Fema Electric Onboard Starter

With the electric on-board starter, you can start the internal combustion engine easily and hassle-free right from the transmitter! This proven, robust, and affordable on-board starter is available for all standard 6.5-, 10-, and 15-cc engines, as well as for the Quadra. It can be easily installed not only in model airplanes but also in model boats and cars.

Power is transmitted from the starter motor to the internal combustion engine’s crankshaft via a flexible shaft/cardan shaft, a gear reduction, and a precision freewheel mounted on the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. When the internal combustion engine is running, the one-way clutch disengages the engine from the transmission. The resulting friction loss is only approximately 0.004 PS at 15,000 rpm.

A high-performance electric motor with a gearbox is used as the starter motor. The flexible shaft/cardan shaft can be shortened as needed. This makes it possible to install the starter motor inside the model without any alignment work, depending on center-of-gravity or space requirements.

The on-board starter is controlled via two microswitches actuated by a servo. Compared to an electronic control unit, this provides greater operational reliability; the fuel mixture can be remotely controlled without additional effort,

and the glow plug can be activated independently of the starter motor.

The starter is powered by an NC battery. The glow plug is powered separately by an NC cell (not required for Quadra).

This enables the following sequence of operations:

1. The servo switches to preheating (at the same time, the mixture is set to the richest setting).
2. The same servo is also used to engage the starter motor until the internal combustion engine is idling.
3. Disengage the starter, but continue preheating so the engine does not stall when you apply throttle.
4. Apply full throttle.
5. Once the engine has revved up, adjust the mixture to the optimal setting (turn off the glow plug).
6. During the landing approach with the engine throttled back, you can use pre-glow as a safety measure while maintaining a rich mixture setting to prevent the internal combustion engine from stalling.

It is also possible to connect the preheat and starter battery to the model externally via a plug rather than installing it inside the model. This configuration results in significant weight savings. Another option is to carry only the preheat battery in the model. This allows you to preheat at any time during the landing approach. The electrical kit includes all the necessary parts for every operating mode, as well as detailed wiring diagrams.

Our goal was to make both the initial installation in a new model and the retrofit into an existing model as simple as possible.

Thanks to the milled mounting rails, any standard engine mount can be used with 6.5- to 15-cc engines. Installing the on-board starter in conjunction with the engine rear panel mounting is particularly straightforward.

For the Quadra, we offer an engine mount that includes all the necessary holes and threads.