her. Plane landed on top of her as it flipped. She spend six months in the hospital. .
Guys, hand-propping is quite safe, properly done. IT WILL KILL YOU DONE WRONG. Don’t be stupid.
7
Suresh Kumar Bista says
February 24, 2019 at 12:41 amDear Mr. Lee Taylor !!
You have summed up this ‘Hand Propping’ technique wonderfully. Enjoyed the article on the SR 71 fleet commander. Ego and pride are two sides of a coin that pilots fail to understand. Thank you very much for your input. Appreciated.
victor kilo says
February 25, 2019 at 2:39 pmOh my!
Mike says
March 16, 2019 at 6:10 amWhat I wouldn’t give to have a couple beers with you! Great stories.
Capt.JPMooney says
February 23, 2019 at 6:21 amI owned a J-3 and hand propped it my self a zillion times, if you know what you are doing it is a safe procedure!
Getty Hough says
February 22, 2019 at 6:57 pmMost of the planes have a carburetor. One of the MOST important thing is to have the fuel off. .I teach light sport in a champ and hand proping is the only way. Properly taught and proprely done it is not poor adm. I strongly feel that the old ways should be learned before we stick our faces in our tablets.
Tim Berg says
February 22, 2019 at 5:19 pmI have done the operation 100’s of times with no problems. That does not mean the next time there won’t be. Kind of like life. Try it on skis and floats! If you are in Alaska flying to remote places you should be very proficient at doing this procedure and doing it alone. “Be prepared” use to be boy scout motto. Learn how to do it and don’t be scared of it as this writer seems to be. Be cautious but not scared if you are don’t do it. Here in Alaska you may be in for a long wait for a new battery or starter.
JimH in CA says
February 22, 2019 at 2:36 pmHand propping an engine can have some very serious consequences.
If the aircraft is fixed gear and the flight is day, vfr, then it is low risk of electrical issues.
If the aircraft has retractable gear , it is likely that the alternator will not be able to supply the current to the gear motor, on take off, causing the alternator to trip and go off-line. The battery will not have much of a recharge so there will be an electrical system failure as well.
If it’s a night or IFR flight, the pilot now has a serious problem.
Jump starting will have the same issues as hand propping.
The best solution is to recharge the battery or replace it with one with 100% capacity.
Doug Buie says
February 22, 2019 at 8:05 amI was a second grader when my dad owned his Interstate. It had no starter and I was instructed to “ switch on or switch off” when instructed. We flew together a lot back then. He would set the throttle and I would handle the switch. When on I would shout “Contact”. So later in life when I was asked to swing the prop on an old Stearman, I wasn’t completely without training. The old spray pilot said it was easy to pull and he handled the controls in the plan. I took my stance at the prop just like dad did. It fired the first time and away he went. Later still I bought a beat up old Tri-Pacer. Still own it after loads of TLC. Landed at a friends grass strip and when it was time to leave, the old battery was dead. I went through all the familiar pricedures but when it fired on the first pull, the throttle was too far open and the plane lurched forward. I managed to climb in and shut it down.
All of this to say. It does everyone good to be prompted occasionally. I now carry a good long rope to tie the tail down. Thanks for a fine article and a great reminder. There will be times when I will need to hand crank it.
Richard Files says
February 22, 2019 at 7:03 amHonest and thought provoking, Jeffrey. I’ve hand propped 20 or so times — thirty years and 3000 hours ago — so it has been a while. Not sure what other circumstances would make the start worth the risk today, but you mention two scenarios I can agree with.
Richard Files says
February 22, 2019 at 6:39 amExcellent article Jeffrey. Written to provoke thought and consideration into the decision making process. I’ve hand propped 20 or so times — thirty years and 3000 hours ago — so it has been a while. Not sure what other circumstances would make the start worth the risk today, but you mention two scenarios I can agree with.
JOHN SWALLOW says
February 22, 2019 at 6:29 am“Hand propping” is a skill that is not without risks. However, those risks can be mitigated. Things like getting proper training, starting with the fuel selected “OFF”, starting with the tail tied down, etc.
I haven’t hand propped an aircraft for decades, but if I had to do so, I still have the procedure tucked away in a mind recess should the occasion ever arise…
JS says
February 22, 2019 at 6:19 amNothing like being lectured about hand propping by someone that has no experience what-so-ever. Then regurgitate a few accident reports. But at least Jeff is honest enough to admit that he has never propped a plane.
This article was about as useful as asking if we should fly planes just because we can, then regurgitate a bunch of NTSB accident reports. After all, we would all be safer if we left our planes safely locked in their hangars.
There is nothing dangerous about hand propping an aircraft IF you know how to do so safely. Personally, I have owned 5 non-electric planes and have hand propped everything from VW engines to R-985s. Rule #1. The person handling the prop is the one that could place himself at risk, so the person at the prop is in charge. Period. Rule #2. Unless you have been properly trained and have significant experience, don’t prop someone else’s plane. His O-470 isn’t the same as the A-65 in your Champ. Rule #3. Understand the ignition system on the engine you are propping. A Lycoming is different from a Continental. Does it have a “shower of Sparks” magneto? Or a “Slick Start” magneto? Is it single or dual impulse? Is it electronic ignition? If so, what type? I find that many pilots don’t know how their planes are equipped, but each of these ignition systems must to be handled differently. Some starters will leave the starter bendix engaged in the ring gear if the engine fails to start. Can you prop it with the starter gear engaged? If so, how? If you don’t know the answer to each of these questions, then you have no business swinging the prop.
Hand propping a plane with a dead battery is often times a tag team operation, and the FAA wants hand propping to always be done with two people, so communications need to be clearly stated and clearly understood. If one of you fails to either communicate or understand the communication, you have a disconnect and need to pause until you both clearly understand.
Jeffrey Madison says
February 25, 2019 at 2:42 pmI appreciate your candor, JS. After reading all these comments, I’ve changed my perspective. I’m now more inclined than ever to learn how to hand-prop an airplane…just in case.
Henry K. Cooper says
February 22, 2019 at 6:09 amMany may disagree with me, but I feel that any active A&P (and many pilots) hishould possess the knowledge and wherewithal to hand prop a GA aircraft. Yes, it is inherently dangerous, but can be successfully accomplished if the proper cautions and techniques are observed. There are times when the only avenue available to get out of a bind is hand propping.