[rv8ch]

It sure seems like Whirlwind owners are pretty happy with their props.

I have seen some reports of "minor problems" - did these require sending the prop back to the factory? My reason for asking is that it will be a big hassle for me to ship things back and forth from the old world to the new world if there is a problem.

I really like the looks of the 200RV (http://www.whirlwindaviation.com/series200rv.php) prop - the website says "...the first propeller designed specifically for the RV series..."

It seems to be much lighter than the Hartzell, though more expensive.

Anyone have any experience with both that can give me some warm fuzzies about one or the other?

Thanks,
Mickey

 

[steveciha]

Well,

I have built and flown 2 RV's. For propellers i had a HC-C2YK on the first one and it performed very well. 2nd plane started with a WW 150 that didn't like the power pulses of the 0-360-A1A engine. The blades started to fret and it leaked grease. The factory took it and upgraded it to a WW 151. It still leaked grease, and the factory issued a service bulliten on it that required inspections every 100 hours.

I was able to negotiate a trade in with WW and now have the WW 200RV prop and i am very happy with it. There is actually less noise with the 200 than the 151. I know for fact that the 200 is 4-5 knots faster than the 151 per my before and after testing. I also like the leading edge protection on the 200. Most aluminum props show significant paint loss on the leading edges after about 500 hours or so. The WW should look good a long time.

I think the WW is about 1000 bucks more than the Hartzell, but remember that you get a fully fit spinner with the WW. You don't have to buy or fit Vans spinner to your WW.

Several of us that fly RV's together decided to full throttle it and see which plane was faster. We all have carbureted 0-360-A1A engines with lightspeed ignitions. Only engine difference is that i have 9.2 pistons.

I have a 7A., one man has an 8A with a Hartzell blended airfoil, and another man has a 6A with a fixed Sensinitch and old style wheel pants. The interesting thing is is that we all stayed right even with each other. No one could walk away from the other. To me that indicates that performance wise all three propellers were performing very well. The Sensinitch man did fess up later that he was turning 2750 rpm for the 2 or 3 minutes that we were full throttle. If we had been at a slightly lower altitude, perhaps things would have been different. As i remember it we were at 6500 feet.

I don't know of any service problems at this time with the WW 200RV. I think factory TBO is 650 hours. If you are overseas, then perhaps it would make more sense to go with the Hartzell. Service should be more available?

Hope this helps.

Steve Ciha

 

[N130WN]

I was planning on a 200RV for my RV-7 over the Hartzell BA, but I didn't know about the low TBO. Hmm... Makes me start thinking again....

 

[flickroll]

It's not really a TBO, but rather an inspection. If you can fly your airplane to Whirlwind they can do it in a day while you are there and I think the cost of the inspection is only $500. I have a 200RV on order that I should receive in Nov

Jim Shannon

I was planning on a 200RV for my RV-7 over the Hartzell BA, but I didn't know about the low TBO. Hmm... Makes me start thinking again....

 

[MCA]

I had a Whirlwind 200RV on my -7 with an IO-390. Then replaced it with a Hartzel BA (-7497) to see if that would get more speed. Turns out (non-scientific testing) that the Hartzell climbs better and the Whirwind is a few knots faster in cruise.

 

[RV7Guy]

Why the switch

Hey Marc,

Just curious as to why you switched? I'm going to put a Barrett IO390 on my new project and was going to again use the WW 200RV.

I had a Whirlwind 200RV on my -7 with an IO-390. Then replaced it with a Hartzel BA (-7497) to see if that would get more speed. Turns out (non-scientific testing) that the Hartzell climbs better and the Whirwind is a few knots faster in cruise.