AW: REFLECTOR: Aerocomposite Prop

Ueli Christen ueli at christen-air.ch
Wed Apr 5 21:00:10 CDT 2006


I have 223 hrs on my M-T prop – also no damage, no problems.

XL RG , IO 540

 

Ueli

 

  _____  

Von: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] Im
Auftrag von Velocity_AZ
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 5. April 2006 13:18
An: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Betreff: RE: REFLECTOR: Aerocomposite Prop

 

I have 212 hrs on my M-T prop - no damage, no problems (outside of the
grease leak which was fixed by M-T around 180 hours - and they did work with
me on the price of this repair).

 

Knocking on wood now.

 

Kevin

 

  _____  

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Rene Dugas
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 10:04 AM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: Aerocomposite Prop

Sorry you have had such bad luck and service.  I have the hydraulic MT and
IO-540 260 hp.  I have hit a few things and repaired a 3 inch gouge
-probably from a ¼” bolt I lost from the engine plenum that went thru the
strainer.  Balancing mine helped the vibrations a lot.  Mine has not been
off in three years except to originally paint the plane.  No grease leaks.
Numerous small grooves in the SS leading edge are present.  I have landed on
turf only once so limited rock exposure so far.  330 hrs so far and ok.  All
can look at the symposium if interested.  Engine oil is always on prop.  I
expect overhaul this next annual only because the prop is now six years old
and is near TBO by years  not use.   I love the design of the Aero Composite
prop.  I have been emailing and visiting at Oshkosh for three years
supporting the development from the stands.

Rene’ 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of HYTEC45 at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 3:35 PM
To: reflector at tvbf.org
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Aerocomposite Prop

 

In a message dated 4/4/2006 11:10:53 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
ajlz72756 at yahoo.com writes:

haven't purchased my prop yet and am interested in hearing more about your
problems with your MT prop. I thought this was the best prop that you could
buy and know that this is the suggested prop to use by Velocity. If others
are having the same problems that you are, I sure don't want to invest 11K
on a piece of crap. Please tell us what kind of problems that you are
having.

After I purchased my prop in 2000, I developed a fatigue crack in one of the
blades.  mt said that there is now a AD that restricts the operating RPM on
non-counterweighted engines like mine between 2250/2550.  Even though mt
never sent the AD out to owners on file, I had to fight tooth and nail for
them to repair the crack.  After that, even though I operated the propeller
out of the "restricted" range, I developed massive grease leaks.  American
propeller who services mt told me that mt has a big problem with grease
leaks, and now has a another modification that is needed to be done to
address that.  I had that mod. done, and continued to have grease leaks,
along with bearing wear requiring the replacement of bearings twice.  My
average operation of the prop between "return for repair" is around 44
hours.  I have under 290 hours of operation on the prop, and it has been off
five times.  mt admitted that the blade design as shipped on mine in 2000 is
not applicable to my four banger, so I have to PURCHASE new blades otherwise
I will continue to have bearing/seal/cracking problems.  This cost me 5K, as
I had to pay for installation, along with of course new bearings, and a
pitch change yoke even though the prop was just overhauled 45 hours prior.
After I ran those blades for a little over one hour, they developed almond
like blisters on 2 of the three blade tips.  These were decided by mt caused
by sap trapped within the wood core.  The fix was to drill holes in the
blisters, fly it a while to sling the sap out, then seal with 5 min. epoxie.
This still left these blisters (de lamination areas) on the top side of the
airfoil where the airfoil is critical.  Even though the prop only operated
for a little over one hour, they will not pay to remove the blades, but will
fix them if I pay to have the prop once again disassembled ($700.00) to send
the blades back.  This of course does nothing for my time of installation
and removal of the prop, or the down time on the plane.

 

My prop is also an electric controllable pitch, and probably 75% of my
additional problems are due to the electrical mechanism.  This includes
three pitch change motors replaced, three RPM sensor replaced, plus my time
troubleshooting and installing these items.

 

As I sit, I am developing grease seal leaks again with the "new and
improved" blades, along with RPM sensor problems which I was assured world
not happen with the new blade design.

 

mt now tells me the problems are related to either that I am running 10 to 1
pistons, and or I am running a light speed electronic ignition.  They only
tested the prop on a "standard" lycomming and since mine is not standard,
I'm on my own.

 

The reason that Velocity recommends the mt is because it's the ONLY constant
speed prop that will fit due to weight.  With the standard Velocities, you
could get away with a fixed pitch prop.  With the XL and /-5 a constant
speed is a must, and they (Velocity) would not have a viable/safe product in
the XL line without one.

 

I know that Velocity is very interested in the aerocomposite, and another
option may be soon available.  I hope so.

 

TEC

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