Installed E-Prop on RV-12 w/ 912ULS

[Piper J3]

I treated myself to an early Father’s Day present... I installed a 3-blade carbon fiber E-Prop on my RV-12 @ 960TT. Delivery was six days DHL directly from France. I decided timing is right before tariff price increase...

I’m getting 100-150 fpm additional climb w/ 5200 RPM @ full throttle. Initial climb rate is 1300 fpm… I never saw anything like that w/ 2-blade Sensenich. Nose is 3" higher above horizon in climb and pulls very strong. I see additional 5 mph in cruise. Blade pitch set to 26.0° appears to be spot-on. The prop also adds some aerodynamic braking and helps slow the airplane on final approach to landing. The E-Prop has a carbon fiber pitot tube that runs in a ball bearing supported by a separate tube and not dependent on the spinner. In fact, the prop / pitot tube can be ground-run without the spinner. Prop is dynamically balanced at the factory and is very smooth operation. Entire prop including hub and hardware weighs 4.5 lbs. I thought engine shut off quickly with 2-blade Sensenich prop… this prop has so little moment of inertia that it stops immediately. Beautiful prop....

 

[seagull]

What are your thoughts on how that prop will hold up to rock dings compared to the Sensenich?

 

[dbhill916]

I treated myself to an early Father’s Day present... I installed a 3-blade carbon fiber E-Prop on my RV-12 @ 960TT. Delivery was six days DHL directly from France. I decided timing is right before tariff price increase...

I’m getting 100-150 fpm additional climb w/ 5200 RPM @ full throttle. Initial climb rate is 1300 fpm… I never saw anything like that w/ 2-blade Sensenich. Nose is 3" higher above horizon in climb and pulls very strong. I see additional 5 mph in cruise. Blade pitch set to 26.0° appears to be spot-on. The prop also adds some aerodynamic braking and helps slow the airplane on final approach to landing. The E-Prop has a carbon fiber pitot tube that runs in a ball bearing supported by a separate tube and not dependent on the spinner. In fact, the prop / pitot tube can be ground-run without the spinner. Prop is dynamically balanced at the factory and is very smooth operation. Entire prop including hub and hardware weighs 4.5 lbs. I thought engine shut off quickly with 2-blade Sensenich prop… this prop has so little moment of inertia that it stops immediately. Beautiful prop....

Happy Father's Day!

How difficult is removing/installing the lower cowl?

What is the blade pitch measurement referenced to? Is it ground adjustable or factory set? (Personally, I'd have much happier if the Sensenich prop were fixed. That would avert many of the holy wars and greatly reduce time & frustration trying to exactly set the blades every year.)

 

[12vaitor]

I treated myself to an early Father’s Day present... I installed a 3-blade carbon fiber E-Prop on my RV-12 @ 960TT. Delivery was six days DHL directly from France. I decided timing is right before tariff price increase...

I’m getting 100-150 fpm additional climb w/ 5200 RPM @ full throttle. Initial climb rate is 1300 fpm… I never saw anything like that w/ 2-blade Sensenich. Nose is 3" higher above horizon in climb and pulls very strong. I see additional 5 mph in cruise. Blade pitch set to 26.0° appears to be spot-on. The prop also adds some aerodynamic braking and helps slow the airplane on final approach to landing. The E-Prop has a carbon fiber pitot tube that runs in a ball bearing supported by a separate tube and not dependent on the spinner. In fact, the prop / pitot tube can be ground-run without the spinner. Prop is dynamically balanced at the factory and is very smooth operation. Entire prop including hub and hardware weighs 4.5 lbs. I thought engine shut off quickly with 2-blade Sensenich prop… this prop has so little moment of inertia that it stops immediately. Beautiful prop....

Been flying behind my E-Prop for 4-months now and agree with the increased performance aspect. My impression is the initial takeoff roll acceleration is slower and I see very little aero braking vs the 2-blade Sensenich. Going to idle RPM on final seems to have little effect where the drag increase with the Sensenich was noticeable. Just looking at the blade area of the two props, the Sensenich appears has more surface area on 2-blades that the 3-blade E-prop.

