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Airmaster Whirlwind blades

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richard.holder(at)outlook
Guest

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 10:13 am Post subject: Airmaster Whirlwind blades

Hi All



Has anyone in the UK tried the new Whirlwind blades to fit 

the Airmaster hub ? Great things are promised.



I just don't want to be the first to try them as the 

paperwork puts me off.



If someone has done it already please let me know.



Thanks



Richard Holder

G-OWWW

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stranfaer(at)btinternet.c
Guest

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 12:30 pm Post subject: Airmaster Whirlwind blades

Richard I am looking at this at the moment but need some support from the community 



Sent from my iPhone



 	  Quote: 	
		   On 14 Oct 2015, at 20:12, Richard Holder <richard.holder(at)outlook.com> wrote:

 

 

 

 Hi All

 

 Has anyone in the UK tried the new Whirlwind blades to fit the Airmaster hub ? Great things are promised.

 

 I just don't want to be the first to try them as the paperwork puts me off.

 

 If someone has done it already please let me know.

 

 Thanks

 

 Richard Holder

 G-OWWW

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steven.pitt2(at)ntlworld.
Guest

Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:18 am Post subject: Airmaster Whirlwind blades

Talk to Bud Yerly as he had them fitted at SunnFun this year and I was most 

impressed by their performance. Costs had not been worked out at that stage 

but Bud was going to test them during the Summer and let us have a report on 

progress.

Regards

Steve

---

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budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 1:20 pm Post subject: Airmaster Whirlwind blades

Richard,

I've been able to test the WhirlWind (WW) blades on my Europa with 914 for

the last six months.  I find them an excellent fit for the AP332 since the

blades can be swapped out easily.

That said, a new ferrule had to be made to install the WW blades into the

332 hub.  No direct cheap swap out I'm afraid.



Performance wise, it is slightly better and lighter than the wide chord Warp

Drive (WD).  If you have the narrow chord WD blades they are a whole lot

better.



We are limited in the Europa to 64 inches diameter and of course to the slow

turning Rotax.  With only a cruise RPM of 2050 prop RPM and 2500 Climb RPM

and a high speed airplane with a wide performance range we don't see a large

change in performance between the blades.  No amount of twist can compensate

for slow prop speed on a geared engine.  Propellers fly on torque so there 

is just so much you can do.



I've tested the two blade, three blade WD, Sensenich (Sen) and WW blades.

Performance at nominal cruise up to 7500 feet is not a lot different between

the three (3-8 knots).  The two blade Sen is lighter (19 pounds) and

noisier.  The three blade WD is heavy at 26 pounds and the WW is slightly

lighter and spins faster on start.



Data for the three indicate the WW climbs slightly better (50 fpm) and is

faster than the WD at 7500-10,000 feet by about 5-6 knots at 5000/31 and

about equal at the lower altitudes and lower RPMs.  The two blade Sensenich

is slightly slower than the WW (2-3 knots) but equal in climb to the WW 

three blade, but it is

noisier.  I do like the two blade as it is easier to remove the cowl on a

trigear aircraft with it installed.



The wide chord WD is brutally strong, wears like iron and will mow the grass

on most fields without requiring any cleanup.  Chips can be cared for with

epoxy.  Typically the WD will go many years before needing blade service.

Each blade costs about $100 US for a complete refurbishment.  Then its good

for another ten years.  The finish is flat paint and the nickel tape is flat

also, so it's not a classy looking blade with its square tips.  The tapered

blades lower the inertial forces during start and I have said "The tapered 

blades are

only good for converting fuel into noise as far as I'm concerned", but that

is unfair.  They are just slow.



Both the Sensenich and WW have nickel leading edges but have a clear coat

over it so the clear coat tends to wear off in rain and sand (what we have

mostly in Florida).  It makes the prop look nasty after a year of hard 

flying without

touchup.  Of course both of these blades are hollow core (Sensenich) or foam

(WW) so care must be taken if damage is evident.



I must admit my favorite for looks and performance is the WW.  My favorite

for engine maintenance and CG is the Sensenich, and if I was operating off

of an unimproved field full of rocks, I'd take the performance hit and fly

the WD.



Jim Butcher is going to test the WW blades against his WD blades on his 914 

mono.  Then we will

compare notes and publish the data formally.



I've attached a document from my website on propeller testing techniques on 

the Europa.

Take a look at the techniques page and down load the pdf.



It always amazes me that folks do not do extensive testing of their 

aircraft.  I realize that when built straight, this aircraft is nearly 

bullet proof so why bother.

That said, it is gratifying to do a 2000 mile cross country in your bird and 

only have to put gas in and be able to look at the range you need and simply 

adjust the throttle

to get the desired miles per gallon necessary for the winds to flight plan. 

This is possible because you have iron clad data on your 

aircraft/engine/propeller you personally have tested.



I hope this helps.



Best Regards,

Bud Yerly

Custom Flight Creations.

--

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proptst.pdf.pdf

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proptst.pdf.pdf

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Downloaded:

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steven.pitt2(at)ntlworld.
Guest

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:01 am Post subject: Airmaster Whirlwind blades

Great response Bud. Thanks for the update - we have another Europa Flyer due 

out in early December so some detailed flight testing of the 3 blades would 

be useful.

Regards

Steve

---

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Duncan McFadyean

Joined: 18 Jan 2011
Posts: 222

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:58 am Post subject: Airmaster Whirlwind blades

Useful and interesting comparison, and seems to confirm Sensenich's view of their own propeller, which they quoted to me: "......it is not for fast aircraft like the Europa". But then nor is the WD (as the tests also confirm)!

    

   Duncan McF.

   

 

   

 

 --

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