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Spinner

E

edwclg

I'm New Here
Any one know where I can get a metal 13 inch spinner for my O-360 A1A fixed pitched Sens prop?
Thanks,
Ed Clegg
N542E
 
Mike S said:
Why do you want metal???
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So you can polish it.

img0002edited40fn4.jpg
 
spinner

Rick - please don't take offense - looks like the spinner is a little low relative to the cowl. Is this an illusion, or ? due to sag? I ask because am setting cowl height now with prop on my -8. Engine was hung about 4 months ago and prop just a few weeks. Did you set your prop spinner a little high relative to the cowl as Van suggests? Would appreciate any input. Thanks. Bill
 
Bill Dicus said:
Rick - please don't take offense - looks like the spinner is a little low relative to the cowl. Is this an illusion, or ? due to sag? I ask because am setting cowl height now with prop on my -8. Engine was hung about 4 months ago and prop just a few weeks. Did you set your prop spinner a little high relative to the cowl as Van suggests? Would appreciate any input. Thanks. Bill
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Bill,
No offense taken. Actually, the picture may be a bit deceiving. This photo was taken several months before the airplane was moved to the airport for final assembly. Actually, I have observed no sag at all in over 200 operational hours now. I sometimes wish I would have added a touch more cowl/spinner clearance to make it a bit easier to remove and reinstall the lower cowl.

The spinner is the Sensenich "Bolt on Solution." It takes all of 10 minutes to install it right out of the box. It took, however, far more time than that to bring the shine out! If you look close, you can see my dog "Bubba" laying on the driveway.

adornment20gd4.jpg
 
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Aluminum spinner

Yes, you can get an aluminum spinner direct from Sensenich. All the holes drilled and nutplates mounted on the bulkheads. The best part is that when you call them to order, mention the Sensenich ad on Doug's home page and they will give you a 10% discount!
 
Spinner - Rick

Rick:Thanks for your reply and photo. I think the alignment looks great. My clearance right now is 7/32". Would you leave that? I'm just going to center the cowl on the spinner. Thanks again. Bill
 
Hmmm

I bet there's zero chance that they make one that will fit a Hartzell prop, eh? :(

mcb
 
Bill Dicus said:
........clearance right now is 7/32". Would you leave that? .............Bill
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Bill,

There is no denying that the closer the cowl/spinner clearance is, the better it looks. This is one of those areas that airshow judges are known to examine closely. In my case, to make the gap even all around, I had to do a great deal of filling on the port side of the cowl halfs because of the engine/cowling offset which is in the area of 3 degrees resulting in a very noticeable and an uneven cowl/spinner gap if left unworked.

In your case of a planned 7/32" gap....in my opinion, it depends. I say it depends because of this. I mentioned in the previous post that I sometimes wish I would have built in a bit more gap to make removing and replacing the lower cowl easier. The way it is now, I have the nose gear leg AND the air scoop nozzle to snake around. Both components seem to get in the way and restrict the degree of motion you can use to align the lower cowl into place. The nose gear leg forces you to approach the cowlings' installed location at an angle while at the same time, you have to make sure the air scoop nozzle is going to mate correctly with the seal on the airbox.

I once met a guy with a cherry RV-6A at AirVenture. His cowl/spinner gap was so close, I had to ask him how he managed to remove the lower cowl. He admitted it was a tedious procedure and routinely used felt paper between the two surfaces to avoid scratching the very expensive paint job.

Now the -8 will be a different story altogether. With an IO-360 (no air scoop) installed and no nose strut to deal with, removing and reinstalling the lower cowl should be a piece of cake and I can build in the minimum cowl/spinner clearance possible. My guess...without actually ever having done so.....and I could be wrong....is that the lower cowl can simply be raised up into place...more or less...without any monkey motion involved.
 
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FWIW, I don't think many judges care how much clearance you have between spinner and cowl. What they do look for is a nice even gap with excellent fit, finish, and alignment.
 
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