REFLECTOR:MT Prop went missing
Chuck Jensen
reflector@tvbf.org
Sun, 4 Apr 2004 10:39:16 -0400
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Greg,
Sad story. When I bought the plane, it had a stone hit on one blade that
left a gouge and split the stainless steel leading edge (about half way down
the blade). I didn't know it at the time of purchase because it'd been
filled with body putty and painted over. Later, what appeared to be a
fatigue crack developed, but upon inspection, it was found to be the body
putty cracking. I was a little put out. Not only was body putty used to
repair a gouge in the prop, but it was probably cheap body putty.
Long and short of it, the AI wouldn't sign-off without MT inspecting and
assessing and MT wouldn't return the prop without repair. The previous
owner contends that he didn't know it was there but at any rate, it was just
"cosmetic" (seems contradictory) and for me to say it could lead to loss of
craft and life was a wild exaggeration because no MT prop had ever been lost
from that type damage due to the nature of design/construction of the
composite prop. I didn't know if this was true but had no concrete examples
to the contrary until seeing your photo/writeup. If any photos survive out
there, I would be appreciative.
In the end, 6 weeks on the ground and several thousand dollars later, I have
piece of mind that there is a high likelihood that when I land, I will do so
with exactly 3.0 prop blades.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-admin@tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-admin@tvbf.org]On Behalf Of
Greg Poole
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 7:04 AM
To: reflector@tvbf.org
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR:MT Prop went missing
Yes, they were my shots of the XL RG I helped build Chuck. It belonged to
Leon Howe. This aircraft was sold back to the US quite cheaply and now has
full glass panel. I was travelling in the aircraft to an AOPA AGM with Leon
when we lost 4.5" off one blade and around 3" off another ....I did mail
some pictures to several individuals on the Reflector at the time so if they
still have them would they please forward them. Anyway, we had just begun
our descent from 8,500ft when there was a quick bang and then a rapid
vibration which shook the airframe. The vibration was sufficient to cause
the oil seal on the rear of the engine to release oil but not to affect the
engine mounts. The vibration was very noticeable and caused considerable
concern
We did not know if we had a problem such as flutter with a control surface,
a cowl coming loose or what. When we landed I noticed two of the prop tips
were missing and the S/S leading edge of those blades clean cut through. The
remnants of the two blades looked like they had been subject to some
fatiguing after the stainless had been cut. To this day we don't know
whether it was a function of stone damage on takeoff or something departing
the engine bay. It seemed funny that this occurred immediate to a change of
aircraft attitude which would suggest a steel ruler or something may have
been left in the engine bay but we had so much problem with stone damage to
the MT propellor - even the replacement unit appeared damaged with one
takeoff and landing when we brought the XL back to Sydney (most of our
regional aerodromes have bitumen strips with a gravel aggregate over here).
Um, what prompted the queston Chuck?
Greg in Sydney.
----- Original Message -----
From: Chuck <mailto:cjensen@dts9000.com> Jensen
To: 'reflector@tvbf.org' <mailto:'reflector@tvbf.org'>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 4:37 AM
Subject: REFLECTOR:MT Prop went missing
Greg, is that your photo in the Reflector gallery with an IO-540 in
Australia that lost 4.5" off the tip of one MT prop, apparently from stone
damage. Or was it someone else from Australia. If it was yours, what
happened and what did it feel like? Or is it some guy named "Moree?"
http://www.tvbf.org/gallery/?display=completed_airplanes%2FXL%20at%20Moree.j
pg
<http://www.tvbf.org/gallery/?display=completed_airplanes%2FXL%20at%20Moree.
jpg>
Curious minds want to know.
Chuck
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<BODY lang=EN-US vLink=blue link=blue bgColor=white>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Greg,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Sad
story. When I bought the plane, it had a stone hit on one blade that left
a gouge and split the stainless steel leading edge (about half way down the
blade). I didn't know it at the time of purchase because it'd been filled
with body putty and painted over. Later, what appeared to be a
fatigue crack developed, but upon inspection, it was found to be the body
putty cracking. I was a little put out. Not only was body putty used
to repair a gouge in the prop, but it was probably cheap body
putty.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Long
and short of it, the AI wouldn't sign-off without MT inspecting and assessing
and MT wouldn't return the prop without repair. The previous owner
contends that he didn't know it was there but at any rate, it was just
"cosmetic" (seems contradictory) and for me to say it could lead to loss of
craft and life was a wild exaggeration because no MT prop had ever been lost
from that type damage due to the nature of design/construction of the
composite prop. I didn't know if this was true but had no concrete
examples to the contrary until seeing your photo/writeup. If any photos
survive out there, I would be appreciative.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>In the
end, 6 weeks on the ground and several thousand dollars later, I have piece of
mind that there is a high likelihood that when I land, I will do so with exactly
3.0 prop blades.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Chuck</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=906381514-04042004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> reflector-admin@tvbf.org
[mailto:reflector-admin@tvbf.org]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Greg
Poole<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, April 04, 2004 7:04 AM<BR><B>To:</B>
reflector@tvbf.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: REFLECTOR:MT Prop went
missing<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>Yes, they were my shots of the XL RG I helped build Chuck. It
belonged to Leon Howe. This aircraft was sold back to the US quite cheaply and
now has full glass panel. I was travelling in the aircraft to an AOPA AGM with
Leon when we lost 4.5" off one blade and around 3" off another ....I did mail
some pictures to several individuals on the Reflector at the time so if they
still have them would they please forward them. Anyway, we had just begun our
descent from 8,500ft when there was a quick bang and then a rapid vibration
which shook the airframe. The vibration was sufficient to cause the oil seal
on the rear of the engine to release oil but not to affect the engine mounts.
The vibration was very noticeable and caused considerable concern</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We did not know if we had a problem such as flutter with a control
surface, a cowl coming loose or what. When we landed I noticed two of the prop
tips were missing and the S/S leading edge of those blades clean cut through.
The remnants of the two blades looked like they had been subject to some
fatiguing after the stainless had been cut. To this day we don't know whether
it was a function of stone damage on takeoff or something departing the engine
bay. It seemed funny that this occurred immediate to a change of aircraft
attitude which would suggest a steel ruler or something may have been left in
the engine bay but we had so much problem with stone damage to the MT
propellor - even the replacement unit appeared damaged with one takeoff and
landing when we brought the XL back to Sydney (most of our regional aerodromes
have bitumen strips with a gravel aggregate over here).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Um, what prompted the queston Chuck?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Greg in Sydney.</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=cjensen@dts9000.com href="mailto:cjensen@dts9000.com">Chuck
Jensen</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=reflector@tvbf.org
href="mailto:'reflector@tvbf.org'">'reflector@tvbf.org'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, April 04, 2004 4:37
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> REFLECTOR:MT Prop went
missing</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=984502318-03042004>Greg, is that your photo in the Reflector gallery
with an IO-540 in Australia that lost 4.5" off the tip of one MT prop,
apparently from stone damage. Or was it someone else from
Australia. If it was yours, what happened and what did it feel
like? Or is it some guy named "Moree?"</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=984502318-03042004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=984502318-03042004><A
href="http://www.tvbf.org/gallery/?display=completed_airplanes%2FXL%20at%20Moree.jpg">http://www.tvbf.org/gallery/?display=completed_airplanes%2FXL%20at%20Moree.jpg</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=984502318-03042004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=984502318-03042004>Curious minds want to know.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=984502318-03042004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=984502318-03042004>Chuck</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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