More on the Hucks starter I described in an earlier entry. One of the aircraft at the Pima Air & Space Museum, a Japanese WWII fighter, used this starting method. When I was at the museum today I took a photo of the prop spinner so you could see the boss they’d hook the Hucks starter to in order to crank the engine.
Hucks starter boss on a Nakajima KI-43-IIB Hayabusa (Falcon) at the Pima Air & Space Museum (photo: Paul Woodford)
As I mentioned before, the Japanese used Hucks starters well into WWII, as did the Soviets. Here’s a vintage photo of a Japanese Hucks starter unit used to crank then engines of medium bombers.
Isuzu Hucks starter with Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” medium bomber
If you, like me, can’t get enough Hucks, click here. Warning: link contains serious gearhead pR0n; don’t say I didn’t warn you!
© 2012, Paul Woodford. All rights reserved.
