Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparky
Eddy,
I too have the Hartzell composite prop on my RV 7 (not flying yet) and have similar 1/4" clearance.
A while back I received a letter from VAN's telling me to check the clearance from the trailing edge of the prop blade to the cowl with the prop at coarse pitch before first start because someone with the same setup (in South Africa, I believe) reported that the prop struck the cowl when they cycled the prop. VAN's suggested that if I had the same interference I could send the prop to Hartzell to have the coarse pitch stop adjusted to provide more clearance.
I suspect that the composite blades will flex a little, but upon power application, if anything, they should flex away from the cowl. When braking they could flex toward the cowl, but then they should be in fine pitch with plenty of clearance.
I'm thinking 1/4" is enough, but I haven't started the engine yet, so I too would like to hear from the experts.
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Yes, this is what is going on. Vans did notify customers who had purchased the composite props about this a while back. While Vans has not tested this particular prop on all of the models, Hartzell wanted to offer it though Vans.
Contact Hartzell in order to have the course pitch stop reset. This is typically only a problem on the 6/7/9/14 cowls. No one has tried it on an -8/8A yet though. Works OK on a -4...
Do not start the engine until this has been rectified otherwise expensive noises will ensue.