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daquanut(at)aol.com
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 Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:55 am Post subject: Brolga ultraprop |
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List:
Anyone have any first hand experience with the newer blades that ultraprop is offering for ultra-lights? It sounds like they are built something like powerfin. The info I read said they were made with carbon fiber over a foam core. If they dont flex too much they might be a suitable prop for a Firefly.
Ed Diebel FF# 62 ( 140 hrs)
[quote][b]
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Dana
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 1047
Location: Connecticut, USA
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| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:04 pm Post subject: Brolga ultraprop |
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At 02:17 PM 1/22/2010, daquanut(at)aol.com wrote:
| Quote: |
Anyone have any first hand experience with the newer blades that ultraprop is offering for ultra-lights? It sounds like they are built something like powerfin. The info I read said they were made with carbon fiber over a foam core. If they dont flex too much they might be a suitable prop for a Firefly. |
After seeing a Powerfin explode due to damage from gravel kicked up by a MKIII's tires, I'll stick to wood or solid composites like Warp Drive on any pusher aircaft.
I don't know what the new blades look like, but people I know who have tried Ultraprops have found them to be notoriously poor performers compared to other props. Also they're hard to adjust as you have to get new pitch blocks for each change.
-Dana
--
"If yew ain't livin' on th' edge, yer takin' up too much room!" [quote][b]
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lucien
Joined: 03 Jun 2007
Posts: 721
Location: santa fe, NM
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| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: Brolga ultraprop |
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[quote="Dana"]
| Quote: | After seeing a Powerfin explode due to damage from gravel kicked up by a MKIII's tires, I'll stick to wood or solid composites like Warp Drive on any pusher aircaft.
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For what it's worth, Powerfin changed the design of their blades slightly a while back. I used to have one of the old ones and currently have two of the new ones. The newer blades are slightly heavier and seem to be constructed differently. The older model really was a lightweight thing, but the new ones strike me as stronger overall.
There's no stronger pusher you can buy for the 912 than an F model powerfin, but it doesn't have the speed range (or the brick-house strength) of the Warp Drive taper tip.
Don't get me wrong I love my Powerfin because it makes my plane go up up up fast, but the speed range in the forward department goes to the Warp Drive.....
| Quote: |
I don't know what the new blades look like, but people I know who have tried Ultraprops have found them to be notoriously poor performers compared to other props. Also they're hard to adjust as you have to get new pitch blocks for each change.
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Flew an ultraprop on my quicksilver for about 70 hours when I first bought it. The blades were so floppy they would thwap up against the tail mount tubes when I was starting the engine (Rotax 503). All that time I thought the engine was detonating as it cranked up - it was hard to tell what the noise was while pulling the rope standing in front of the plane. Wasn't until one of the locals told me "hey, you know your prop blades are whacking up against your tail mounts..."....
Performance was somewhere between horrible and terrible. When I rebuilt the plane about a year after I bought it, I replaced the ultraprop with a 2-blade woody. The difference in performance was astounding.
An awful prop all around, tho I must say still very durable.....
LS
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LS
Titan II SS |
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John Hauck
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)
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| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:59 pm Post subject: Brolga ultraprop |
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> There's no stronger pusher you can buy for the 912 than an F model
powerfin, but it doesn't have the speed range of the Warp Drive taper tip.
| Quote: |
> Flew an ultraprop on my quicksilver for about 70 hours when I first
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bought it. The blades were so floppy they would thwap up against the tail
mount tubes when I was starting the engine (Rotax 503). All that time I
thought the engine was detonating as it cranked up - it was hard to tell
what the noise was while pulling the rope standing in front of the plane.
Wasn't until one of the locals told me "hey, you know your prop blades are
whacking up against your tail mounts..."....
Lucien/Gang:
How did you determine the F Model Powerfin was the strongest?
Is there a cut away diagram of the Powerfin construction available on line?
Since I don't fly very far without a prop, I chose the Warp Drive for all my
flights since 1993. I don't follow roads, so I have to have a prop I can
depend on to get me there and get me home.
My buddy John W flew with a Warp Drive for the same reasons.
70 hours is a long time to beat up the airframe with prop blades. I would
think the blade strikes would leave telltale marks on the aluminum tubes.
You are lucky.
I had a blade strike on my mkIII with a 70" inch tapered Warp Drive blade on
startup with my new 912ULS. The blades got the back side of the leading
edge tube and inboard rib tubes of the left flap. This was a few days prior
to take off for Alaska in 2000. Went from a 2" to a 4" prop extention. No
more problems. This was an early 912ULS without high torque starter and
slip clutch. I put over 800 hours on that engine before Rotax came out with
the starter/slip clutch offer. That made my 912ULS start like a baby.
$600.00 well spent.
john h
mkIII
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John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
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lucien
Joined: 03 Jun 2007
Posts: 721
Location: santa fe, NM
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| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:14 pm Post subject: Re: Brolga ultraprop |
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| John Hauck wrote: |
Lucien/Gang:
How did you determine the F Model Powerfin was the strongest?
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I meant strongest in terms of thrust, not strength of the prop itself (this is evident by climb rate, which is the highest with my powerfin at Vy and 5300 rpm than any other prop I've tried on the plane).
As for durability, If I were doing lots of soft/rough field ops I'd probably not feel quite as good about the powerfin as I do now. Very stiff and powerful blades, but they're not as durable as the Warp Drive no matter how you slice it. I still have mine and would probably mount it and put up with the harmonic if I were planning on any rough or dirty fields.
At my altitude, tho, the more climb the better and the powerfin has the slight edge here.
| Quote: |
70 hours is a long time to beat up the airframe with prop blades. I would
think the blade strikes would leave telltale marks on the aluminum tubes.
You are lucky.
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You're telling me. That was back in the bad old days when I was first starting out and didn't know a whole lot about what I was doing. I'm glad I survived those early years, I've learnt a lot since then.
I didn't even notice the marks at the time. When I tore the plane down later for its rebuild, you could see the indentations in the ends of the tail mount tubes.
Tough prop tho.
LS
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LS
Titan II SS |
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