Garry Stout wrote:
>
> I was sitting on the loo this morning, reading my favorite aviation
> magazine when I read a warning about "never maneuvering an airplane around
> on the ground by pulling or pushing on the prop". For the past 2 1/2 years
> that's how I've been moving my Europa around, and that's how I see other
> Europa owners moving theirs around too. Actually, I don't have any ideas
> how I would move the plane around if I couldn't use the prop. Does anyone
> know why we're not supposed to do this? What kind of damage could arise?
> Are Rotax powered Europas exempt from this warning because the prop is
> attached to a gear reduction box instead of directly to the engine
> crankshaft?
It's not just the gear reduction, but the "mags" on the Rotax ain't
really mags, but CDI's like on your car which, unlike your car, need X
RPM on the internal alternator (and CDI's ungrounded - switch on) just
to achieve a spark. With a Lycoming with Slick mags, and unlucky
enough to have the key on or a bad P-lead, AND the prop just so to
clank the impulse coupling, now that's a problem. But even there the
safety trick is to carefully make sure you're not in a compression
stroke, and don't turn the prop whilst pushin/pullin (on the shank of
course). Important, as here in the US, the HMO's no longer give you
the parrot for the shoulder when they install the Cap'n Hook
prosthesis for the arm you'll lose.
Regards,
Fred F, A063
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