Prop Pitch

[John-G]

Installed the Sensenich propeller yesterday and used the Sensenich pitch tool #3 to rough adjust the rough pitch as suggested in 47-03 step 7.

Later, the steps on 47-07 were followed. A digital level was zeroed on the canopy rail per the instructions, then attached onto the TOOL-00002 which was hung on the leveled propeller blade at the prescribed location. In order to achieve the stated 71.4 degrees of pitch, the propeller blades needed to be moved quite a bit ? should have written it down, but think the pitch was somewhere in the mid 60?s.

My question is directed to those builders who first set the propeller?s rough pitch using the #3 Sensenich pitch tool as per step 7 on 47-03 ... then later adjusted to 71.4 degrees following the new procedure on page 47-07 using a digital level and the TOOL-00002 to set the pitch ? did you too discover the Sensenich #3 pitch tool is not even close to 71.4 degrees? Just wondering if I?ve done (or am doing) something wrong.
Happy Building,

[Phantom30]

Originally Posted by John-G

Installed the Sensenich propeller yesterday and used the Sensenich pitch tool #3 to rough adjust the rough pitch as suggested in 47-03 step 7.

Later, the steps on 47-07 were followed. A digital level was zeroed on the canopy rail per the instructions, then attached onto the TOOL-00002 which was hung on the leveled propeller blade at the prescribed location. In order to achieve the stated 71.4 degrees of pitch, the propeller blades needed to be moved quite a bit … should have written it down, but think the pitch was somewhere in the mid 60’s.

My question is directed to those builders who first set the propeller’s rough pitch using the #3 Sensenich pitch tool as per step 7 on 47-03 ... then later adjusted to 71.4 degrees following the new procedure on page 47-07 using a digital level and the TOOL-00002 to set the pitch … did you too discover the Sensenich #3 pitch tool is not even close to 71.4 degrees? Just wondering if I’ve done (or am doing) something wrong.
Happy Building,

Not sure how much I had to move mine, but both required more than a little. I managed to get both blades within 1/2 degree or less of each other. Plane flies per spec....and really smooth. Loving it!!

[Sink]

After talking to the head Phd researcher a few years back from Sensenich and he said they thought the pins would work well, but not as good as they hoped, but looked good on paper. They set their props by hand without the pins. The pins only get you in the ballpark and once removed the blades should be fine tuned individually by hand. You should be able to get a 3 blade prop within
.1 degree between all blades without much trouble. Leveling the plane isn't necessary because what ever you do to one blade will be the same to the other. Knowing an exact pitch number isn't important. Just set a static for around 4900-4950 rpm and then it needs to be flown to get the final pitch setting. 2 blades and 3 blades will have different settings and some times different static rpms. Bottom line is the final WOT rpm in flat and level flight.
For ground adjustable props that seems to be around 5600-5650.

Altitude considerations count:

The pitch for one owner at sea level that never goes over 2K ft. will be different than someone who lives in Mammoth, CA and flies all the time at 10-13K ft. Set your prop for your personal average altitude. This is not a one size fits all.

[John-G]

Thanks Ric ... after hearing you too needed to move the blades quite a bit after using the Sensenich tool I feel much better now.

Sink thanks for the input. I understand the ultimate goal is based on the numbers during engine run as you stated ... and to get there, each builder has variables unique to the region the aircraft is based. I was just concerned because the pitch pin was not even close and I was expecting the fine tuning to be within a degree or so.