STARTING THE ANSON
by Wal Bowles
| There were
several unusual happenings while flying Anson aircraft on oil survey
work. I was fortunate in having Bill Mitchell as the crew’s engineer
on most occasions. Bill is an exceptional engineer, with an exceptional
sense of humour. He knew his aircraft extremely well and, with VH-AGA,
which had no starter motors and would normally rely on a hand wound
inertia starter, Bill had his own method. To my recollection he
never used the inertia starter. He instructed me in the way he wanted
the engine controls set up, then he would prime the engine by pulling
the propeller blades through, finally backing the prop against a
cylinder compression. With a thumbs up signal to me in the cockpit,
I would then operate the booster coil, which would send a shower
of sparks into the cylinder with the piston just past top dead centre
on the compression stroke, which Bill had carefully set up, and
the engine fired immediately! Brilliant! Wal Bowles 11th February 2003 |