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Propeller Choices

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barryjedwards(at)lineone.
Guest

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:42 am Post subject: Propeller Choices

Hi Brian,

  

 Iâ€™d be interested to hear what Arplast have to say about maintenance of an  â€˜oldâ€™ PV50. Mine is getting on for 15 years old and must have around 600 hours  on it now. No problems at all with it since all the early problems were ironed  out (mine was a very early model) but it would be nice to hear what they have to  say. The UK distributer closed down a few years ago so there is no direct  support (that I know of) in the UK.

  

 Barry

 G-XPXP Taildragger, 1040 hrs

    

  From: Brian Anderson (briana(at)xtra.co.nz) 

 Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 7:56 PM

 To: pulsar-list(at)matronics.com (pulsar-list(at)matronics.com) 

 Subject: Re: Propellor Choices

  



 -->  Pulsar-List message posted by: Brian Anderson  <briana(at)xtra.co.nz>



Hi Bill,



I also have the PV50. It's done  about 460 hours now [12 years old] and I have been wondering about the life. I  remember reading in some of the early Arplast documentation [ - - very limited]  that the nominal life was 500 hours. It's a great prop, and I agree about the  performance improvements being able to adjust the pitch in flight.



Some  time ago I also had a motor failure. The motor just wouldn't start and move in  one direction. I talked to Arplast and they sold me an "improved" motor. No  troubles since. Each annual I open the prop hub, clean out any hardened grease  and re-grease. In fact I did that yesterday, and checked the operation. All is  OK. The new motor was supplied with the lead screw and bearing. The old bearing  was a bit rough and lumpy too. In the meantime I had purchased a replacement  bearing locally anyhow. It is a standard [metric] size and was easy to  find.



I can't imagine the lead screw stripping. It is fairly  substantial.



I was about to write an email to Arplast to ask about the  life, and any particular maintenance that might be necessary. If I need to think  about a new prop I would still think seriously about the Arplast  again.



Brian

On 23/10/2012, at 1:50 AM, Bill Landucci  <bill.landucci(at)tds.net> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   --> Pulsar-List message  posted by: Bill Landucci <bill.landucci(at)tds.net>

 

 Hello  All,

 

 I've been flying N168TM (Pulsar III - 912ULS) for almost  ten years with the Arplast PV50. The plane is ready for a new prop. What are  folks using these days with Pulsars? I must admit that the simplicity of a fixed  pitch prop is appealing, but I'm afraid I may have gotten used to the in-flight  adjustable's ability to optimize for climb and cruise.

 

 During  the last flight the pitch motor failed to adjust the prop pitch. This time the  electric motor is spinning freely so I suspect a stripped lead screw. In past  years I've had that happen one other time, plus two failed electric pitch  motors. Fortuntately the failure mode is always the same - pitch is stuck where  you last had it. So as long as pitch range is limited to safe flight you're  okay, but it does make the cross country longer when top speed is 110mph due to  engine rpm.

 

 If anyone has old Arplast parts I'd consider  buying. But something completely different might be the best solution at this  point.

 

 Bill

 

 

 

  p;        Navigator  Photoshare, and  p;        the Web  ========================<;   generous  bsp;                     


	






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briana(at)xtra.co.nz
Guest

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 12:54 pm Post subject: Propeller Choices

Hi Barry,



I received a brief reply overnight. Arplast now say that there is no limited life.

Laetitia, whom I have spoken to briefly in the past, provided some additional maintenance information. Unfortunately it is a .jpg  copy and in French, so it is not easy to translate automatically. As far as I can determine there is nothing particularly new about the information, so provided we continue to grease the bearings and lead screw it should all be OK.

I will send the .jpg information separately. Maybe your French language skills are better than mine, so if you see anything useful perhaps you can advise.

Brian.



On 23/10/2012, at 8:41 AM, Barry J Edwards <barryjedwards(at)lineone.net (barryjedwards(at)lineone.net)> wrote:

[quote]    Hi Brian,

  

 I’d be interested to hear what Arplast have to say about maintenance of an  ‘old’ PV50. Mine is getting on for 15 years old and must have around 600 hours  on it now. No problems at all with it since all the early problems were ironed  out (mine was a very early model) but it would be nice to hear what they have to  say. The UK distributer closed down a few years ago so there is no direct  support (that I know of) in the UK.

