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Old August 24th 05, 02:26 PM
jls
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"Scott" wrote in message
...
jls wrote:

FAA
rules require a person of suitable age and discretion to be at the

controls
when the aircraft is hand-propped.



Good advice, but how is that accomplished these days when the airports
are SO dead that there's beans and corn growing in the terminal building
in the layer of dust on the counter and you're out there by yourself
(like I am 99.5% of the time at my airport) ???

The best way to avoid runaways is to simply use a rope between the
tailspring and a hangar post or fence post or airport tie-down ring.


Yeah, that's safe and legal too. Forrest Barber's T-Craft club even shows
you how to use a snap-shackle when you want to release the rope on the
tailspring -- from the cockpit. And some people install a glider tow. It
may be expensive but a better idea when you consider the consequences of
losing one.

That five-dollar video had a clip of a Cessna 120 getting loose with a
non-pilot girlfriend inside and the engine revved up wide open. An FAA
agent with a video camera just happened to be on the airport when the event
occurred. For a while the aircraft dragged the pilot, who hung on a strut,
in a circle until the ramp had removed some of his shoes, pants and skin.
According to the narrator, the passenger put her foot on one brake pedal,
thinking it controlled both wheels. After a while the wildly careening
aircraft finally dumped the pilot and roared off and slammed into another
airplane and a hangar, iirc. Somebody borrowed that tape and never returned
it. It was like a 3200--- coveted.

I wonder if that gal was ever persuaded to take another airplane ride.

That's a great tape. It even shows some limber-legged guy propping an
Ercoupe with his foot. And one of the narrators is a lady --- a real
looker.