and it almost kills you......

No One taught him how to hand prop!!!!

.

My neighbor (8 miles away) did that in the 1970's , he strapped his 4 year old son in the passenger seat , primed the engine , switched mags on , and then hand propped it .

Either he forgot to make sure the throttle was at idle or his kid moved it , anyway it was at full throttle , started rolling and knocked the pilot to the ground and the plane proceeded to skim the ground for almost 1/2 mile until it got caught up in a thicket of willow trees.

Turns out no one was hurt but the dad said he nearly died of a heart attack when he watched the plane lift off a few feet , and when he caught up to the plane he said his kid was laughing and happy and wanted to do it all again

The kid grew up , became a pilot , and now runs a busy A&P shop at the same airport. CJR5

a friend of mine almost got chopped in two while propping an old AgWagon that he and a partner were using for banner towing. He went to prop it and it also was at full throttle with a guy in the cockpit who didn't know what he was doing apparently. It moved forward and chopped him at the shoulder twice as it moved and nearly severed his arm off and sliced him very deeply at the shoulder/collar bone. Took him several years to heal up after that and he no longer flies anything. I have been trained but I don't think i'll ever try to do that.

Easier to ask when I wasn't?

To hand prop, it is better to be behind the prop with one hand on the cowl and stepping back as you pull it thru.

I always hand started my gyros from the side in front of the prop (being pusher) with my left hand with a firm grip on the motor to help balance and push myself away ..... but I always make sure I know EXACTLY where the throttle is set.... and either chock the wheels or tether the back so it cant roll away.... I watched a guy with a VW Bensen hand start and the machine ran across the airstrip and into some trees.... the front rotor (tied) dug in and bent naturally, then the back blade came down and wrecked itself and the wood prop

Over here, it is against the regs to start or hand prop any aircraft without someone who knows how to stop the motor etc.... it was unavoidable for me tho sometimes.... when with friends and other gyro people it is no issue, but when I landed somewhere with no one around, I just had to be careful.

Waddles from ASRA lost part of a finger and damaged his hand on the prop of his RafTor

It can happen.... happen fast and props don't say sorry