J

Jaknjoan

Well Known Member
I have a friend that owns a 160 HP RV-4 that is contemplating purchasing a new 2-blade MT Electric (I presume with constant speed features) that will be installed on a Lycoming 0-320 B2C engine. He is not interested in modifying his firewall to accommodate a governor.

Is there anyone out there that may have used an MT Electric 2-blade on the referenced engine and knows whether there is a problem in the installation?
 
MT electric CS propeller

Jaknjoan said:
I have a friend that owns a 160 HP RV-4 that is contemplating purchasing a new 2-blade MT Electric (I presume with constant speed features) that will be installed on a Lycoming 0-320 B2C engine. He is not interested in modifying his firewall to accommodate a governor.

Is there anyone out there that may have used an MT Electric 2-blade on the referenced engine and knows whether there is a problem in the installation?
Click to expand...

There is a slip ring that gets installed in the back of the ring gear. A ring gear with a 8 1/2" diameter cavity under the V-belt groove is required. (Six holes may need to be drilled and tapped.)
The brush block is mounted on a bracket atteched to existing crankcase bolts.
The propeller assembly bolts to the engine (with the spinner assembly matching your cowl).
A wire harness runs from the brush block assembly to the control unit on the panel. The brush block wires consist of two twisted sheilded pairs of wires.
A 4 amp circuit breaker needs to be installed to provide power for the control unit. (For a 12 volt system, the nominal current draw as around 1 amp when the propeller blades are changing position. And around 0.1 amp when the blade position isn't being changed.)
The control unit has a 1 1/8" high by 3 1/2 long face plate. It requires a 1" high by 3" long cutout in the instrument panel to install.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Jim Ayers
Custom Aircraft Propeller - A division of Less Drag Products, Inc.
An MT Propeller distributor
(805) 795-5377
 
One for sale!

A friend of mine just swapped an Egg engine/Electric MT Prop for a Superior/Catto on his RV-7 and has both the Egg and the MT for sale. No issues with the prop, it runs fine.

Contact Ray at Kaolin Aviation, [email protected], 912-552-9136 if interested in the prop.
 
Not all props are equal

Hard Knox said:
A friend of mine just swapped an Egg engine/Electric MT Prop for a Superior/Catto on his RV-7 and has both the Egg and the MT for sale. No issues with the prop, it runs fine.

Contact Ray at Kaolin Aviation, [email protected], 912-552-9136 if interested in the prop.
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Just keep in mind that some MT electric props are good for Subies, but not for Lycoming. Other MT props are built for Lycoming's. Be sure the prop is built for the engine you may have.
 
Thanks guys for your feedback

Thanks for the guidance and feedback. I have relayed the Forum reference to my friend who is spending his Christmas in Dubai with his family.

JT
 
Sticky1 said:
I was L@@King around and found these guys

http://www.vestav8.com/Propellers.htm

Interesting concepts, not many out there.....
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One thing I would not personally do is be the field tester for a new prop. You can look at recent experience with Whirlwind, etc. Anyone going with a prop that has not had extensive in-flight testing, is in a risking part of aviating. I speak from personal experience when a scimitar prop I was temporarily using in April 1989 on my RV-4 shed part of a blade and it cost me an airplane, but I was lucky to get away with it and fly again after one year of rebuilding. MT is obviously a good choice because of past experiences.

JT
 
Hi All,

I have a nice RV3 which came with a fixed pitch wood prop. In the quest for higher performance, a few years ago I replaced it with an electric MT 2 blade constant speed prop.

It works fine, it cost $8k, it is a nice quality chunk of hardware. Weight and balance stayed the same because I went for a smaller Odyssey batterey and installed a lightweight starter at the same time.

Would I do it again? NO. Just not worth the effort. I think I might have gained 1 knot max airspeed. I have gained incredibly short field take off performance and climb rate. That is nice, but the original airplane was no slouch.

And, in the pattern, the big fan is such an effective air brake that I now need to carry 1800 rpm up to short final to avoid brick like approaches. Glide performance is severely reduced unless you could stop the prop.

I would rather have the $8k I think.
 
pvans said:
Hi All,

I have a nice RV3 which came with a fixed pitch wood prop. In the quest for higher performance, a few years ago I replaced it with an electric MT 2 blade constant speed prop.
(Stuff Cut)
And, in the pattern, the big fan is such an effective air brake that I now need to carry 1800 rpm up to short final to avoid brick like approaches. Glide performance is severely reduced unless you could stop the prop.

I would rather have the $8k I think.
Click to expand...

For an emergency procedure:
If you put the controller in manual mode and place the blades in coarse pitch you'll reduce the propeller drag by 5/8 compared to the low pitch (high RPM) position.
I have an RV-3 with the 3 blade electric CS MT propeller. From a 800' AGL pattern altitude at 80 mph ias, this adds a mile to my glide distance.

Jim Ayers
RV-3 sn 50 LOM M332A engine MTV-7-C electric CS MT propeller
 
Jaknjoan said:
I have a friend that owns a 160 HP RV-4 that is contemplating purchasing a new 2-blade MT Electric (I presume with constant speed features) that will be installed on a Lycoming 0-320 B2C engine. He is not interested in modifying his firewall to accommodate a governor.

Is there anyone out there that may have used an MT Electric 2-blade on the referenced engine and knows whether there is a problem in the installation?
Click to expand...

I had a electric 2-blade on an O-320-E2D / RV9a which while not the same, differs in nothing relating to the prop as far as I can see. It fitted / worked fine.

However as an RV4 pilot with a 2-blade hydraulic, I would hesitate to put an electric MT on an RV4 since the pitch change of the electric prop is rather sleepy compared with the hydraulic version. A bit like giving grannies zimmer frame to a nymphomaniac teenager.
 
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