Kyle Boatright
Well Known Member
Over the 14 years (!) I've had my RV-6, I've made many modifications - some small, some not-so-small. Occasionally, one of the modifications results in an unintended consequence. Recently, a starter replacement (Prestolite -> Skytec) necessitated the installation of a steel flywheel weight to keep the CG where I wanted it. Unfortunately, the steel weight significantly changed the vibration level in the airplane. Presumably the flywheel weight was machined slightly "off" or the attach hardware had a little variation in it. In any case, what had been a very smooth running engine/prop gained a noticeable vibration.
So I began looking for a shop to perform a dynamic balance on the prop, and ultimately I found VAF Member/Moderator Brian Wallis here in Atlanta who could do the job. So it was a brief flight over to his home field for the prop balance a couple of weekends ago to get everything balanced.
The process was simple. Remove the cowl, chock the airplane, install a piece of reflective tape on a prop blade, and install sensors to measure prop position and vibration. Then run-up the engine with Brian monitoring things on a DynaVibe prop balancer. After that, he added a couple of weights, re-tested, and we were done. The vibration level went from 0.4 IPS to 0.04 IPS in one swell foop*. The difference is very noticeable in flight. I'm back to a very smooth running engine/prop combination which makes for a nicer flying experience.
Highly recommended (prop balancing in general and Brian's work specifically).
So I began looking for a shop to perform a dynamic balance on the prop, and ultimately I found VAF Member/Moderator Brian Wallis here in Atlanta who could do the job. So it was a brief flight over to his home field for the prop balance a couple of weekends ago to get everything balanced.
The process was simple. Remove the cowl, chock the airplane, install a piece of reflective tape on a prop blade, and install sensors to measure prop position and vibration. Then run-up the engine with Brian monitoring things on a DynaVibe prop balancer. After that, he added a couple of weights, re-tested, and we were done. The vibration level went from 0.4 IPS to 0.04 IPS in one swell foop*. The difference is very noticeable in flight. I'm back to a very smooth running engine/prop combination which makes for a nicer flying experience.
Highly recommended (prop balancing in general and Brian's work specifically).
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