Originally Posted by
maxred
SSD, a Cessna 172, hand swung from the rear, is, well nigh on impossible.
Well by now the OP is probably long gone but as others have noted the thread is still interesting. Anyway I have hand propped C 172's many times, including one on floats.
Like SSD I prop them from the back. You can use your left hand to hold on to the cowl mounted refueling handle and the right arm to swing. The trick is to load the cylinders with the primer and then they will often go on the first flick. You don't have to be superman either as I once taught a 95 lb women how to do it.
With the small Chinese radials you don't even need to hand prop them as you pull through while priming to get a good mixture in the cylinders and then position the prop at the right spot a cylinder will fire as soon as you activate the shower of sparks. Doesn't work on the MP14, unfortunately, unless it has the Chinese mags.