E-Props seem to be the new rage

Hi Roger,

They are an amazing prop, friend of mine recently fitted one, gained 9kt improvement in top speed, no loss in climb rate, balance out of the box was excellent. The quality is extremely good. When removing so much at that arm, weight and balance must be considered.

They are very light weight compared to most on the market, They have a really great website that makes options available and you can configure, number of blades, hub spacer and spinner diameter. I am currently running a Kiev 263, and whilst very happy with it when it is due for replacement I will be going for an e-prop. They do a constant speed unit, however not seen one in person yet.

Regards,

Byron.

Heavily promoted here in Australia.

Reports are all (suspiciously) good.

Don't know what the magic (maths? or faith?) is but claims of improvements all round.

I have noticed that when people purchase a new piece of technology (car/boat/aircraft/prop/etc) they become deeply invested in its supposed superiority. Sometimes they get quit defensive if questions are asked (heresy!).

I am well aware that as new materials are invented (eg carbon fibre) and inventive people start to apply them in constructive ways improvements can & do happen, as does clever marketing. At the end of the day physics rules on this planet.

Deeply suspicious! (cynical old goat)

The prop flexes and allows more rpm in climb under load and in cruise it returns to it's regular pitch. Everyone seems to be reporting better climb and cruise speeds. Plus it's a much lighter prop than many others so less load/vibration to the engine. They are fairly rigid in their setup of the prop so at wide open throttle it should be right at 5500 rpm and no need to be higher. 

I haven't personally used one, but reports from all over seem to be good.

I believe the concept of a flexing prop, responding to the relationship between RPM & air speed has been around for quite some time. An in- flight-adjustable that moves in response to flight conditions without pilot (or these days computer) input. I also think the idea of a flexing prop has been tried before. Should the E-prop would achieve this it will be with with no moving parts.  Hopefully  the E-Prop people have come up with a reliable(no fatigue issues) and workable expression of this old idea. 

I bought a 3 blade for my RANS S-12 with a 912UL. It arrived yesterday but I couldn’t get it mounted today and have house guests showing up tomorrow staying through the weekend. After that, it is job #1 and I’ll report my findings. I got it in hope of reducing prop noise but I would appreciate equal or better performance. We shall see.