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Old RV-3 spinner options

S

Steve Plentl

I'm New Here
I have a RV3A that was finished in 1980 that needs the spinner replaced due to warpage & cracking. It is the 12 inch model with a wood prop & was woundering if there are any other options other than the Vans model. Can a polished metal spinner be adapted to the older cowling on the 3 etc?
 
RV-3 spinner options

Steve, I recently purchased an RV-3 and have the old style cowling and 12 in fiberglass spinner. The cowling is kind of beat up around the spinner area, and the quality of the 12 in spinner leaves much to be desired. I have a 13 in carbon fiber Whirlwind Aviation spinner that I placed on the removed and attached cowling halves to see how much bigger it was.

The 12 in spinner seems a bit too small for the cowling shape (by about half an inch) and obviously the 13 is too big, but only by about half an inch. I purchased a 13 in Vans spinner off VAF, uncut, and am going to experiment to see if I may cut it down on the back side to custom fit it to my cowl. When I do that I'm sure the two bulkheads will not fit properly, but I'm going to see if either the 12 or 13 in bulkheads can be modified practically to fit before I cut it.

The another alternatives are to purchase the newer 13 in cowl setup, which is expensive and a ton of work. The other thing I'm considering is to build up the nose of the old style cowling with micro balloons to match the 13 in spinner profile. I have searched the internet for other, nicer profiles of light weight composite spinners, but have not found one to my liking as of yet, I dislike the sharp profile of the old style Van's 12 in spinner. I'll look at doing the spinner/cowling mods this winter and post my results on VAF, good or bad.

I did find an option on the Whirlwind Propellor website (Not Whirlwind Aviation), they have a carbon fiber 12 in spinner for their ground adjustable prop, and I asked if they would sell it uncut, I think they said $495 for that, but again, a 12 in spinner is just a bit too small for my 12 in cowling. I didn't like the profile of the 12 in aluminum spinner option I found on ACS either. If you find a better option, please post it here for the group, best regards, Al.
 
Thanks for the info! At first, I thought the metal ASC was the answer but after taking measurements, it is more than an inch shorter which would look too stubby. I will look into the whirlwind carbon fiber next if they have an uncut 12". I would rather not try to go with the 13" unless I was changing everything & doing all that. May end up with another Vans. KRight now I just want to fly it every chance I get. I only have put about ten hours on it this past month & am having the time of my life flying this incredibly fun machine! Thanks again!
 
I went with the Sensenich carbon fiber adjustable pitch prop on the old RV-4.
The old 12" spinner looks great, but actually a little small. I didn't think about keeping it, and went with the Sensenich 13" spinner offered with their prop.
It IS a little big, but I'm keeping it. It's too big like the 12" was too small.
Maybe a 12.5" would have been best?
 
After having a nutplate crack out of the rear spinner bulkhead on my RV-3 (built in 1982) I replaced the spinner with a BN-3 kit from ACS:
http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/catalog/appages/bn3.php

The standard Vans 12-inch bulkhead wouldn't work since my original rear spinner bulkhead had the flange bent forward. I placed a special order with ACS to have a new one made to match the BN-3 spinner.
 
ordered this spinner

Thanks Joe & everyone for the help! I finally ordered the ASC BN-3 spinner in high polish. There was specific measurements needed but they had the right stuff...hopefully. The prop I have is a Ted Hendrickson 68/76 wooden that is 3 3/4" thick. It's in great condition except where the old spinner made a mark when being pushed rearward from not having a front bulkhead mount. It instead had pvc pipe with a cap on the end, stuck into the prop plate supporting the cone. I'm sure this was a bad idea from whoever decided to do it that way & I'm changing it to the ASC setup. As far as the props performance, it spins 2700 rpm flat out in level flight at 200mph+ & climbs 3500fpm doing flybys so I'm satisfied with the prop. Any suggestions on cutting the blade slots?
 
PVC under the spinner

Steve Plentl said:
...It instead had pvc pipe with a cap on the end, stuck into the prop plate supporting the cone. I'm sure this was a bad idea from whoever decided to do it...
Click to expand...

Interesting...my 3A came with a Sens. wood prop and PVC in the center as well. It flew that way for 150 hrs., so I think I'm going to keep it for a while anyway since I've had buddies install an inner ring with screws which has caused spinner cracking over time...

Doug Lomheim
RV-3A Restoration nearing the end!
 
Spinner Cutout

Steve, I mounted the backplate, prop and front plate, then used some lightweight poster board between the back and front plates to simulate the spinner - several pieces fit around the prop blade with blue painters tape. Then transferred the pattern to the spinner, measured a dozen times to make sure similar marks were 180 degrees out from each other, and made the cuts leaving a generous trim area.

My old spinner had a "wraparound" cutout, but that seemed too sophisticated for my skill set. To help keep everything aligned I made a straight cut (90 degrees to the spinner base) back on the leading edge side and fabricated filler pieces from the cutouts.

Lots of trim and fit to make sure I didn't take out too much material - unlike fiberglass you can't put any back. Here are a few pictures.

P1030786_zpsbcfb531e.jpg


P1030890_zpsaeb49f7f.jpg


P1040839_zpsb8cbb2b7.jpg
 
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