Test Running Engines (or how not too)

[from the January-February 2001 newsletter]

by Jim Parks [slightly edited to remove names of the innocent]

Safety First

This was related to me by club member from a local hobby store. It seems as that he had this customer come in that had some engines he had purchased at the swap meet and wanted an assessment if they were any good. The club member looked them over and gave him his opinion of the condition of them and explained to him the only real way to know would be to run them, but to use extreme care in doing so. Above all, the customer was to make sure he either mounted them on an aircraft or a test stand for safety. WELL, it seems the customer went home and tied or attached a fuel tank to the rear of the engine and proceeded to run it by holding it in his hand. Well, it was going pretty good till the engine began to get hot and bum his hand. NOW what to do to stop it! He decided to throw it into a pile of clothing on the floor. It didn't work as he had planned. The weight of the fuel tank flipped the engine around and it came straight back in his face. He threw up his hands to protect his face so now both his face and his hands are all cut up.

[The moral of this story is obvious: CLAMP IT DOWN! -- engines with spinning propellers are potentially dangerous and when disaster strikes, things happen too quickly to react]