Originally Posted by
EXDAC
You use the starter more in one start than I would in 5 starts and it seems that's for the same or similar engine. How can you assert that a technique that requires about 10 seconds of cranking is more effective that a technique that requires about 2 seconds of cranking? You offer no justification for the claim of an increase in safety and I believe that claim is nonsense.
13 hours short of 1,000 hours in my PA-28-180 and I consider my starting technique to be well proven. I would only consider using the primer if operating in much colder conditions than I normally operate in.
EXDAC the increase in safety comes from a reduced risk of fire as already pointed out. No one collects stats on carb fires but the engine and aircraft manufacturers have knowledge of them and a few people here discussing this have knowledge of them. Personally with your aircraft I would just use the primer (that's why it's called a primer) but pumping the throttle will work just as well or better under your conditions with little risk. No one is telling you that your technique is not acceptable for starting your aircraft in Arizona.
You on the other hand are suggesting that PilotDAR's technique for starting an engine
consistently in a range of temperatures from Arizona like down to double digits with a minus in front of them while drifting downriver are not as good as your technique.
I have found in aviation that the best results come from knowledge of both the system and the manufacturer's procedures coupled with experience. The problem with pilots finding their own homemade procedures that work under certain conditions is that they do not know the risks of these procedures under different conditions. It's a common cause of accidents.
My Lycoming IO-540 manual has a starting technique that works consistently whether the engine is warm or cold in a wide range of temperatures. Having seen many pilots following their own perfected technique fail to get that engine started in less than perfect conditions I follow this technique with the exception of cold starts on normal temperature days. I have a slightly different technique that works well under those conditions and start the engine faster. 95% of my starts are done this way but I don't go running around telling everyone that I'm smarter than Lycoming and my technique works better. When my partner started flying the aircraft, I taught him the Lycoming technique first and then once he had experience with the engine, taught him the modified technique.