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REFLECTOR: IVOProp



Hi Mark,
 
My IVOProp blades had slight imperfections which I attributed to the
thick coat of gelcoat used for finishing.
 
After roughly 15 hours of flying, the blades get so beat up with nicks
from gravel on the runways, and blood and guts from chopping up 
thousands of little flying creatures that those imperfections seemd to
disappear.
 
Forget about the little dents, what you should inspect carefully is
the quality of the welding where the shaft meets the pivot arm. 
 
Make sure there is a nice thick bead of welding material evenly 
distributed around the hole of the pivot arm.  If there are any 
imperfections, the pivot arm will snap loose, causing that blade to 
go to and remain nutral when you vary the pitch.
 
Mine broke after 15 hours, IVO promptly replaced all three blades
even though only one was broken.  IVO has changed the welding
contractor and the new blades looks great.  I now have 49 hours on
my new set with no problems.
 
Order another set of washers (6) from IVO and keep them in your tool box.
The reason for this is, after re-torquing the hub bolts after each flight, 
eventualy the end of the bolt will come very close to the crankshaft 
mounting flange.  At that time, the bolts have to be removed one by one
and a second washer placed under the bolt head.  After that, within two 
or three re-torque the blades will stop compressing.
 
Please add the following to your checklist:
After checking oil level, CHECK PROP JOINT TAPE,  CHECK AND
RE-TORQUE  HUB BOLTS (65FtLbs),   LIFT BRUSH HOLDER  AND 
INSPECT BRUSHES (No spring showing). CHECK BLADES 6 INCHES
DOWN FROM TIP (Pitch change area) FOR  BULGING, CLEAN OIL
AND DEAD BUGS FROM BLADES.
 
Flew from White Plains NY (HPN) to the WingCo in Melbourne FL (MLB)
last tuesday to get some repairs done to the wings and a complete 
paint job.  The standard elite/Franklin/IVOProp combination is a dream 
to fly cross-country, smoooooth, responsive and quiet,
 
Mike Watson
Velocity Elite RG Franklin/IVO