Prince propeller

[Miata]

I am about to order the finishing kit for my RV7 IO360 and am starting to think about props. does anyone have any info on Prince carbon fiber props.. Thanks Dan

[RV8iator]

Originally Posted by Miata

I am about to order the finishing kit for my RV7 IO360 and am starting to think about props. does anyone have any info on Prince carbon fiber props.. Thanks Dan

When I first got my 8 it had a Prince Prop on it and I subsequently bought another one from Lonnie that was more of a climb prop than the one on it when I bought it.

The props were smooth and worked as advertised. They were also beautiful.

Lonnie, pardon the pun, was a prince to work with.

[rrnixonjr]

I have a Prince prop on my RV4, 160 hp. Compared to my friends RV4 with 160hp and MT prop it climbs better and is almost as fast. Mr. Prince is a true gentleman and makes a superb product.

[MikeS]

Unless Lonnie has done something to improve leading edge protection, you'll have to spend $276 + $51 shipping to get it refinished every time you fly in rain. That's what he charged me anyway, despite the fact that when ordering the prop I'd paid the additional charge for "leading edge protection". If there was any there it wasn't evident underneath the finish that dissolved the first time I flew it in rain. Now that it's been refinished I've just left it in its box. I really should at least hang it on the wall since everyone will agree they are beautiful props. I don't trust for a minute though that my refinished Prince prop has any more leading edge protection now than it did when I bought it. Maybe he's doing something new by now. I bought mine about four years ago and had it refinished by Lonnie about a year later, following my first encounter with rain.

Ed Sterba's props, on the other hand, while not as sophisticated in design as Prince's, are only slightly less efficient in the air and his urethane leading edges will go through anything without damage. I can't imagine why Smokeyray says: "7. Ed Sterba Wood: Excellent value, fragile in rain, needs torquing every 25 hours. Good for economy purchase and fair weather flyers."

It's prudent to throttle back in rain with any prop, including metal, but I've gone through a lot of rain with Sterbas and have found nothing fragile about them (everything else stated in that sentence is correct however). I am quite the opposite of a "fair weather flyer" and have found the Sterbas to be bulletproof in rain. I just sent one in to get spruced up after approximately 1000 hours. The urethane leading edges were slightly worn but the prop was still fine - I just thought after such lengthy service the prop deserved to be returned to it's original beauty. I get the cherry/maple alternatively laminated props from him - I have two - and they are also beautiful props.

BTW, in an experiment Paul Lipps cut the tips off of a Prince and got more thrust at the same RPM even though prop diameter had been reduced slightly in cutting off the tips. Those curved tips do nothing except create drag and look cute, despite the theory that they act as winglets. If anyone gets a Prince, get the elliptical tips. I assume they look similar to the Catto tips. Catto and Paul worked closely together on design and efficiency.

Mike


Edit: I should have mentioned that Ed Sterba refinished his 20+ year old prop . . . for free. I'm not special, he does that for everyone.

[hevansrv7a]

Originally Posted by MikeS

...
BTW, in an experiment Paul Lipps cut the tips off of a Prince and got more thrust at the same RPM even though prop diameter had been reduced slightly in cutting off the tips. Those curved tips do nothing except create drag and look cute, despite the theory that they act as winglets. If anyone gets a Prince, get the elliptical tips. I assume they look similar to the Catto tips. Catto and Paul worked closely together on design and efficiency.

Mike...

The Prince elliptical looks most like a Jack Norris prop even though it is not a Norris design. Lonnie developed it on his own and its shape is not the same as what a Norris design would be for the same application. It's a pretty good prop according to my so-far limited testing. I don't see a picture of it on his website.

see www.propellersexplained.com

Is that Lipps experiment documented anyhwere?

[Clouddancer]

I would be interested in the Lipps experiment data as well.

Does anyone know, how the elliptical tips perform accoustic wise compared to the P tips? Is there any notable difference? It's an issue here in Switzerland...

[ccsmith51]

Originally Posted by MikeS

Edit: I should have mentioned that Ed Sterba refinished his 20+ year old prop . . . for free. I'm not special, he does that for everyone.

That's news to me. I just had Ed refinish my six year old Sterba prop and he charged me $50, plus shipping. Don't get me wrong, I think that is a very fair price for examining the prop and refinishing it, but it isn't "free". Last year he refinished a friends prop and charged the same....

[MikeS]

"The Prince elliptical looks most like a Jack Norris prop even though it is not a Norris design. Lonnie developed it on his own and its shape is not the same as what a Norris design would be for the same application. It's a pretty good prop according to my so-far limited testing. I don't see a picture of it on his website.

see www.propellersexplained.com

Is that Lipps experiment documented anyhwere?"

*****************

Just now noticed this . . . a little late

Yes, it's documented. I don't have the link handy but if you do some looking you'll find it. I'd start with Pat Panzera and Contact Magazine. Lipps wrote there extensively and also on this website. I'm sure he must have mentioned it on VAF at some point. Paul's handle on VAF was "Elippse". As the gentleman he was he didn't actually name Prince as the source of the P-tip prop he cut the tips off of but except for Hartzell's Q-tips, what else is there?

[hevansrv7a]

I have one with only a few hours on it that is just slightly too much prop for my 7A's 180 HP. If you have more HP it could be a very good prop.

I'm open to any fair offer.

[JAT]

I have one for sale...call 970-769-2004. Very low time and like new condition!