Catto/spinner mismatch

Today I finished installing a new Catto prop. Compared to the metal Sensenich, it is so smooooth. It doesn't seem to be quite as fast. At 6,000' my 0-320 turned 2800 rpm, with an indicated A/S of 188mph.
The problem is that the front bulkhead does not allow the spinner to fully reach the rear bulkhead. It is 1/8" short. I used a dremmel(sp) to lightly smooth the inside of the spinner, as much as I dare.
Suggestions???

Bill Newkirk
N283RV

????

Just curiosity, what were your numbers before and what has it done to your weight and balance?
My RV3 has a wood prop, the battery is in the trunk and I still run out of trim on final, no big deal.
Robert Ruggles
Surprise Az.

N13BN said:

The problem is that the front bulkhead does not allow the spinner to fully reach the rear bulkhead. It is 1/8" short. I used a dremmel(sp) to lightly smooth the inside of the spinner, as much as I dare.
Suggestions???

Bill Newkirk
N283RV

Click to expand...

Bill,

I hate to ask the obvious, but is the crush plate installed in front of the front bulkhead?

What are the specs on your prop? If Catto added pitch beyond the 76" on mine, the hub thickness might have been increased.

Tony

Obvious

Tony;
Yes it is in front, but I had to ask before I installed it. My prop is a 64 X 84.
With the metal Sensenich the weight and balance was pretty far forward. I found it most comfortable to fly using a 22# bag of Old Roy dogfood, in addition to some tools. Yesterday with the Catto and no dogfood it felt balanced flying but I still ran out of trim on landing.
On takeoff, under full power, the right wing seemed heavier than before, but when I reached about 160 mph it seemed to feel pretty well-balanced.

Bill Newkirk

Bill,

My Catto prop is a 68 x 76, and has 2" more pitch than Catto recommended. Who recommended a 64 x 84 for your application? My guess is that because of all the extra pitch, your prop hub is thicker than standard, which moves the bulkheads farther apart.

Tony

My Catto is a 68x82 on a pretty strong 0320, can pull 2800rpm up to about 8000'. Vans stock spinner kit fit fine with minimal trimming. You mentioned that someone at Catto told you the prop would WORK on an 0320 RV3 but IMO it was never designed for an RV.
TM

Approach trim

Regarding the comments everyone is making on inadequate trim for landing, I'm not sure I've ever heard of an RV-3, regardless of CG, that can fully trim for approach speed. Anyone have one that will trim out? Mine sure won't.

catto prop

when you change from metal to a wood prop you need to get the front bulkhead for wood. the metal bulkhead does not work with a wood prop. call van's and ask them to ship just the front bulkhead from the wood spinner kit. i had to do this. costs about 13 bucks. it fits very tight don't even thave to put the screws in.

dan carley
RV4
N14FT

Catto prop

Tin Man, what made you think the prop was not made for an RV? You happen to be right. It was made for a Wittman Tailwind. Craig Catto had it sitting around. I think I'm pretty happy with it. It trued out to 218 mph at 2750 - 2800 rpm. I'm not used to running the engine that fast. I'm curious to find out fuel consumption. I wasn't in love with the metal Sensenich, but it did give good fuel mileage. I plan on taking it 300 miles to San Diego this week, so I will have something to compare it with.
Tomorrow I'll call Vans about the bulkhead.
By the way, just dinkin' around at 2200 rpm it is so smooth and quiet.

Bill Newkirk

Speed

Just a short update on my Catto prop performance. At 8000 ft., 2780 rpm wide-open, indicated A/S was 184 mph. This trued out to 214 mph.
I'm happy. I finally got the spinner to fit.

Bill Newkirk