The blade flexing of the E-Prop seems a little strange when you initially go to full power on takeoff roll and the RPM goes into the 5,600 region for a few seconds. You can clearly hear the pitch change as the plane starts to accelerate. I tried a bunch of different pitch settings, and the factory recommendation was correct for best overall performance.

 

[David Paule]

Alas, though, no longer LSA.

Dave

 

[Piper J3]

What are your thoughts on how that prop will hold up to rock dings compared to the Sensenich?

The E-Prop is slightly smaller diameter, so a little more ground clearance. Leading edges are titanium. I never had rock ding in 960 TT with Sensenich... so fingers crossed.

 

[Piper J3]

Happy Father's Day!

How difficult is removing/installing the lower cowl?

What is the blade pitch measurement referenced to? Is it ground adjustable or factory set? (Personally, I'd have much happier if the Sensenich prop were fixed. That would avert many of the holy wars and greatly reduce time & frustration trying to exactly set the blades every year.)

Prop was installed with lower cowl in place. I have oil change in 25 hours, so bottom cowl will come off at that time. I guess we'll wait and see. Blade pitch is referenced to pitot tube housing which is centerline of gearbox. Quite easy to set pitch. E-Prop provides digital protractor with integral bubble level. See photos. Digital protractor is reading 25.9

 

[N8DAV8R]

Alas, though, no longer LSA.

Dave

Huh? What do you mean by that?

 

[Piper J3]

The blade flexing of the E-Prop seems a little strange when you initially go to full power on takeoff roll and the RPM goes into the 5,600 region for a few seconds. You can clearly hear the pitch change as the plane starts to accelerate. I tried a bunch of different pitch settings, and the factory recommendation was correct for best overall performance.

I have blades pitched at 26.0°. Wide open throttle takeoff yeilds ~ 5200 RPM in climb. Cruise power setting of 5500 RPM has throttle pulled out about 1.5”. I think this is the sweet spot for engine / prop / airframe combination…

 

[Piper J3]

Alas, though, no longer LSA.

Dave

I'm ready for MOSAIC....

https://generalaviationnews.com/2025/04/03/mosaic-final-rule-expected-by-august/​

 

[N8DAV8R]

I'm ready for MOSAIC....

https://generalaviationnews.com/2025/04/03/mosaic-final-rule-expected-by-august/​

Nothing that you mentioned has any relevance to your plane being LSA or not, with or without MOSAIC. You have a three blade prop now, and it climbs faster.

 

[David Paule]

Ah, I thought it was a constant speed prop. Sorry!

Dave

 

[dmattmul]

I went with a 4 bladed E-prop on my HKS-700E single seat Merlin. Performance is excellent compared to the DUC prop from before.

 

[scottmillhouse]

I did an apples to apples comparison last fall pitched as I fly. In a nutshell I gained an average of 200 fpm climb and about 3 knots in speed with the other advantages. Note this is at 25 degrees pitch to keep rpm up above 5200 in take off to prevent possible detonation. 26 was too coarse for me requiring a flatter higher speed climb to keep rpm up. Note even then you are taking a bigger bite of air so the MP goes up as well as fuel burn to get the higher speeds. After over 6 months, a worthwhile swap. If interested in my swap, search on me or https://vansairforce.net/threads/e-prop-installation-in-the-southeast.230249/#post-1809876.

 

[printbr]

What size prop, spacer a spinner did you order? Was the spinner with the pitot tube assembly a specific part number? I am getting ready to order one and want to be sure to get the correct parts.

Thanks

 

[Piper J3]

What size prop, spacer a spinner did you order? Was the spinner with the pitot tube assembly a specific part number? I am getting ready to order one and want to be sure to get the correct parts.

Thanks

 

[Piper J3]

AKM 13mm 3/8" Drive 6-Point Crowfoot Wrench works a charm when torquing nuts on back side of engine prop flange. Buy on Amazon...