Engine Numbering

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Found this today....

http://www.kensmen.com/b24how.html
"NOW THE ENGINES CAN BE STARTED
Engines are started in the order: 3, 4, 2, and 1. They are started in this order, which is from inboard to outboard, so that the Engineer does not have to walk through or toward a moving propeller when standing by with the portable fire extinguisher. The No. 3 Engine is started first because it has the only hydraulic pump attached to it.
 
correct the engine that supplies hydraulic and electric is the first and after that it was up to the guy on the ground and most probably he was smart and took the path of least work like we all strive to do
 
pbfoot said:
correct the engine that supplies hydraulic and electric is the first and after that it was up to the guy on the ground and most probably he was smart and took the path of least work like we all strive to do

Yep! That's me!
 
Yeap that sounds about right. Thats why we start the APU (Auxilary Power Unit, it is basically a small Turbine Engine that gets things going) first becuase it powers the AC Power and gets the hydrualic pumps running and avionix working. Then we start the Number 2 engine and then the Number 1 engine. Once both engines are online, we turn off the APU.
 
We started #3 on the B-17 as well. However, before the start we rotated the propellers counter clockwise three revolutions on each engine to clear the oil that had settled in the lower cylinder. Even then the #3 started with a belch of black smoke.
 
Thanks for the back-up link Joe. If nothing new gets posted for a while, I go to the members page and just follow the robots around; a great way to explore the site but I find a lot of dead links and non-existent photos
 

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