Blumlein's Plane Crash

[Richard_FM]

A lot of later single piston engined planes had problems with the amount of torque the propellers generated, especially the ones flown from aircraft carriers.

Some had contra-rotating twin propellers to balance out the torque, but these were a little complex & jets were becoming available so they weren't that common.

[Amie]

Another simplex chain drive jobbie, not a bitsa but genuine Fiat-built, all 28 litres...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eToHTf-QUBA

Absolutely mental!

I love the lurch as the engine starts, from standstill, by sparking the appropriate cylinder after setting past TDC

A friend of a friend has a Ford 'T' flatbed truck that he starts by altering the ignition timing control, learned the technique from watching the actor Stan Laurel start a similar model in one of the Laurel and Hardy films.

Mum followed him one day along the Norwich southern bypass, even that old thing could do nearly 70mph... (The model T, not mum )

[peter scott]

I love the lurch as the engine starts, from standstill, by sparking the appropriate cylinder after setting past TDC

The Beast of Turin is incredible! Four cylinders, each one 7 litres. Top gear 128 mph/1000 rpm.

Peter

[Radio Fixer]

And for a truly beautiful build:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AKCnIO2QeM

Gary

[BusyBee]

Another simplex chain drive jobbie, not a bitsa but genuine Fiat-built, all 28 litres...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eToHTf-QUBA

Absolutely mental!

I love the lurch as the engine starts, from standstill, by sparking the appropriate cylinder after setting past TDC

A friend of a friend has a Ford 'T' flatbed truck that he starts by altering the ignition timing control, learned the technique from watching the actor Stan Laurel start a similar model in one of the Laurel and Hardy films.

Mum followed him one day along the Norwich southern bypass, even that old thing could do nearly 70mph... (The model T, not mum )

A manual ignition timing control was standard on many old vehicles, as were valve lifters (at least on many motorcycles). All of these things are automatic these days. Even the choke has disappeared. I suspect the result of trying to start a Ford T with the ignition timing setting wrong may be a broken wrist or similar. I do remember seeing the odd bikers attempting to start old British single cylinder bikes. The result of the timing being out could well be a good kickback on the kickstarter. They did appear to be good for building up leg muscles lol

[Amie]

Hi Tracy.

The technique I didn't explain well is to swing the engine over with the starting handle with the ignition switched off to prime the cylinders with fuel, then jump in and switch the ignition on and move the advance and retard lever back and forth to create a spark, if you've left the engine in just the right place and with a bit of luck there's a pop and the engine will run... I've only ever driven an old tractor... Which is nothing like a modern car, but the T Ford controls are totally different... All old tech facinates me, but I think I'll not be rushing out and buying a ninety year old motor car when I pass my test, (though someone else I know owns a 1955 Daimler that I would love to drive )

[peter scott]

My old 1939 car (on the right) is remarkably easy to start on the handle any time I've needed to do it although you can only swing one compression at a time. A few years back I helped a friend with his 1920 Varley Woods and had to get used to a totally different technique. It had a very heavy flywheel and very low compressions so you had to wind it up with continuous turns of the handle slowly building up revs and eventually it would burst into life.



Peter

[Kalee20]

The technique... is to swing the engine over with the starting handle with the ignition switched off to prime the cylinders with fuel, then jump in and switch the ignition on and move the advance and retard lever back and forth to create a spark, if you've left the engine in just the right place and with a bit of luck there's a pop and the engine will run...

The early Ford T's had a continuous trembler interrupter driving a separate coil for each cylinder, so you got a shower of sparks rather than just a single spark, no doubt helping.

The technique also eliminated the chance of a broken thumb or wrist, if you got things wrong and it kicked backwards, you didn't have your hand on the handle so no injury caused.

I've read that Rolls Royce recommended this method for starting the Silver Ghost...

[BusyBee]

Hi Tracy.

The technique I didn't explain well is to swing the engine over with the starting handle with the ignition switched off to prime the cylinders with fuel, then jump in and switch the ignition on and move the advance and retard lever back and forth to create a spark, if you've left the engine in just the right place and with a bit of luck there's a pop and the engine will run... I've only ever driven an old tractor... Which is nothing like a modern car, but the T Ford controls are totally different... All old tech facinates me, but I think I'll not be rushing out and buying a ninety year old motor car when I pass my test, (though someone else I know owns a 1955 Daimler that I would love to drive )

Hi Amie,

I was sort of getting the general gist of what you said. I can see from the further posts that it is a little ouside my understanding too. From what I understand the Model T Ford is tricky anyway as the pedals are changed around from modern standards although I don't know if they are all that way.

Your talk of an old tractor brought back a memory of my brother and his friend on the farm one day. They were on one of the old grey Fergusons and managed to start it. These have a hand throttle and they also got it in gear. It started progressing down the field and they were terrified but a workman managed to run up and stop it. My brother and friend were probably only around 5 at the time. H & S in those days (not so long ago) lol. My last experience was when I was out with my dad collecting firewood. He had left the tractor standing on the road with engine running and out of gear. It started rolling as the road was on a slight incline. I managed to run over and jump in but, although I had driven a tractor years ago when working in school holidays on the farm, a modern tractor has a mass of pedals and other levers for different things. It was lucky I had time to think as is took a second or two to find the right one lol

Tracy