Starting up a German WWII Fighter Plane - GIF

Starting up a German WWII fighter plane.

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Previously:

Disarming a WW2 German mine - video
Homebuilt East Germany escape aircraft - photo
Raising WWII German submarine U534 - videos
WWII German amphibious tank - photo
WWII German rail ambulance - GIF
WWII German rescue buoy - photos
WWII German underground aircraft factory - photo
WWII Mustang strafing a German position - GIF
WWII bomb explosion at German farm - photo

Winding up the rubber band!

What exactly are they spinning up? Something like a flywheel? Or a magneto to charge a capacitor or something?

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Originally Posted by thevillageinn

What exactly are they spinning up? Something like a flywheel? Or a magneto to charge a capacitor or something?

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Inertia starter. The crank spins a heavy flywheel up to a certain rpm, then the pilot throws a lever to connect the flywheel to the engine. It was also used on German tanks at the time. They called it "schwungmasse" or something similar.