Jim Rust was kind enough to send a new Whirlwind 300 series three-blade prop for us to try out on the RV-8 for awhile, and we took it on its maiden flight this morning. Saving 24 pounds on the nose of an RV-8 is a big deal - I used to fly around with a case of oil in the rear baggage compartment to lighten the nose, and taking the big Hartzell off the front does essentially the same thing.
This morning’s flight was basically envelope testing, and the prop did great - nothing poked out, and we flew from stall to redline and did some light acro as well. Engine acceleration is better with the lighter prop, and the quicker response is noticeable. It was already rather warm at 0830 to do good performance measurements, but a very quick and dirty check on speed makes me think we can get the same speed as we did with the BA Hartzell, and climb is improved. More scientific numbers to come.
I wrote up a little more on the installation on the Kitplanes web site:
https://www.kitplanes.com/how-to-save-24-pounds-and-look-great-doing-it/
I’ll let folks know how it goes as we live with this for awhile!
Paul
This morning’s flight was basically envelope testing, and the prop did great - nothing poked out, and we flew from stall to redline and did some light acro as well. Engine acceleration is better with the lighter prop, and the quicker response is noticeable. It was already rather warm at 0830 to do good performance measurements, but a very quick and dirty check on speed makes me think we can get the same speed as we did with the BA Hartzell, and climb is improved. More scientific numbers to come.
I wrote up a little more on the installation on the Kitplanes web site:
https://www.kitplanes.com/how-to-save-24-pounds-and-look-great-doing-it/
I’ll let folks know how it goes as we live with this for awhile!
Paul
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