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E-Prop- constant speed prop for Rotax

BTG1996

Active Member
Friend
I completely understand that an in-flight adjustable prop will take an RV12is out of ELSA regs, it will have to initially be registered as EAB and can never be flown as an ELSA.

Has anyone looked into this prop from France? It's fully carbon fiber and uses a hybrid electric/hydraulic governor for simplicity and weight savings. The whole thing weighs in at under 9lbs, which is slightly less than the 3-blade prop sold with the kit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPmRlwVYw4c

The constant speed model has only been out for a few months, but based on testimonials on their website it looks like several RV12's are flying with their fixed pitch props with great results.

https://aircraft.e-props.fr/index.php?cPath=1_21_1453

I was leaning towards the Airmaster, but struggling with adding 10lbs to the nose of the plane and having to either move the battery way aft or carry ballast.....this prop looks to completely solve that issue.

Innovation rocks.....Hopefully they'll get a bunch flying by the time I need one.

Happy Sunday.
 
The fixed-pitch version is giving very good results

I cannot comment on the variable-pitch e-prop as I haven´t seen it installed on any plane near here yet but for the last 4-5 years I have several friends that have been trying the fixed-pitch version and they are all happy with the results. The prop is much lighter than the ones used before, people often say they feel a performance increase, both in take-off and cruise and the leading edge is quite resilient to gravel airstrips. Over here in Spain I´ve seen them installed in Tecnams, Pipistrels and Alto's, all with good results. I will probably move to the fixed-pitch e-prop once the time comes to change the Vans supplied prop, although first I have to finish building my -12.
The variable-pitch one will probably have better performance but for a -12 I rather go for less moving parts, less things that can go wrong.
 
like the french prop

Since the RV 12 climbs real good, I wouldn't add the complexity and money of a constant speed prop. But the french props are quite good. I have a DUC Swirl 3blade on my RV12iS and the performance seems good so far (7 hours) Both, DUC and E-PROP claim they have "constant speed effect". I can confirm this from personal experience. I see 5300 upm at 75kt climbing +1300ft and 5600 upm in WOT at 3500ft 123kts IAS.
 
Since the RV 12 climbs real good, I wouldn't add the complexity and money of a constant speed prop. But the french props are quite good. I have a DUC Swirl 3blade on my RV12iS and the performance seems good so far (7 hours) Both, DUC and E-PROP claim they have "constant speed effect". I can confirm this from personal experience. I see 5300 upm at 75kt climbing +1300ft and 5600 upm in WOT at 3500ft 123kts IAS.

Thanks Tom- great info!

After researching further I think I'm pretty much convinced on not adding the complexity and cost....especially when I started looking at the rv12is poh and saw the yellow arc starts at 108 kias. I'm sure a variable speed prob would add some performance, but your 1,300 fpm climb is pretty sick as it is....not sure when I would ever need more than that.

I really appreciate the honest feedback on this forum.

Happy Easter everyone.
 
I'm interested in an E-prop; the DUR-3-175-C4-T.
According the site there are some RV-12's flying with this prop.
Anyone on this site flying with it or do you know somebody who has this three blade prop installed on a RV-12?
If I install this prop I need to get a new noise certificate. Would be really nice if someone already has one for a RV-12 with this prop.

Regards, Joeri
Netherlands

V20-DU-3.jpg
 
Last post was about a year ago. Is anyone flying with a ground adjustable e-prop on an RV-12?
 
We just installed the e-Prop on our 2015 RV-12 as it was showing its age with around 800 hours TTSN. Below is a link to the install with Evolution Trikes in KZPH. Total cost was $2,550 from Larry at Evolution Aircraft and install was just $100. E-prop includes everything for the pass through pitot spinner setup specific to the RV-12. He is a pro at installing, but you can DIY as the instructions are clear and the below video explains things. We were not compensated in any form. Have only flown the plane back to base since the install but the vibrations are significantly reduced from the 2-blade Sensenich. Performance numbers are still forthcoming but saw 110 TAS vs. 102 TAS at 5,300 RPM at 3,000' MSL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaNhJdCf3tw
 
A hangar neighbor has a 3 bladed constant speed E-prop on his Rotax 912-powere Europa monowheel.

The prop looks absolutely gorgeous. He has had some small challenges with the installation (unique to the Europa). Prior to this prop he had a 3-blade square tipped Warp Drive prop. The E-Prop blows it away in takeoff, climb and cruise. This is a very significant upgrade over the Warp Drive.
 
I ordered the prop on Monday 🥳
Only thing is I need a new 'noise certificate' (mainly an Europe thing?)
The Dutch FAA will accept the sound certificate from an other RV-12 ULS/IS with the same prop.
Anyone on this forum with the same setup and noise certificate or do you know an other Rv-12 with the same setup and noise certificate?

Would be of great help to me, Joeri
 
We just installed the e-Prop on our 2015 RV-12 as it was showing its age with around 800 hours TTSN. Below is a link to the install with Evolution Trikes in KZPH. Total cost was $2,550 from Larry at Evolution Aircraft and install was just $100. E-prop includes everything for the pass through pitot spinner setup specific to the RV-12. He is a pro at installing, but you can DIY as the instructions are clear and the below video explains things. We were not compensated in any form. Have only flown the plane back to base since the install but the vibrations are significantly reduced from the 2-blade Sensenich. Performance numbers are still forthcoming but saw 110 TAS vs. 102 TAS at 5,300 RPM at 3,000' MSL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaNhJdCf3tw

Thanks for that video. I'm seriously considering the same prop for my RV-12iS. My A&P has experience with them in his SportCruiser (ULS engine) and recommends it without hesitation. I'm just about ready to order one. Do you have any additional feedback now that you're had it installed for some months?

The e-prop website doesn't have a listing specific to the iS model at this time.
 
Not an RV owner, but I lurk here because of the general high quality of the discussions. I have the E-Props on both my Flight Design CTSW and my Rans S-7S with Rotax 912ULS. i am happy with it in both cases. On the FD, I replaced the original prop. On the S-7S I started with the E-Props. I don't have hard figures on performance increases - I will say I'm very confident the E-Props is better than the original. I have a friend with a DUC on the Dynamik and he is happy with that prop. Mine are both ground adjustable.
 
E -Prop is da BOMB

I have a good friend who keeps his Just Highlander in my hangar and he decided to buy one and take the risk since they offer a 6 month try it you will like it return policy. He send the money and had the complete prop in just under 30 days. I helped him install and test it. It is very impressive as to completeness and quality. Very confidence inspiring.

It comes with all the special tools to install it and they are professional tools, not Chinese stuff. A VERY complete kit for the Rotax 912ULS. He has the big bore kit, ergo, 115 hp. We had it out of the box, installed, wired and running in less than a day. Testing was eye-opening. You can dial in the speed and it goes there and holds it. For instance we did static pull tests on the DUC Flash 3 blade system he did have and got 250 lb at WOT and about 5500 rpm. THen later in the day tested the E-prop at the highest engine RPM (about 5670 is all it could get at the lowest pitch static) and WOT and got 375 lb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Climb rate at 5750 rpm at 8000' was still over 750 fpm which is much better than the 250 or so with the fixed pitch DUC.
Ed
 
If someone reading this thread has ordered or ends up ordering the E-Prop for their 912 powered RV-12, please please please fly some test cards and get normalized data to compare to! This would be valuable to the community.

A few have it and report believable improvements, but it's in a field of noise. So much can be compromised with pitch and effected by environmental factors. Van's provides a nice set of tools to get fairly normalized performance data.
 
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