Toobuilder
Well Known Member
Just a heads up for those with a Hartzel C/S:
I was just out in the hangar talking on the phone and since I was standing next to the -8 I just idly grabbed the propeller tip and gave it a shake. To my horror, it moved? A bunch! Fore and aft about ? inch; lead/lag about ? inch. Moved around like the shift knob in a VW bus.
Called the prop shop and yep, this happens sometimes. We have not opened the prop yet, but it?s likely a bolt that sets the preload on the shim pack simply broke. It?s a simple fix, but expensive to open the prop.
I bring this to your attention because it goes from ?good? to ?bad? instantly. Just in case you were wondering, this is not an old, junk prop. It?s a Blended Airfoil unit with less than 350 hours on it.
I?ll get back with a full report once it?s fixed, but wanted to give you all the ?heads up? to check this EVERY flight. This was a new one on me.
I was just out in the hangar talking on the phone and since I was standing next to the -8 I just idly grabbed the propeller tip and gave it a shake. To my horror, it moved? A bunch! Fore and aft about ? inch; lead/lag about ? inch. Moved around like the shift knob in a VW bus.
Called the prop shop and yep, this happens sometimes. We have not opened the prop yet, but it?s likely a bolt that sets the preload on the shim pack simply broke. It?s a simple fix, but expensive to open the prop.
I bring this to your attention because it goes from ?good? to ?bad? instantly. Just in case you were wondering, this is not an old, junk prop. It?s a Blended Airfoil unit with less than 350 hours on it.
I?ll get back with a full report once it?s fixed, but wanted to give you all the ?heads up? to check this EVERY flight. This was a new one on me.