  

 Barry

 G-XPXP Taildragger, 1040 hrs

    

  From: Brian Anderson (briana(at)xtra.co.nz) 

 Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 7:56 PM

 To: pulsar-list(at)matronics.com (pulsar-list(at)matronics.com) 

 Subject: Re: Propellor Choices

  



 -->  Pulsar-List message posted by: Brian Anderson  <briana(at)xtra.co.nz (briana(at)xtra.co.nz)>



Hi Bill,



I also have the PV50. It's done  about 460 hours now [12 years old] and I have been wondering about the life. I  remember reading in some of the early Arplast documentation [ - - very limited]  that the nominal life was 500 hours. It's a great prop, and I agree about the  performance improvements being able to adjust the pitch in flight.



Some  time ago I also had a motor failure. The motor just wouldn't start and move in  one direction. I talked to Arplast and they sold me an "improved" motor. No  troubles since. Each annual I open the prop hub, clean out any hardened grease  and re-grease. In fact I did that yesterday, and checked the operation. All is  OK. The new motor was supplied with the lead screw and bearing. The old bearing  was a bit rough and lumpy too. In the meantime I had purchased a replacement  bearing locally anyhow. It is a standard [metric] size and was easy to  find.



I can't imagine the lead screw stripping. It is fairly  substantial.



I was about to write an email to Arplast to ask about the  life, and any particular maintenance that might be necessary. If I need to think  about a new prop I would still think seriously about the Arplast  again.



Brian

On 23/10/2012, at 1:50 AM, Bill Landucci  <bill.landucci(at)tds.net (bill.landucci(at)tds.net)> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   --> Pulsar-List message  posted by: Bill Landucci <bill.landucci(at)tds.net (bill.landucci(at)tds.net)>

 

 Hello  All,

 

 I've been flying N168TM (Pulsar III - 912ULS) for almost  ten years with the Arplast PV50. The plane is ready for a new prop. What are  folks using these days with Pulsars? I must admit that the simplicity of a fixed  pitch prop is appealing, but I'm afraid I may have gotten used to the in-flight  adjustable's ability to optimize for climb and cruise.

 

 During  the last flight the pitch motor failed to adjust the prop pitch. This time the  electric motor is spinning freely so I suspect a stripped lead screw. In past  years I've had that happen one other time, plus two failed electric pitch  motors. Fortuntately the failure mode is always the same - pitch is stuck where  you last had it. So as long as pitch range is limited to safe flight you're  okay, but it does make the cross country longer when top speed is 110mph due to  engine rpm.

 

 If anyone has old Arplast parts I'd consider  buying. But something completely different might be the best solution at this  point.

 

 Bill

 

 

 

  p;        Navigator  Photoshare, and  p;        the Web  ========================<;   generous  bsp;                     


	






    	  Quote: 	
		  



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[b]

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freedom4life(at)xtra.co.n
Guest

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:01 pm Post subject: Propeller Choices

Barry,because of the large speed envelope of the  Pulsar any fixed pitch prop is going to be a very limited in its  performance. I tried several two and three blade ground adjustable props before  fitting the Airmaster CS propeller system.  Three blades gave very good  take of performance but was so restrictive in top end speed (like driving your  car in low gear) and the two blades gave very poor take off performance with  reasonable top end speed. (Try taking off in overdrive in your car!)   Because I always fly off grass which is often wet and long the end fence was  always coming up very quickly before getting airborne! The Pulsar benefits so  much from the three bladed constant speed prop as it fines itself up to give  maximum HP from the engine with resulting rapid acceleration.  At the other  end of the spectrum it allows a high top speed with normal engine speeds at  5,000 rpm.   My 80HP XP will do 144 knots straight and level with the  Airmaster.  It wouldnâ€™t get close to that with original two bladed GSC  prop.  I did try several other propellers and despite the GSC only having  three laminations and the blades warping and becoming different to each other,  it was about the best compromised prop I tried. The Prince prop may well have  been better but I never tried that.

 I would say that the performance gained from the  constant speed prop was better than 30%.  Also slowing done in the pattern  now is no trouble at all as the propeller does all the braking.  You can  approach much steeper for better visibility without going through your max flap  speeds.

