They had plenty of figs for energy. - DeepFriedJello
Those were dates they were eating.
Those are the headlines. Now for the rumors behind the news. - Firesign Theatre

They had plenty of figs for energy.

doesnt make sense to me either. How would that little shell turn a huge prop.
I did some reading on the Coffman starter, and it was apparently very effective and reliable, so I guess we have to go on faith that it does indeed work.
And the engergy of the men seems out of place since they have been in the desert for so long and working hard.
Yeah, after that much time with little food, water and probably little rest, they surely did do a fancy jig when the engine fired. I guess we can say it was a last spurt of adrenaline.
It is bad to drink Jobu's rum. Very bad.

doesnt make sense to me either. How would that little shell turn a huge prop. And the engergy of the men seems out of place since they have been in the desert for so long and working hard.

i was wondering how the force from the shell is transmitted from the little ashtray thing he put it in, down to the engine in such a way that it turns it

The other aspect of this is that once the engine is started everyone including Towns and Lew jumps for joy, however they aren't even off the ground, and they didn't have much faith in the "toy plane designer".
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood (;-p)

agreed, the standard way of clearing a flooded engine is choke all the way ope, throttle all the way open. the low charge velocity will not pull any additinal fuel from the carbutors, and clear the excess fuel. on old radials, they sometimes induced a backfire to clear excess carbon or a fouled plug. i always assumed thats what townes was doing, but i have no experience with radial engines, so i can`t comment on the procedure.
lou