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kheindl(at)msn.com
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 Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:13 am Post subject: WOODCOMP FAILURE |
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i only just learned that there was a Woodcomp SR3000-2W failure 3 years ago. Has anyone got more information on this ? How is corrosion even possible in the aluminium hub ?
Karl?
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davidjoyce(at)doctors.org
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 8:57 am Post subject: WOODCOMP FAILURE |
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Karl, I believe it was actually an SR3000 2SP. The answer the company would give, I think, is that these sort of problems virtually only occur when owners ignore the prescribed services. Regards, David Joyce, GXSDJ
On 2019-03-15 10:07, Karl Heindl wrote: | Quote: |
i only just learned that there was a Woodcomp SR3000-2W failure 3 years ago. Has anyone got more information on this ? How is corrosion even possible in the aluminium hub ?
Karl?
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budyerly(at)msn.com
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:31 am Post subject: WOODCOMP FAILURE |
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Karl,
This may sound like an advertisement. I’m afraid it is somewhat, but just intended as a rant. I’ve installed many props and maintained many more. I’ve hung Airmasters, Warp Drives, Sensenich and Ivo’s on Rotax, Jabiru, UL, Eggenfeller now called Viking engines.
A number of Pipistrel owners have had failures of the SR3000 over the last 24 months. Mostly I have been given the following from Pipistrel Dealers in Colorado and Florida (Pipistrel factory is not releasing failures or writing them up): one blade departed the aircraft in flight (Canada Experimental) no previous damage reported pilot was able to land still under power, but the aircraft was trashed due to extreme vibration. Internal failure of the blade angle drive mechanism (two in the US) allowing one blade to turn/twist and the other (s) not, pilots reported extreme vibration and landed safely. One other that just wouldn’t track which seemed to be a pending failure of the blade bearing. All these Pipistrel aircraft had less than 150 hours. In the US, Pipistrel owners and some dealers are my best customers as I have had three Woodcomp owners change to the Airmaster in 2018 alone due to failures, and another this year so far as he sent the prop back because he was unable to find maintenance for the prop. Other Pipistrel owners have gone to the MT as they wanted a certified prop, which is a great prop also. The Pipistrel takes a 64 inch blade, same as the Europa.
Prop maintenance, I believe, is the main concern with others who have called me over the winter and are just looking, as once they become advised of the maintenance intervals and who has to do the maintenance, the maintenance inspection interval and repair costs become a concern for US owners. With a TBO of 1200 Hrs on most, and 60 months max between overhauls and on top of that, inspections must be made by qualified personnel every 150 hours, and at 300 hours the prop must be shipped back to the factory or authorized service center, so you can see why folks start looking at operating costs in the US. The Airmaster was the choice for these Pipistrel folks who had to fork out the cash for as the Airmaster. The Airmaster has a 2500 hour recommended overhaul on the whole prop, and maintenance that is easily performed by the owner operator or any aviation mechanic, so it was easy for these folks to upgrade.
Properly maintained by qualified people, the Woodcomp is a good prop. But it has to be maintained properly. Other European/Asian/Australian prop blades for experimental aircraft tend to be lighter than US made blades such as Whirlwind, Warp Drive or Sensenich, (Ivo excluded). I believe that may be some of the problem. Flexible blades tend to cause harmonic and fatigue problems in a CS hub (Kiev props are notorious). In the Airmaster, we have had reported vibration problems and blade skin separation of one or more of these flexible blades, and we replaced them with American Blades, so I have a list of blades I will not put into a constant speed hub EVER. These blades can’t take the hub twist as they flex too much under full power. Problem is, the US blades are heavier.
Just Google Woodcomp Propeller Failures (or any prop manufacturer for that matter) and you get many, but they are vague reasons or incomplete stories on the failure. Some of the prop failures are just dumb. Case in point: On post flight, the prop was found to have ½ inch missing from the tips and one of the blades was split. No vibration noticed, engine and prop ran fine. Warp Drive blade in an Airmaster AP332 hub. 150 hours TT. Of course what wasn’t reported is the pilot tried to land a motor glider at 90 knots and shoved the stick forward on nose wheel touchdown, just as he did in the 727, to stick it on. Prop strike was never entered into the comments. Plane and engine/prop ran fine. FBO personnel met the pilot when he was pushing the plane back in the hangar. Incident not reported to the Airport Authority or the FAA. So some failures have to be further investigated. Luckily, in this incident, the FBO and everyone at the airport heard the prop hit. The ego is a heck of a thing. $3500 repair. With an electric prop, the most common failure is: brushes and breaking of brush studs because they are brass and can’t hack 10 foot pounds of torque. Typical call or video is by Joe Bag of Doughnuts maintainer/pilot reporting a failure from not looking at the brushes. (Comment was typically “It stopped working!”, “Red lights flashing”) Seems to happen about every 300 hours. I ask, “Did you check your brushes?” and the answer is usually, “What brushes!” I’ll take those kind of failures. The prop stopped working and I’m OK but it was scary as that prop was stuck in cruise.
Practice prop failure just like runaway trim failure and fly the airplane as any automatic electric or hydraulic system failure must be anticipated and procedures and techniques practiced to compensate. Put the procedure in your checklist so you are not surprised. Keeps the heart rate down, and prevents brown stains on the cushions.
Best Regards,
Bud Yerly
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: owner-europa-list-server(at)matronics.com <owner-europa-list-server(at)matronics.com> on behalf of Karl Heindl <kheindl(at)msn.com>
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2019 6:07:28 AM
To: europa-list(at)matronics.com
Subject: WOODCOMP FAILURE
i only just learned that there was a Woodcomp SR3000-2W failure 3 years ago. Has anyone got more information on this ? How is corrosion even possible in the aluminium hub ?
Karl?
| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List |
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