REFLECTOR:Leading edge tape, Re::Catto prop incident ....

[Scott]

Hay I just though of something..

I don't have leading edge protective tape on my prop??

What did you use Jim?

Scott

At 12:20 PM 12/9/2003, you wrote:
>All,
>Just getting around to writing this story.  Wife and I flew our
>Velocity 173 FG IO-360 to Destin FL for the Thanksgiving
>holiday.  Coming back we went by way of Greensboro NC to spend
>Sunday night with relatives.  APC vectored me to a downwind
>about 5 mi abeam the runway.  About the time we leveled out at a
>couple thousand feet, we heard a bang ­ “… what the hell was
>that …?”.  I turned toward the runway and switched to tower and
>started checking the gauges.  Nothing unusual.  Had a nice
>undershooting x-wind so it took a while to get on the ground.
>After shutdown we inspected the plane and found a dink in the
>leading edge of the prop that you could put a kidney bean in,
>and a scratch on another blade.  Damage was greatly reduced IMO
>by the leading edge protective tape on the Catto prop.  No
>screws or anything missing off the cowl.  Then I saw it ­ about
>6” were missing off of the port side exhaust pipe.  It broke off
>right at the runner from #1 cylinder, squirted right out the
>exhaust nipple in the cowl and through the prop.
>
>There practically NO damage to the prop.  Amazing!  I called
>Craig Catto for advice on repairs and he reassured me that a
>little flox would fix it. We called Velocity Monday AM and
>Natalie was able to overnight us a regular steel pipe to use
>while she gets hold of a SS pipe for us.  We put it on Tuesday
>noon, wadded up some bread dough, stuffed it into the dink,
>covered it with duct tape for the uneventful flight home to CSV.
>
>Craig told me he has had several customers who have shed exhaust
>pipes, fuel caps, etc. through his props and incurred no
>significant damage. He said that a Long-EZ once shed its ENTIRE
>LOWER COWL through the one of his props and the airplane flew
>back home no sweat.  I contrast that with the Cozy a couple of
>years back that shed about the same size piece of exhaust as I
>did through a Performance prop ­ it broke one blade off, tore up
>another and the engine nearly shook out of the airplane in the
>time it took him to reach over and shut it down.  He was able to
>dead stick to a nice 5000’ runway, hitch hike home, get a new
>prop and retrieve his airplane a month or so later.  I never
>could have made the field from where my exhaust broke off.  That
>Catto prop of mine saved my bacon sure ‘nuff.
>
>All hail Catto …. Jim S.
>
>
>
>--
>Jim Sower
>Crossville, TN; Chapter 5
>Long-EZ N83RT, Velocity N4095T
>
>
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