Dear Europaphiles,
There has been quite a bit of discussion lately regarding choice of
propeller. If you have not bought your prop yet, you may wish to
consider a Whirlwind hydraulic constant speed prop. See
http://www.whirlwindaviation.com/series100.php
I have flown 500 + hours with mine from new and have found it to be
highly reliable and it gives excellent performance. It is also one of
the lightest props available with a weight of 9.3 lbs. I bought it after
hearing Kim Prout at Oshkosh many years ago. Paraphrasing, he said that
it was the most significant single contribution to the performance of
his Europa. I believe that the Series 100 Whirlwind prop was designed
specifically for the Europa and for details of the performance of Kim's
plane, you can see the CAFE report at
http://cafefoundation.org/v2/pdf_apr/Europa%20APR.pdf As you will see,
Kim's Europa Classic with the 80 HP 912 is no slouch. For take-off, I
set the vernier control to max which gives 5,800 rpm and after take-off,
one can easily wind back to 5,500 rpm while remaining at full throttle.
I normally cruise at settings between 5,100 and 5,500 rpm.
To install this prop on a 912/ 912S/914, you must have the gearbox
modification which allows the governor to supply control pressure oil to
the hollow drive shaft. It is preferable to specify this before you take
delivery of the engine. The Czech made Jihostroj governor which is
supplied as part of the package has proved to be completely reliable and
is very accurate. The governor mounts on the engine auxiliary pad which
is normally used for a vacuum pump, so one has to rely on non-vacuum
instruments.
I have no business relationship with Whirlwind. Please contact if you
have any questions.
Cheers, John
N262WF, mono XS, 912S
Mooresville, North Carolina
704-664-4167
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