  

 Cliff

  

  

  

   

Jim, 

  

Thanks for the info. Is there an advantage to a three blade vs two blade? 

  

Barry



 

   

From: "pilot623" <pilot623(at)gmail.com>

To:  pulsar-list(at)matronics.com

Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 5:34:15  PM

Subject: RE: Propellor Choices



 p { 	margin: 0px }   Hi Barry,

  

 I used the 3 blade Ivo medium before. The Airmaster is 3 blade  as well and uses Warp blades. I like the inlaid nickel leading edges but here in  Houston, have to keep a light coat of oil or grease on the nickel to avoid  corrosion. I have seen around 5 mph improvement with the Airmaster. It is fully  feathering but I haven't feathered it in flight. Something about killing a  perfectly happy engine in flight bothers me.

  

 A rotating switch is used to select the Takeoff (5,800 rpm),  Climb (5,500) or Cruise (5,000) setting. There a Hold setting so you can select  your rpm if you don't want to use one of the standard settings. There is also a  Manual mode where you then use a toggle switch to increase or decrease pitch.  This prop only consumes an amp or two vs. the Ivo which consumes more as it  nears the stops, up to 10 amps or so. The Ivo achieves different pitch settings  by warping the blades rather than rotating them in the hub.

  

 Jim



 [quote]         From: owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com    [mailto:owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of    barrynorman(at)comcast.net

Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 3:56    PM

To: pulsar-list(at)matronics.com

Subject: Re: Pulsar-List:    Propellor Choices

   

      

Jim,   

    

What prop did you have before?  Did you get the 2 or three blade    version? Was there in improvement in performance over the old one?   

    

Barry



   

       

From: "pilot623" <pilot623(at)gmail.com>

To:    pulsar-list(at)matronics.com

Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012    12:17:53 PM

Subject: RE: Propellor    Choices



--> Pulsar-List message posted by: "pilot623"    <pilot623(at)gmail.com>



I have to agree with Cliff. My Airmaster CS    prop has been in use about 140

hours and as he says, it's simple to use in    all phases of flight. I have not

had any maintenance issues. It's a bit    heavier than most and certainly more

expensive but I love it and would buy    it again. My previous experience was

with the Ivo in-flight adjustable. It    worked fine but I did suffer a few

maintenance issues like replacing the    internal drive motor twice. I'm no

aerodynamicist but the shape of the    blades had me wondering if there were

some more efficiencies that could be    had there. I've never operated my plane

with a fixed pitch prop.



Jim    Fillman

N623JF

Series 2

Rotax 912S



-----Original    Message-----

From:    owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com

[mailto:owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com]    On Behalf Of freedom4life

Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 3:01 PM

To:    pulsar-list(at)matronics.com

Subject: Re: Propellor    Choices



--> Pulsar-List message posted by: "freedom4life" 

-->    <freedom4life(at)xtra.co.nz>

Hi Bill



I have been using a    Constant Speed Airmaster Prop for the last 1500 hrs on

my Pulsar XP. In the    circle of friends that I fly with more than 15 run this

same    propeller.  I have not had to do anything to it other than    replace

brushes.  It transformed my plane and I wouldn't replace it    with anything

else.  The controller is simple to use and    brilliant.  There are others in

the group running this prop so it    would be good to hear their experience

too. I'm not an agent for these but    I certainly endorse    them.



http://www.airmasterpropellers.com/



Cliff

Hello    All,



I've been flying N168TM (Pulsar III - 912ULS) for almost ten years    with the

Arplast PV50. The plane is ready for a new prop. What are folks    using these

days with Pulsars? I must admit that the simplicity of a fixed    pitch prop is

appealing, but I'm afraid I may have gotten used to the    in-flight

adjustable's ability to optimize for climb and    cruise.



During the last flight the pitch motor failed to adjust the    prop pitch. This

time the electric motor is spinning freely so I suspect a    stripped lead

screw. In past years I've had that happen one other time,    plus two failed

electric pitch motors. Fortuntately the failure mode is    always the same -

pitch is stuck where you last had it. So as long as pitch    range is limited

to safe flight you're okay, but it does make the cross    country longer when

top speed is 110mph due to engine rpm.



If anyone    has old Arplast parts I'd consider buying. But something

completely    different might be the best solution at this    point.



Bill

_p;                        &n====================





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