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  #1  
Old 12-06-2009, 05:23 PM
Flybuddy2's Avatar
Flybuddy2 Flybuddy2 is offline
 
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Location: Fort Myers
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Default Catto Prop - rain

Flew my RV6A nearly 2 hours this past Friday in moderate and heavy rain. Got some serious prop erosion. Older prop with 500+ hours on it and no leading edge protection. Photos below:
The 2 blades not showing had minimal erosion, mostly paint and roughened up the glass a bit. Sanding alone was OK for repair. The blade in the photo though was fairly rough and it seems split and delam looking straight down. Possible there was a prior tip repair which let go in the rain. I debated repairing or sending back to Craig Catto. Emailed him and he answered on the weekend. He said he can easily repair, repaint and add prop tape all for a very reasonable price and only needs about a week to complete. Why risk a marginal job on my own with service like that from a professional. Kudos to Craig!!
P.S. I also had owned a Velocity with a Catto prop and prop tape. The prop looked new after nearly two years and had no rain issues. Overall, a strong, reliable prop with excellent performance. Tom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flybuddy/
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  #2  
Old 12-06-2009, 06:01 PM
painless painless is offline
 
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Did you reduce RPM to under 2200 while in rain as specified by Catto?
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  #3  
Old 12-06-2009, 06:19 PM
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TCONROY TCONROY is offline
 
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I fly a DA-20 with a composite covered wood prop. I've also had issues when flying in rain. My RV-7A is going to be full IFR. I didn't want to build a plastic airplane (Lancair) nor do I want a plastic prop. I've heard good things about MT and Catto, but it just makes no sense why an IFR flyer would want something other than metal.
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  #4  
Old 12-06-2009, 08:22 PM
Dmadd Dmadd is offline
 
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Location: Camas, WA
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That looks pretty bad for just rain. Was there a previous repair to the area?
Rain erosion is usually pretty linear across the blade, getting worse the further toward the tip.... Looks kinda like the blade took a rock or something...
Good on Craig for the repair.

DM
RV-4
O-320- MT prop
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  #5  
Old 12-06-2009, 09:00 PM
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roadrunner20 roadrunner20 is offline
 
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Was this the plane you just purchased from Pierre Smith?
That's a shame.
I've flown thru intermitant rain but always reduced the rpm to 2150.

I've considered adding the edge tape but didn't want to package up a 3 blade prop and ship it across the country from FL to CA.
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  #6  
Old 12-07-2009, 02:15 AM
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sprucemoose sprucemoose is offline
 
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Tom,

I feel your pain. I did the same thing to my Catto a few years back. I spent about 1.5 hours in solid IMC and moderate-heavy rain at about 2600 RPM (pretty stupid in hindsight, I know. I've spent years beating myself up over this.) All 3 of my blades were as bad/ worse than yours are. Craig did a great job of fixing the damage, charged a very reasonable price (around $150 IIRC) and shipped it back with Propguard tape installed.

Since then, I've been more respectful about flying in rain, and always reduce the RPM to 2400 in any rain and 2300 in anything more than light rain, and have had no further issues in the 300+ hours since. The whole experience did not reduce my enthusiasm for the prop one bit.

@Dan- no need to ship it. You can buy the tape from Spruce and apply it yourself. It is not a big job at all and very doable. I just replaced mine since it was getting a little worn after several years of use. The worst part was getting the old adhesive off the prop (Goo Gone is the product for this- and lots of elbow grease.)
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  #7  
Old 12-07-2009, 04:26 AM
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Flybuddy2 Flybuddy2 is offline
 
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Yes, I was picking up this airplane. It was first flight for me. I kept the rpm at 2250 for the majority of the trip but the rpm did vary some (turbulence and alt changes). Dan--Aircraft Spruce has the tape (prop guard), it's about 60 bucks. I had it on the Velocity, not that big a deal to install. I ran 2500 rpm and up in rain with the Velo and never had any leading edge issues. The tape is pretty durable although it is tough to keep it on the curved edges of the prop tip. Tom
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  #8  
Old 12-07-2009, 06:33 AM
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pierre smith pierre smith is offline
 
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Location: Louisville, Ga
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Default Ouch...

We were in some rain going bsck as well but I'd take Craig up on his offer this time'

Pierre in Reno
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  #9  
Old 12-07-2009, 08:44 PM
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roadrunner20 roadrunner20 is offline
 
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Thanks guys, I'll check out the prop guard tape.
I've got some minor wear on the wing tip area that I'd like to address.
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  #10  
Old 12-07-2009, 09:01 PM
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BTW, The "Prop-Guard" tape comes in a single piece. A "2-blade" kit is plenty for the Catto 3-blade prop.
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Mel Asberry, DAR since the last century.
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RV-6 Flying since 1993 (sold)
<rvmel(at)icloud.com>
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