Prince prop question

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Re: Prince prop question

Postby Onex107 » Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:52 am

I posted this many moons ago, but it may be worth reading again. It doesn't prove anything except that the Prince needed 150 more rpm to generate the same thrust under load. It's obviously flexing and changing pitch. Unless you really want a carbon fiber covered prop, in this simple test I didn't see the difference in performance for the difference in price.

For your information. I'm not sure what this test means but here are the results. A Sonex friend added a turbo to his Aerovee and let me try the Prince P Tip he removed. My Aerovee is the standard, AeroInjector version that I have flown 65 hours with a Sensenich 54 X 44 wood prop. His Prince is also a 54 X 44 carbon fiber covered, wood base prop.
I warmed up my engine and did a wot run up. As usual it ran up to 2880/2900 rpm and held there. I removed the Sensenich and installed the Prince and did another run up. The engine accelerated rapidly to 3050 and held. I flew with this prop and at the beginning of takeoff it hit 3000 immediately and during climb out I had to reduce the throttle to keep the rpm under 3100. I don't think I got off the ground any sooner nor climbed any faster. The Sensenich turns 2900 at the beginning of take off and accelerates to 3000 wot during climb out at 90 mph and 500 ft/min.
I'm told the Prince is designed to flex to a lower pitch under load and resume 44 pitch at cruise. It definitely reduces under load but I flew some straight and level and at 3000 rpm my air speed/ground speed was 120 mph, the same as the Sensenich. This was a crude test but I didn't see enough difference between the two props to support the higher rpm during take off.
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Re: Prince prop question

Postby N111YX » Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:13 pm

One more important fact when debating the Sensenich vs. Prince decision is the durability of the finish. I liked my original Sensenich also but there is no comparison in terms of leading edge erosion of the paint/finish. The Prince wins hands down, especially if one encounters rain.
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Re: Prince prop question

Postby gammaxy » Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:01 pm

Onex107 wrote:I flew with this prop and at the beginning of takeoff it hit 3000 immediately and during climb out I had to reduce the throttle to keep the rpm under 3100.


No reason to reduce throttle to keep it under 3100--you just lose any benefit you might have gained by using a superior propeller. At 3100 rpm turning 100rpm more than you typically do, you would be generating an extra 2.5 hp according to Sonex's dyno chart. I estimate this is probably good for 50-75 extra fpm which might be hard to notice without careful measurement. If you'd allowed it to turn to whatever RPM it wanted to while maintaining your typical climb speed, it might have been more noticeable.

I keep thinking I need to rent a high speed camera to figure out just how much this propeller flexes and how it compares to Sensenich.
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