Starboard side of S.E.5a
 

I visited the Australian War Memorial on Thursday and watched a film montage by Peter Jackson of replica S.E. 5s on a big screen...

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/9...6647e02bcd.jpg

In one scene the pilot is vigorously cranking a small wheel on the starboard side of the fuselage while the ground crew are attempting to spin the prop. Had a google looking at S.E 5 images and this is the best I could find but I'm not sure if it's the same in the film...

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6...ernational.jpg

Just thought someone might know what that small "wheel" is for.

Cheers.
Graeme.

It might be for the starting magneto. :\

It is an external tightening device for the pilot's harness (it IS a starting magneto really)

All aircraft with `starting mags` need special attention,as one must only crank them `after` the prop-swingers have cleared the prop arc,as you are sending a continuous stream of sparks,and if you start cranking too early,the engine,especially rotary or radial may well run backwards. Once the engine picks-up,one can then put the normal mag(s)on. It has also been known that the engine,after priming,can fire up by just using the starting mag. It should not be confused with the `impulse `mag.
Bottom-line,= treat all mags as always live....and pilots must keep hands outside the cockpit until starting...

Thanks for the answer/s.

I couldn't find a decent cutaway that explained it. I just guessed that all the controls and magnetos or whatever would be within the cockpit space.

Cheers,
Graeme.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/6022/se5j.jpg

The starting process is well explained here Flying the SE.5a | The Vintage Aviator

Starting is rather easy once the system is learned and as always every aircraft seems to have its own process. In this case, once primed we simply select both magnetos and also select the booster magneto on and keep clear of the prop. Then the pilot winds the booster magneto and if we are lucky the engine comes to life on its own without the need to swing the propeller! If it doesn’t, we must resort to the usual “Armstrong” starter, where the engineer must swing the prop by hand.

Some cars of the era had a similar method of starting.

Clarification: The whole idea of the starting magneto was to avoid the necessity to hand swing the prop, and the inherent dangers so attached.