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dean.psiropoulos(at)veriz
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 Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:13 pm Post subject: Sensenich Composite Prop |
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A friend who is a corporate pilot and uses his RV-6A to commute to work was
the fortunate person who got to do the testing of this new prop (on his 160
Lycoming). Early on there were some serious issues that it looks like
Sensenich has (mostly) solved. One of those issues was that the leading
edge had a tendency to erode in rain and that was supposed to be fixed by
installing a metal overlay that covers the material around and about a
quarter inch back from leading edge. When I stopped to visit Ed last
Saturday, I was looking at the prop and noticed that some of the surface of
what looks like a resin top coat (that extends just slightly above the
surface of the leading edge metal overlay about 1/16th inch) had chipped off
behind the metal overlay in a few places.
I didn't get a chance to ask Ed what had caused that so I don't know what
his thoughts are on it. Ed does fly the RV-6A day/night in all kinds of
weather and through the heavy afternoon Florida summer downpours and, he was
getting tired of worrying about the leading edges of the wood prop he was
using (didn't want to have to detour around heavy weather when he had to be
at work ASAP). The prop was still on the airplane and he was obviously still
flying it that way so it's not a structural issue (the only way I can think
to describe it is if there had been a buildup of "bondo" behind the leading
edge metal overlay and rain or some other substance had struck the edge of
the "bondo" (that stuck up just behind the metal overlay) and just chipped
the "bondo" away from the surface of the blade about 1/4 in back from the
metal overlay and about 1/4 inch wide in a few places). The blade structure
did not look compromised to me but, had I spent $3500.00 on that prop (and
it's asthetically a beautiful looking prop) only to have some of the blade
surface resin chip away, I would not be too happy about it. This resin to
which I'm referring to may just be a very thick coat of epoxy paint but the
chipping still ruins the asthetics of the prop when you look at it up close,
something I'm sure their customers would not be happy about in any case.
Sensenich also makes a smaller version of this prop that is used on the
Rotax 912 (100HP) engines. Tampa Bay Aerosports installs this prop on their
Revo weight shift trikes that they sell and I know some folks that own these
trikes. They had returned one the blades to Sensenich for some work due to
some of the resin chipping off similar to what I described above. Last I
talked to them they had flown with the repaired blade for several hours only
to have the problem recur (I inspected that blade and it looked a bit more
serious like maybe a rock had struck the blade the second time so it may not
have been a faulty repair, I won't know until I talk to them again).
Obviously an issue like this resin chipping is not something one would want
to have occur very often. The good part is that, IT IS Sensenich and they
make these in Plant City Florida so if you live in the USA it will be a lot
less inconvenient than sending an MT prop back to Germany. But, it would
mean having the airplane not flyable for a few weeks while the prop is
repaired and that's not something we all want to happen often.
As far as the performance of the prop, Ed has great things to say about
that, he loves it. Smooth, light and easy to adjust for the performance
you want and he says it performs a lot like a CS prop without all the weight
and complexity. So if they get this chipping resin problem solved I may
have to consider one myself.
Before I get the Plant City folks too ticked off at me though, let me
recommend their metal RV props. I've been using their FP metal prop on a 180
HP RV-6A for several years and I love it. Yes it's a little heavier than
wood or composite (40Lbs vs about 15 for wood and its mounting hardware) but
it is very robust and even though it's a cruise prop that doesn't give me
full RPM for takeoff, that's not an issue with extra power the RV has. Also,
if you are going to fly with two people and baggage for long trips, you
might need that extra weight up front to avoid weight and balance issues. I
had considered composite and Hartzell CS props while building the RV and
just couldn't justify spending the money when FP RVs have more than adequate
power available for takeoff. Sure if you are flying out of a high altitude
short strip, you might need every ounce of power you'd get from a CS
installation but, very rarely and, I'd rather put the $3-5 thousand extra
dollars in the gas tank and have that much more flying time. The MT props
are beautiful smooth and light but, aside from the cost to purchase, having
to remove them for maintenance and send them to Germany at great expense at
fairly regular intervals makes even less sense than buying a Hartzell CS.
Just one RV guy's opinion, consider what you paid for it.
Dean Psiropoulos
RV-6A 197DM
3+ years of flying fun
________________________________ Original Message
_____________________________________
From: "charlie" <cheathco(at)cox.net>
Subject: Ground adjustable composit prop for RV's
Sensenich will begin deliveries next month. Wondering if anyone with
o-320 (which is what they are made for) is, or would consider installing
one? Charlie H
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flying-nut(at)cfl.rr.com
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:06 am Post subject: Sensenich Composite Prop |
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FYI .... MT is located on Deland FL airport .... next to the Gin Mill
restaurant.
