How to start a 337

[Wayne Pearce]

I quite often fly from airfields with density alt of over 5000' in Australian bush and always approach at near full rich ready for go around and have never had a problem with cylinders or fouled plugs so I thought I should rethink this when reading this thread, this is what I came up with.............

*Always prime cold engine with 60lbs/hr fuel flow for one sec prior to start it will always start burnin & churnin within two revolutions

*Do same at 30lbs/hr with hot engine

*I quite often have to lean on climb above 5 or 6000' to keep the engine "tone" sounding correct

*I "gain control of the MP" and begin to enrichen prior to decent, I enrichen by 50'F before decent and keep it there until the circuit where on final I run nearly full rich depending on circuit density alt, this does not give thermal shock when done slowly

*If go around procedure is UP, UP & UP then I do not want to go from lean & hot upper cylinders to cold (thermal shock) just when I need full power. Saw a P68B damage a Lycoming 360 this way

*Have never had a problem with fouled plugs !!!!!!!!

*If we look at fuel line diameters and flows etc. we see that fuel velocity is around 520 mm/sec all things considered you are not going to heat the fuel appreciably with engine in the cruise getting fuel from a tank that is marginally above ambient because of return fuel

*vapour problems are either caused by low fuel flows & hot engine on the ground or cavitation or extreme temps where the fuel pressure is exceeded by vapour pressure

Hmmmm I am still rethinking my logic here whadya think

regards.............. Wayne