AN-2 cockpit checklist and start

[allyn]

I stumbled across this video on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of9dECU5M3Q

I thought it was kind of interesting....:)

[stevef]

It took me straight back to 1993 (engineer, Zaire) once I heard the inertia starter winding up and the engine clanking into life. I can well remember the bumpy two-hour flights with everything from bags of cement to plastic furniture stuffed into the cabin. We did all sorts of mods to make life easier, like converting to Western flight instruments, using a venturi tube as a vacuum source and cutting a hole in the cockpit roof for an emergency exit/access for when the cabin was full of freight. No problems about paperwork over there! We considered using a calendar instead of an ASI too. :)
There were some neat cockpit features like a chip detector, flying control trim indicator lights and a massive clock. You could also inflate the tyres from a pneumatic reservoir and connect an electric pump for ground fuelling purposes. A good aeroplane but what a ridiculous name - An2 Colt indeed! Carthorse would be more suitable.
Happy days...

[Bigt]

Ah...........Captain Fantastic.......could charm the birds out of the trees:) :)

[GBALU53]

I had the pleasure of flying in the AN2 at the Jersey Air Display last year the two pilots had a more proffesional approach to the start.

Yes it is a very differant way to start a piston engine from the one most of us have flown in the last twenty odd years or so.

[DucatiST4]

What is a chip detector?

[allyn]

What is a chip detector?
It's a sensor that detects metal particles in the engine oil and triggers a warning light.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

They're plainly still loved by some people. At Fowlmere during the Duxford Show in early July I photographed these AN-2s, which appeared to be part of a German aerial invasion for the show:

http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p31437676.html (http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p31437676.html)
http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p31437675.html
http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p31437674.html
http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p31437672.html

[DucatiST4]

It's a sensor that detects metal particles in the engine oil and triggers a warning light.

Many thanks.

[828a]

allyn;
Thanks for for the memory, enjoyed every second of it. He is my kind of pilot and reminded me of days gone by when most of colleagues were just like him. Days before cold water was invented to be poured on everything. Regards,
828a.

[tinpis]

I usda know a pilot just like him but he never wore Nomex

Chip lights

Heard a long time ago a twin turbo prop is waaaaay out over the ocean on a maritime patrol
The pilot radios in he has a chip light on but is monitoring it and is ops normal.
About hour later he calls in that he has a chip light on the OTHER engine what should he do?
Someone in another company aircraft calls up and says
"Can I have yer car?"

:rolleyes:

[barit1]

Inertia starters were fairly common around WWII. The BT-13 had one - fun hearing it again! :ok:

[AlexisDetroit]

The owner of an AN-2 told this a few years ago.

[allyn]

The owner of an AN-2 told this a few years ago.

Yes, I've heard that it's the biggest single too.

I've also been told that the AN-2 is the plane behind Aeroflot's (old) claim of being the worlds largest airline.

[allyn]

Inertia starters were fairly common around WWII. The BT-13 had one - fun hearing it again! :ok:
Until I came across this video, I'd never heard an inertia starter outside of theatrical movies....

[stevef]

Some DC3 (or, more correctly, C47) aircraft I worked on still had inertia starters up until the mid-eighties. Operating the primer, mixture, mags and starter could be a bit of a handful until you got the knack. Your ear told you when the flywheel was running at optimum speed. I remember the geared hand-starting handle too. Sure warmed you up on a cold day.

[AlexisDetroit]

Also. Maybe what I was told about the AN-2 was that it was biggest single engine "bi-plane" ever built rather than the biggest single engine plane.

There was one parked at DET (Detroit City Airport) a few years ago where I spoke with its owner and took a peak inside. From the condition of the AN-2 I don't think I would want to take a spin in it.

[stevef]

Not a dumb question at all.

A simple analogy would be those toy cars that were powered by running the wheels several times over the floor, which wound up a flywheel. The stored energy then drove the wheels.
In aircraft, an electric motor wound up (energised) a flywheel in the starter (several thousand RPM; I forget exactly how many). When sufficient speed was reached (20 or so seconds), the starter drive was meshed, either by a switch or by pulling a lever. This then turned the engine over. If you knew what you were doing with the mags, primer, booster pump, mixture, etc, the engine would fire after a few blades. If not, the procedure had to be repeated as the flywheel's energy had dissipated.

I've heard it said that the Air Tractor is the biggest single-engined aircraft but by my reckoning, the An2 wingspan is greater by almost two feet.

[tinpis]

Most everything had them .
Harvards Beavers DC3 etc.