If you're properly trained at propping, it is not 'kinda dicy.' It is, like landing, a procedure in which one must be trained and observe the correct checklists. Like landing, if either of the above are not done, you can get hurt.
On the other hand, improvisational methods, like dragging a battery over, balancing it somewhere, dealing with 'hot' 12-volt cables around highly conductive aluminum, and disconnecting everything on an airplane where the saw-blade is just waiting for you to walk into it is all new. It has little procedure, no established routine, no agreement about who does what and on what command. It's basically new and unfamiliar ground. The perfect set-up for an accident. Given the trade-offs on hassles, dismantling, and all that stuff, and given that it's a nice, easy-starting Continental C-series, and given someone who knows what 'brakes and hot' means, I'll give her a twist any day. Now if you don't know exactly what you're doing (i.e., if you haven't been trained) don't hand-prop. If you're flying behind a C-series, it's a real good idea[TM] to get that training, because chances are the occasion will arise, with a high degree of temptation to do it anyway. Greg
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