Change to Prince Prop

[NWade]

Looks like I'm about the last Aerovee turbo flyer :(
To boldly go as they say :(

Fear not! I still intend for my AeroVee Turbo to fly. The recent ground runs may have resulted in an oil-cooler mishap but the engine is almost back together and I'm eagerly watching to see the water-cooling solution that Sonex mentioned on these forums a few weeks ago. I think its badly needed and will resolve the oil-coking/turbine-failure issues.

As for the Prince prop: I've only had mine long enough to do a few ground runs but I've got no complaints about it so far.

--Noel

[WaiexN143NM]

hi all,
Dont forget Prince props special offer on the latest podcast with Lonnie himself. A few years back at osh airventure, at the sonex open house, i remember talking to jeremy about the sensenich grnd adj props. the ones for the aerovee were offered,the ones for the jab motors were developing cracks near the hub, so that was the end of those. not sure what mike smiths , displeasure was with them . maybe get an update on that from him. something that may apply to all grnd adj units. anyone else running a gnd adj unit? thoughts?

WaiexN143NM
Michael

[mike.smith]

Mike...........and all other boats afloat........just so you know.............

Sensenich does make a ground adjustable composite propeller with leading edge protection for the Aerovee. Saw and touched one at the Sebring Light Sport show on Friday.

Yes, and I had one. But the ground adjustable was a piece of junk (I'll tell all the stories if you really want). I want a fixed pitch composite prop with leading edge protection.

[rizzz]

I have to second everybody praising the Lonnie Prince’s props, I have a 54x48 P-Tip on my VW powered Sonex and absolutely love it.
At first I thought the great performance I was getting from my VW engine was mostly related to the fact that I have a slightly higher displacement engine than most (94mm bore x 86mm stroke = 2387cc), now I believe the prop probably plays a huge role as well.

At one stage, some people on this forum were actually questioning my numbers when I published them, so I made a video, here it is again for those who have not seen it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqVj2IJEbHI&t=5s
Watch the airspeed and altimeter closely, note that the numbers are in KT, not MPH.
I start off cruising 120KT at 1750ft, I then push the throttle wide open whilst maintaining 1800ft, the airspeed is approaching 150KT before I pull back the throttle, it was still going up but I got an EGT warning which you can see on my flashing on my E1 as well if you look closely.

You might wonder what climb performance with this prop since it cruises so well, so here’s my first flight video which demonstrates that too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKGuEdH9Fcs&t=283s
I don’t have a VSI but if you just watch the cockpit video between 3:47 where I start climbing from 30ft, and 4:15 where I reach 530ft, that’s just under 30 seconds to climb 500ft so I’m seeing 1000-1100FPM here.
Of course this is my first flight ever so weight was minimal at the time.

Anyway, in conclusion: Prince props, highly recommended!

[daleandee]

Never flown a Prince prop on my airplane (I did on my friends 3300 Sonex) but did talk to Lonnie Prince about one. He's a fine fellow and very knowledgeable. At the end of the day I stayed with the Sensenich. I won't go into all the reasons for my decision but Jeff's testing tells much of the story. Don't get wrapped up in the pitch numbers for props as different manufacturers do it differently. But comparative results are the key. Jeff notes in this series of tests that the Prince did have a slight higher cruise ... but at the same time the Sensenich had a slightly better climb. I've always believed, "TANSTAAFL" i.e. "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch" and while a different prop may have a slight advantage I don't believe in magic props that cure an under powered or overloaded airplane.

There is a post on this forum where one claims that the efficiency of the Prince prop can be improved by cutting the tips off and the claim is that it has been proven by a few that have done it. I have no idea but again ... TANSTAAFL.

Sensenich makes an excellent product and I'm proud to fly behind one. Here is link to Jeff"s comments: http://sonex604.com/prop_comp.html

FWIW,

Dale Williams
N319WF @ 6J2
Myunn - "daughter of Cleanex"
120 HP - 3.0 Corvair
Tail Wheel - Center Stick
Signature Finish 2200 Paint Job
168.7 hours / Status - Flying
Member # 109 - Florida Sonex Association
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VP7UYEqQ-g

[fastj22]

Those trying to figure out which prop to go with, do yourself a favor and listen to our podcast with Lonny Prince. I'm a Prince man, but I do respect the Sensonich product too. But after listening to the podcast, if you don't come away with a warm feeling that Prince props has the right customer attitude, I don't think you will be satisfied with any provider.

[jaywa]

Support the experiences of others ; Lonnie Prince has provided a very personalised and expert service for our two Revmaster 2300 powered Sonexes here in Western Australia - one a 54 x 48 and the other a 54 x54 Ptip

No experience with other prop manufacturers

[Area 51%]

Sorry Mike,

I was under the impression your adjustable prop was a laminated unit and the composite prop was a new thing.

[mike.smith]

OK, so I'll hijack my own thread. Here's the story of my Sensenich ground adjustable prop. I wanted to be able to have a climb prop for much of my flying, but also wanted a cruise prop for longer trips like going to OSH (1,000 miles). I talked to Sensenich at OSH many years ago, and they convinced me their composite ground adjustable was the way to go.

There are multiple pitch adjustments. There are round steel dowels that are inserted into the center of the hub. You then turn both blades until they make contact with the dowel. Then you tighten down the allen head bolts and remove the dowel.

1. Those allen head bolts stripped all the time. They were awful. If you strip an allen head, down inside the recessed holes in the hub, the only way to get them out is to use something like a Speed Out Screw Extractor. You drill into the stripped allen head, rotate in the threads of the extractor, and HOPE it comes out! I had to do that at least 4 times! So that made adjusting the prop something you never wanted to do. So why have an adjustable prop? Very poor engineering.
2. When I first installed the prop I used a medium setting: not coarse, not fine. My static RPMs at full throttle were awful; about 2,500 rpm. So I went to the next-to-last fine pitch. Still only got about 2,650 rpm. I went down to the finest pitch possible, and got about 2,800 rpm. That was the best I ever got on the ground. For 3 years I flew like that, getting a max of about 2,850 on take off, and 2,950 WOT at altitude. I had someone make me a thinner dowel pin on a lathe, to make the prop even finer (finer than the manufacturer allowed), but before I could try that I busted the prop on a prop strike.

It was a beautiful prop, but it didn't work worth a damn.