Other hobby..

[sdurnal]

There was some discussion in another part of this forum about watching out for fingers around rotating fan blades. So, I thought this was the best place to show the blades associated with my other hobby. This is an 18" prop that occasionally reaches 15,000 rpm. We do start them by hand, but prefer electric starters on a thumper this big. It's a four stroke over head valve engine about 2.5 hp burning alcohol, nitro, and castor. The plane itself is a 1/4 scale Super Decathlon with an 89" wingspan. The bears in the cockpit were flown around the world in an effort to cheer a very ill member of a forum much like this one.
Unfortunately they were lost in Australia. There are occasional prop bites, so you learn to follow a strict safety code.

[grumpy]

Nice. I've always enjoyed watching the model folks displaying their skills. Grump

[Mike in Louisiana]

Prop bites?? That looks like it could take your hand off at the wrist if your not careful.

[sdurnal]

I respect the prop, for sure...It can barely be seen when running. Painting the tips white helps..
Regards,
Stan

P.S. I don't know why I just saw the response, Mike!

[BigBill]

my dad made a hand wind up starter for these but he never patented it. You wound it up and put it into two slots on the nose cone and pulled the trigger it would rotate the engine and start it and the two drivers would leave the slots as the prop spun. We used it on all the bigger engines at the time.