I'm a swinger now!

Well I have finally done it. After years of reading about and seeing a lot of it on the internet and discussing it on specialist forums on the internet, I have finally done it – yes I am a swinger!

Today I had my first experience of swinging.

Yes, I agreed to go to the airfield to get a few tips and hints from Manuel that might help out on my upcoming trip to Italy. One of the things I particularly wanted to learn was how to ‘hand-start’ the engine if, say the starter motor packer up or if the battery was flat (as has occurred a couple of times in the last few months), this process is also known as ‘hand-swinging’ the propeller.

Well, actually I learned quite a lot more beside. Useful stuff like how to fit the cowling (far from straightforward), how to jack the plane up to change a tire etc. So as Manuel finished the 50 hour service, we pulle3d the plane out to give it a ground run. But first, I had a lot of rehearsal in the hangar on how to hand swing the prop, precisely where the magneto would spark, the commands with the person in the aircraft and most important, how to swing the prop without losing your fingers with kick-back or decapitating yourself by inadvertently leaving sundry parts of your body in the arc of the propeller.



So first off, Manuel did the swinging with me in the cockpit and it fired after about three swings. Then we traded places and I had my turn. I got the sequence and stance right and tried once, nothing, not a sausage. I tried again, nothing. Third time lucky? Nope! Fourth time and by now I realise what hard work this is and wonder if I am doing it right. I do precisely the same thing again and the engine roars obligingly into life. I am of course still moving swiftly away from the propeller due to the swing technique Manuel showed me. Wow! That is so cool! This stuff really works!

OK, so now I know how to do it, of course I hope I never have to, but it is a really useful ‘get you somewhere’ trick if it is needed.

So that’s it – I am now a fully paid up member of the swingers club!

.......What, WHAT – well what did you think I was talking about?

Local

Went for a local to keep my hand in over the weekend. I had planned a couple of landings at local grass airstrips, but put that on hold due to the recent heavy rains and my concerns that the strips may be a bit muddy. The panel-mounted GPS was out getting a new battery fitted, but no matter, I can certainly navigate without a GPS.

The weather was fine for a change, albeit with a slight wind at 040/10, but straight down the 04 runway. In the end I ploughed a familiar route first down the Severn to Chepstow, then up the Wye Valley to Ross, then on up to the Malverns, across to Bredon Hill, south to Bishops Cleeve for a play along the ridge line, then pull up over the ridge for the AYIOS and back to the airfield.

I was mainly concerned with just double checking the metrics and fuel consumption for the power setting I normally use, so that my planning for the upcoming trip to Italy is accurate. If anything (as usual) I have erred on the safe side and assumed a lower airspeed and a higher fuel consumption than I was actually experiencing in flight – this really is quite a fast and slippery airplane! I did notice what another member of the group was reporting, which is that the fuel flow indication on the engine monitoring system we have was occasionally erratic, it was generally showing the usual fuel flow for the engine setting and leaning that I use, but occasionally, it would get erratic and indicate a fuel flow 10-20% higher than usual. This seemed to be cleared by putting the fuel pump on for a few seconds. Manuel, our resident aircraft engineer, says it is a glitch in the read-out and not a ‘real’ event. Worth knowing and I will continue to use for fuel reserves, my normal combination of fuel remaining on the EFIS and the good old-fashioned time flown vs dipped fuel on board at start of flight method.

The flight was good fun, just myself. The plane handles very noticeably different on landing with just one person on board with a much longer float before the stall warner starts to holler. Not something I will have to remember on my tour in Europe as we will be close to MAUW for most of the take-off’s on the trip.