[DeTomaso] NPC:: How to start your airplane with a dead battery

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/11/13 3:29:07 PM, michaelsavga at gmail.com writes:

> What was the deal with using shotgun shell type cartridges like in the 
> film Flight of the Phoenix with Jimmy Stewart?
> 
Cartridge-starters use the explosion's gasses to spin the crank. They were 
in fact a substitute for 3 sailors & a bungee but there were places where 
the shells weren't always available; at best were a one-use-only while a 
bungee lasted for years. Diesel trucks used cartridge-starters in the '50s & 
'60s. In my Michigan home town, our across-the-street neighbor sometimes fired 
up his 18-wheeler on cold winter mornings with a cartridge-starter; sounded 
just like a rifle shot (also not unusual in our rural deer-infested area....) 
Cheers- J Deryke