The only 'incident' I've ever heard of for the 'Throttle pre-positioned to just below idle before hitting start switch' method was when a very new-to-turbine engines pilot was partway through the start and had a loud buzzing noise in his headset. He immediately shut off the start switch without shutting off the throttle.
My friend sitting in the copilot seat watched the TOT go through the roof, and later picked up bits of melted engine off the tarmac. Needless to say, pilot was not long with the company
Shawn, would the outcome not have been the same using any of the aforementioned methods?.
I wish Bell would clarify this issue, it seems every company I work for has a different start method, and then every pilot has his/her preferred method. I think just to say "refer to the 212/412 RFM" is unhelpful as this does not tell you 100% which side of the idle stop you are at. Two major companies I've worked for use the full open then back to just below idle stop method and I never heard of any problems. But listening to the reasoning of the alternative methods then the argument seems valid. No wonder there are issues with Hot starts, it can be very confusing for newly rated pilots being shown three different methods.
Of the three methods discussed, the only one that really makes sense to me is the so called "Canadian start". Apart from Shawn's example, does anyone know of any reason that this could not be used as standard?
TS