Once again, the value of the europa-list and being part of this on-
line community was demonstrated to me.
Though I'm well aware of the advantages of CS props, I've opted for a
Ground Adjustable prop, at least for initial flight tests, for a
variety of reasons including cost, personal unfamiliarity w/ CS prop
ops, complexity, and cockpit workload issues. Finding the right prop
for Ms. Suburopa was not as easy as I'd anticipated...it was a
challenge to find one which could spin counter-clockwise, absorb 140
hp, rev. higher than 2700 rpm, and be not larger than 66" diameter.
Other than putting the cut-down Warp Drive blades in their GA hub, I
found nothing...until...I came across www.gaprop.eu...a Ukrainian
company which is affiliated w/ a Finnish company, Light Avia
(light.avia@gmail.com
).
While I was hesitant to deal w/ a company from so far away which had
no representation in the US, when I saw that the company had the
office in Finland, on a lark I emailed Raimo Tolvio...lo and behold,
the office was only 15 km from Raimo's home! He kindly volunteered to
check out the company, and thanks to him, my confidence became high
enough ultimately to wire transfer funds. When the prop was delivered
in Finland, Raimo again went to the Light Avia office, inspected each
part...and even repacked the parcel to ensure it would arrive safely
in the US.
I've just received 3 beautiful carbon-fiber blades (autoclaved w/ SS
leading edge) w/ padded covers, a CNC-machined, anodized alum. hub, a
90 mm CNC-machined aluminum extension, and all required bolts. The
prop is good for up to 150 hp and 2900 rpm. I consider the quality
superb w/ the exception of the "CW 8.8" stamped bolts which I know
nothing about...(my local auto parts store sez the "CW" stands for
Chinese Warehouse...I'm not sure if he was serious). Price for the
entire package, including 5 day shipping from Finland to the west
coast USA was 815 euros.
Of course, GA Prop / Light Avia make most of their props for Rotax 9XX
engines. As I'm not yet flying, I cannot offer any operational
experience, but I would certainly recommend giving this company
consideration if your're looking for a ground adjustable prop. Raimo
mentioned that he'd heard of impromptu static testing by Finnish
airmen which showed 20 to 30% increase in static thrust over the WD
blades set at equivalent blade angles and running at the same rpm.
Cheers,
Fred
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