REFLECTOR: Prop Strike

[KMis178813 at aol.com]

Hey Tim
   I can answer some of your questions. I had a incident at  Sun-n-Fun in 
April of 04 and took off about 1.5 inches, off the MT  prop, from the runway 
getting in my way. MT was there, looked at the prop,  and told me to cut the 
blades off evenly and straight. put 5 minute epoxy on the  bare wood (any epoxy 
would work for sealing the wood), and fire it up to check  for vibrations. If no 
vibrations were detected go ahead and fly home to VRB some  100 miles or so. 
At which point I was missing 2.75 inches per blade after cut  job and clean up.
     Well as you might think that was just a  little disconcerting for me, 
but I did it anyway. Almost home with white  knuckles on the throttle. Ready to 
pull idle at any point when a blade flew off,  hoping to keep the engine on 
the plane. I realized that I was about 9 kts faster  than ever before POINT HERE 
(great for racing). The problem was no static  thrust for take off. It 
increased my take off role at least 1000ft. After a lot  of thought, I decided to 
build Q-Tips for the blades  to regain the thrust  and keep the speed. The tips 
were made out of carbon fiber and attached  with carbon. The look fashioned 
the Prince Prop CO.  DON'T TRY this at home  but it worked!  Then I had someone 
dynamically balance the prop,  for any vibration left. I kept the speed the 
same or even a little better  and decreased the take off roll by 500ft (still 
500ft more than it should be).  The blades stayed for our entire summer family 
travel season and worked  fine until a Hanger/Employees/Management/ 
Workers/Wind problem broke two blades?  MT does not offer a Q-Tip so I'm back to original 
on all three.
     Just a minor inconvenience or maybe the edge you  needed for the race. I 
will be there next year for the race and I plan to  measure your prop to see 
what I'm up against. Good luck, be safe, and have  FUN.
                                                  
                                                         Ken Mishler   SUV 
N2087M   &
                                                        XLRG-5  w/TIO540 
under construction
 
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