The factory Tri-Gear Europa was damaged in a landing at Lakeland before
Arlington and did not fly out. It had nothing to do with the engine - the
nose gear had a weld fail. It does have a Whirlwind prop that was undamaged
in the incident (one advantage of 2 blade props!)and the plane will be at
Oshkosh.
The Airmaster and some of the other electric VP props do fully feather.
Currently the Whirlwind does not offer this although Bob from Europa
Lakeland said there has been some talk of it - maybe in the future? The
Rotax is easy to stop the prop turning and won't start windmilling again -
that is what saved the prop on the factory tri-gear. They were able to stop
it before landing when they knew the gear had a problem. Remember though
that even a two blade prop presents a lot of drag if it's not fully
feathered.
Bob Jacobsen
A131
From: Terry Seaver <terrys@cisco.com>
><kpav@worldnet.att.net>
>CC: wwpc@whirlwindpropellers.com
>Subject: Whirlwind prop for motor gliders?
>Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 09:28:18 -0700
>
>Hi all,
>
>I heard that during the Arlington fly-in the
>factory tri-gear with a Whirlwind prop had the
>engine shut down and the prop windmilled,
>continuing to turn over.
>I had heard that the Rotax engine would not
>windmill, that the prop would stop turning as
>soon as the ignition was turned off. This was
>an important consideration when ordering the
>glider wings. If props had the tendency to wind-
>mill, we would need a prop that feathers to
>motor glide. But since the Rotax 'does not'
>windmill, we bought the Whirlwind prop for
>our 912S.
>
>For Kim Prout and any others with the
>Whirlwind prop;
>
>Does it windmill with the engine off ?
>
>Does it stop at lower speeds, and what speed?
>
>If it stops at lower speed, will it start wind-
>milling again if the speed goes up again?
>
>If it does not stop windmilling at gliding speeds,
>can the Whirlwind prop be used for motor
>gliding on the Europa ? !!!
>
>With its higher compression, the 912S is
>less likely to windmill than the 912, which
>engine is in the factory tri gear that was
>shut down at Arlington ?
>
>Another question;
>The Whirlwind goes to fine pitch
>when the engine is stopped. Is this the
>least likely position for windmilling,
>or the most likely? (I have assumed
>it is the least likely).
>
>Terry Seaver
>A135
>
>
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