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Show Planes Cowl with Hartzell Three Blade

I R A EE

Member
Before ordering my engine, prop, cowl, exhaust, etc. and digging myself a very expensive hole with parts that do not work together I am looking for some input from those who have already done this. Looking to see if anyone is flying the Show Planes cowl with the Hartzell three blade prop that Van's sells (C3Y1R-1N/N7605C). Talking with Brian at Show Planes he mentioned that there is an interference with certain Hartzell props on the cowl he makes for the RV-8 but was unsure on the RV-10. He was also unsure if anyone is flying the Hartzell three blade with his cowl yet. I see there are others who have fitted this combination though I have not been able to get in contact with anyone who is flying. I have to believe that this is a common combination.

To complete the picture of what got me here it is looking quite likely that Barrett will be getting the engine order with the cold air induction option. That engine choice seems to start an avalanche of component changes. Rather than spending the time to modify the Van's cowl to fit the engine and exhaust (with mufflers) I am leaning toward just buying the Show Planes cowl. I have flown about 600 hours in a Piper Matrix behind the Hartzell composite prop so that is the direction I am leaning since that is what I am experienced with. This all said, I am not too far along to be convinced otherwise.

If you are flying this combination, I would also be interested in hearing what you did for the 15" spinner. Sounds like there are spinners that have been custom made and that there may be an option directly from Hartzell.

Thanks in advance for any input.
 
Cowl

My showplanes cowl is in transit. I opted for the Barrett engine with cold air and the MT prop which will come with the spinner. After speaking with Bryan at showplanes, and reading the reviews on the PP, I opted for the B and C alternator.

Apparently some of the Hartzells have a very wide chord near the hub and can cause interference with the cowl at coarse pitch settings.

Now, which governor to use...MT, Hartzell, or PCU...
 
Update

Has there been any update on these since last year? Did the spinner work? What governor did you use? Thanks.
 
Update

Just starting to hang the cowl...as they say, Life gets in the way.

Anyway, I opted for the ShowPlanes cowl, the Barrett engine with Cold Air Induction, Dual EFII, B&C Starter primary alternator and standby alternator. Also a Reiff Preheat system.

The Prop is an MTV-9-B, and it was delivered about three weeks ago. I decided to go with the heavier prop hub as every single MT distributor recommended doing so. My Barrett engine is making just over 290 HP and the MTV-12 prop that would be considered standard is only rated for a MAXIMUM of 300 HP. The MTV-9 is rated closer to 450 so it should never be an issue.

The Spinner is a P-457-5 and it was delivered last week. That is not the Spinner that Bryan over at Showplanes recommends but it is nearly identical dimensionally to the P-285-1-A, and fits the heavier MTV-9 Hub.

I am, in fact, heading out to the shop to start hanging the cowl. I fabricated a wooden disk the diameter of the spinner and used four nylon spacers turned down to 40 mm to located the back of the spinner. Hopefully, this will work out because installing and removing the prop while fitting the cowl looks to be a real PITA. Not my idea...suggested on this wonderful board.

I haven't purchased my governor yet but I will be going with the Hartzell governor. I decided this after speaking with some people here and the MT distributor. The distributor said they talked to MT and MT basically said it was an isolated, one time event and not to worry about it. Considering there have been MULTIPLE failures, MT's response was less than reassuring. Anyway, the governor is going to be Hartzell and I will most probably get it from Van's...

I also opted for Skybolt fasteners for the cowl. Let you know how that works out.

Hope this helps...
 
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