Linn
On 2/4/2013 2:12 AM, DEAN PSIROPOULOS wrote:
| Quote: |
A friend who is a corporate pilot and uses his RV-6A to commute to work was
the fortunate person who got to do the testing of this new prop (on his 160
Lycoming). Early on there were some serious issues that it looks like
Sensenich has (mostly) solved. One of those issues was that the leading
edge had a tendency to erode in rain and that was supposed to be fixed by
installing a metal overlay that covers the material around and about a
quarter inch back from leading edge. When I stopped to visit Ed last
Saturday, I was looking at the prop and noticed that some of the surface of
what looks like a resin top coat (that extends just slightly above the
surface of the leading edge metal overlay about 1/16th inch) had chipped off
behind the metal overlay in a few places.
I didn't get a chance to ask Ed what had caused that so I don't know what
his thoughts are on it. Ed does fly the RV-6A day/night in all kinds of
weather and through the heavy afternoon Florida summer downpours and, he was
getting tired of worrying about the leading edges of the wood prop he was
using (didn't want to have to detour around heavy weather when he had to be
at work ASAP). The prop was still on the airplane and he was obviously still
flying it that way so it's not a structural issue (the only way I can think
to describe it is if there had been a buildup of "bondo" behind the leading
edge metal overlay and rain or some other substance had struck the edge of
the "bondo" (that stuck up just behind the metal overlay) and just chipped
the "bondo" away from the surface of the blade about 1/4 in back from the
metal overlay and about 1/4 inch wide in a few places). The blade structure
did not look compromised to me but, had I spent $3500.00 on that prop (and
it's asthetically a beautiful looking prop) only to have some of the blade
surface resin chip away, I would not be too happy about it. This resin to
which I'm referring to may just be a very thick coat of epoxy paint but the
chipping still ruins the asthetics of the prop when you look at it up close,
something I'm sure their customers would not be happy about in any case.
Sensenich also makes a smaller version of this prop that is used on the
Rotax 912 (100HP) engines. Tampa Bay Aerosports installs this prop on their
Revo weight shift trikes that they sell and I know some folks that own these
trikes. They had returned one the blades to Sensenich for some work due to
some of the resin chipping off similar to what I described above. Last I
talked to them they had flown with the repaired blade for several hours only
to have the problem recur (I inspected that blade and it looked a bit more
serious like maybe a rock had struck the blade the second time so it may not
have been a faulty repair, I won't know until I talk to them again).
Obviously an issue like this resin chipping is not something one would want
to have occur very often. The good part is that, IT IS Sensenich and they
make these in Plant City Florida so if you live in the USA it will be a lot
less inconvenient than sending an MT prop back to Germany. But, it would
mean having the airplane not flyable for a few weeks while the prop is
repaired and that's not something we all want to happen often.
As far as the performance of the prop, Ed has great things to say about
that, he loves it. Smooth, light and easy to adjust for the performance
you want and he says it performs a lot like a CS prop without all the weight
and complexity. So if they get this chipping resin problem solved I may
have to consider one myself.
Before I get the Plant City folks too ticked off at me though, let me
recommend their metal RV props. I've been using their FP metal prop on a 180
HP RV-6A for several years and I love it. Yes it's a little heavier than
wood or composite (40Lbs vs about 15 for wood and its mounting hardware) but
it is very robust and even though it's a cruise prop that doesn't give me
full RPM for takeoff, that's not an issue with extra power the RV has. Also,
if you are going to fly with two people and baggage for long trips, you
might need that extra weight up front to avoid weight and balance issues. I
had considered composite and Hartzell CS props while building the RV and
just couldn't justify spending the money when FP RVs have more than adequate
power available for takeoff. Sure if you are flying out of a high altitude
short strip, you might need every ounce of power you'd get from a CS
installation but, very rarely and, I'd rather put the $3-5 thousand extra
dollars in the gas tank and have that much more flying time. The MT props
are beautiful smooth and light but, aside from the cost to purchase, having
to remove them for maintenance and send them to Germany at great expense at
fairly regular intervals makes even less sense than buying a Hartzell CS.
Just one RV guy's opinion, consider what you paid for it.
Dean Psiropoulos
RV-6A 197DM
3+ years of flying fun
________________________________ Original Message
_____________________________________
From: "charlie" <cheathco(at)cox.net>
Subject: Ground adjustable composit prop for RV's
Sensenich will begin deliveries next month. Wondering if anyone with
o-320 (which is what they are made for) is, or would consider installing
one? Charlie H
-----
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http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List |
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