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Damaged spinner

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U2drvr

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I did my first long (3:00+) cross country after completing flight test. I have about 35 hours total on the airplane and when tying it down, I discovered a piece of my aluminum spinner is missing. There are a few scratches on the cowling intake where it apparently hit while departing. I noticed nothing in flight, no vibration or unusual noise. I have a couple of days before the return flight and I’m looking for opinions about flying it home. My initial inclination is to file/sand it smooth and fly it home so I can replace it. Any other ideas/opinions?IMG_4495.jpegIMG_4495.jpeg
 
That spinner is damaged and should be removed before operating. It looks like the last screw mounting the spinner to the bulkhead is too far from the flange and probably the other side is the same. A classic case of metal fatigue in one area and possibly the other area.
Steven B
 
SPB W10 said:
That spinner is damaged and should be removed before operating. It looks like the last screw mounting the spinner to the bulkhead is too far from the flange and probably the other side is the same. A classic case of metal fatigue in one area and possibly the other area.
Steven B
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Maybe I need new glasses, but I don’t even see where the last screw and platenut were installed on the flange.…
 
Take off the cone and fly home. I had to remove a broken Whirl Wind fiberglass cone for the same reason. Worried initially about cooling but no noticeable effect. Removing the spinner bulkhead does screw up cooling.

And every installation I've ever seen, the cone was fastened to the edge of the filler as well as at then end of the cutout.
 

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Dan 57 said:
As others have stated, don't fly like this. I would not even start the engine whilst the damaged spinner is on.
Anything could happen if the spinner let go in flight :oops:
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I would absolutely start it and do ground runs without the spinner. I would reference the prop manufacturer about flying it without a spinner. My prop manufacturer says the spinner is essential for engine cooling and prohibits flying without it
 
As others have said, I would not fly with this spinner home or anywhere, if no other option then I would fly without it. I have one complete with front and backing plate that I can ship you but you will need to have the tools to remove the prop in order to install the back plate.

As for the spinner goes, I have had two of these and removed it due to hairline crack that developed, mine were drilled correctly (screw locations unlike this one) But I also have a friend that his also cracked about the same as yours but did not depart. His was also drilled correctly.
 
Whirlwind does a nice job with their spinner design, and they call out explicitly not to run with just the filler plates attached.
 

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dmattmul said:
Whirlwind does a nice job with their spinner design, and they call out explicitly not to run with just the filler plates attached.
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If you are absolutely adamant to fly it home, the least I would do is add another screw and nut plate to the side that hasn't broken yet and on the side that broke, fashion a piece to roughly match the broken chunk of the spinner...clean the line up a bit, add a small internal splice plate to mate to the existing spinner with 3-4 rivets on either side of the splice plate and two screws fastening the new bit aft to the spinner bulkhead.

Yes, it will be slightly out of balance, though I doubt more than .2- .3 ips.vibration... While this is not a great solution, your cooling wouldn't be affected.
If however, on a test runup you could actually feel a significant vibration, then it's probably more like a .4-.6 ips vertical and I'd discontinue and wait for a new spinner.

A splice plate and a couple screws and one in the other side for good measure, would most likely get you home. But now you're back to being a test pilot. If that spinner fails in flight...it could suck.

For what it's worth, there is WAY too much un-supported rear flange on that spinner. Someone else said cantilevered beam with centripetal attachment and that's right...the whole time your engine is running, that 3" piece of un-supported metal on both side of your spinner are flapping and work hardening little by little. This will just happen again, unless you remedy the situation.

Steve
 
Wow, that spinner has no screws at the edge where the blade is.. no wonder it broke. Also I make a support for the filet to also connect to the spinner.. to counter the centrifugal force.. I like the last screw to be about 5/8 from the blade opening.. I read that somewhere, and it looks nice. Too close to the blade opening and it can crack there too.
 
Update: the other side was also cracked, so I removed the spinner. I did a test flight with my test pilot/astronaut friend and only saw a slight rise in CHT and oil temp, but I was able to keep it within limits. There surprisingly little drag penalty and no added or unusual vibratio. What looks like scratches in the prop in the picture are really not…no even through the paint. There is no other damage anywhere else. I intend to fly it home tomorrow and will put a new spinner on it soon.
 
Let us know how the cut outs do. They are supposed to be anchored with an additional rivet to the spinner cone. However, you’ve been flying it so far without that support, so maybe you’ll be ok.
 
U2drvr said:
Update: the other side was also cracked, so I removed the spinner. I did a test flight with my test pilot/astronaut friend and only saw a slight rise in CHT and oil temp, but I was able to keep it within limits. There surprisingly little drag penalty and no added or unusual vibratio. What looks like scratches in the prop in the picture are really not…no even through the paint. There is no other damage anywhere else. I intend to fly it home tomorrow and will put a new spinner on it soon.
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Yup somebody screwed up and didn't screw the spinner where it was supposed to be screwed and now it's screwed up.
He He My luck varies FIXIT
 
Update 2: I flew it home today without the spinner. I had to climb at a higher airspeed to keep the oil temp in limits, but this was at least partially due to WX as it was ~95F when we took off. Cruise was normal (10,500', 2300RPM, 7.9 GPH) with about a 5-6 knot loss of airspeed (158-160 KTAS versus the normal 165ish at 2300), but temps were normal with the cowl flap closed. Vibration was maybe very slightly higher, but hard to tell for sure without instrumentation. The flight home was 2.7 hrs and there was no damage to the filler plates or either mounting disc. Time to order a new spinner.
 
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