Originally Posted by
dixi188
IIRC the Viscount 700s had hydraulic pumps on the outboard engines and the 800s had them on the inboards. Not sure if that affected the start sequence, but when taxiing in the 700s used 1 and 4 and the 800s used 2 and 3.
Electra (not British) always started no 4 first as that was the only engine with a 2 speed gearbox for the generator, so that all ground equipment could be removed, (GPU and air start), before up shifting to crossbleed start the other engines.
Not all 700's - only the very early 701's of BEA and 708's of Air France had the pumps on the outers I believe. They'd routinely shut down the inners when taxiing in rather than the more usual outers.