Why it's a good idea to tie down a Champ prior to starting

[jc pacquin]

years ago I watched a dentist hand prop a cardinal (dead battery) then scream "Help me!" !!! as it went round and round with him hanging onto the strut (pilots side) I helped by running for my stearman, starting it and getting the hell away from him! Others, of a more benevolent nature, ran to his aid and got it stopped as it was due to either takeoff by its ownself or wind into a big community hangar with aero commander, bonanza and other high priced stuff. The FBO, a WW2 Corsair driver told him he got the A.H. award for that year, and to beat it and not come back for a couple of weeks. CLOSE CALL! Problem today is that if you ask someone to prop you they get a pussified look and say "Oh my, I wouldn't dare do that ! JC

[jc pacquin]

keep your propeller sharpened too! So that it cuts through the hangar wall neatly.....or thru another aircraft. Don't be messy! Then, like the idiot chick that recently ran a red light and hit my wife in the subaru, be sure and go to pieces and say....."Ohhhhh, I'm so very sorry!"

[joea]

Its one thing to prop a small continental, but a lycoming that has a stuck starter is a whole different animal.

Propping a plane is something to be very careful with. That is a giant meat cleaver out there and unless someone knows what they are doing I stand a long ways back.

Joe A