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Catto Prop - rain

Flybuddy2

Flybuddy2

Well Known Member
Flew my RV6A nearly 2 hours this past Friday in moderate and heavy rain. Got some serious prop erosion. Older prop with 500+ hours on it and no leading edge protection. Photos below:
The 2 blades not showing had minimal erosion, mostly paint and roughened up the glass a bit. Sanding alone was OK for repair. The blade in the photo though was fairly rough and it seems split and delam looking straight down. Possible there was a prior tip repair which let go in the rain. I debated repairing or sending back to Craig Catto. Emailed him and he answered on the weekend. He said he can easily repair, repaint and add prop tape all for a very reasonable price and only needs about a week to complete. Why risk a marginal job on my own with service like that from a professional. Kudos to Craig!!
P.S. I also had owned a Velocity with a Catto prop and prop tape. The prop looked new after nearly two years and had no rain issues. Overall, a strong, reliable prop with excellent performance. Tom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flybuddy/
 
I fly a DA-20 with a composite covered wood prop. I've also had issues when flying in rain. My RV-7A is going to be full IFR. I didn't want to build a plastic airplane (Lancair) nor do I want a plastic prop. I've heard good things about MT and Catto, but it just makes no sense why an IFR flyer would want something other than metal.
 
That looks pretty bad for just rain. Was there a previous repair to the area?
Rain erosion is usually pretty linear across the blade, getting worse the further toward the tip.... Looks kinda like the blade took a rock or something...
Good on Craig for the repair.

DM
RV-4
O-320- MT prop
 
Was this the plane you just purchased from Pierre Smith?
That's a shame.
I've flown thru intermitant rain but always reduced the rpm to 2150.

I've considered adding the edge tape but didn't want to package up a 3 blade prop and ship it across the country from FL to CA.
 
Tom,

I feel your pain. I did the same thing to my Catto a few years back. I spent about 1.5 hours in solid IMC and moderate-heavy rain at about 2600 RPM (pretty stupid in hindsight, I know. I've spent years beating myself up over this.) All 3 of my blades were as bad/ worse than yours are. Craig did a great job of fixing the damage, charged a very reasonable price (around $150 IIRC) and shipped it back with Propguard tape installed.

Since then, I've been more respectful about flying in rain, and always reduce the RPM to 2400 in any rain and 2300 in anything more than light rain, and have had no further issues in the 300+ hours since. The whole experience did not reduce my enthusiasm for the prop one bit.

@Dan- no need to ship it. You can buy the tape from Spruce and apply it yourself. It is not a big job at all and very doable. I just replaced mine since it was getting a little worn after several years of use. The worst part was getting the old adhesive off the prop (Goo Gone is the product for this- and lots of elbow grease.)
 
Yes, I was picking up this airplane. It was first flight for me. I kept the rpm at 2250 for the majority of the trip but the rpm did vary some (turbulence and alt changes). Dan--Aircraft Spruce has the tape (prop guard), it's about 60 bucks. I had it on the Velocity, not that big a deal to install. I ran 2500 rpm and up in rain with the Velo and never had any leading edge issues. The tape is pretty durable although it is tough to keep it on the curved edges of the prop tip. Tom
 
Ouch...

We were in some rain going bsck as well but I'd take Craig up on his offer this time'

Pierre in Reno
 
Thanks guys, I'll check out the prop guard tape.
I've got some minor wear on the wing tip area that I'd like to address.
 
BTW, The "Prop-Guard" tape comes in a single piece. A "2-blade" kit is plenty for the Catto 3-blade prop.
 
Tom,

Congratulations on the new airplane; it looks beautiful. I'm sorry to hear about the prop. I wish I had known you were picking it up on Friday as I flew north; I would have given you a lift. When I came back, the ceiling were ~450; I got in the soup north of Ocala and never saw the ground again until I broke out on the ILS. Were you able to get the airplane home?

A good IFR day; I hope we have another soon so that I can log a couple more approaches.

P.S. Bob Spry, an EAA chapter member, is looking for a RV-7, preferably a A model. Slider is a must, and a VFR panel is preferred. Did you find one while you searched for your bird?
 
Thx for the thought Paul, there were several Buckingham neighbors that offered a ride for pick up. Yup, the weather was no bargain and worse than forecast. Started out VFR and had to file IFR south of Ocala. Was 300 ovc at Buckingham, went to Page and let it sit overnight..Tom
 
First flight in a new to you homebuuilt into 2+ hours of mod to heavy rain?
Seriously?

Sorry but that needs to be said.
 
Flybuddy2 said:
..... Sanding alone was OK for repair. The blade in the photo though was fairly rough and it seems split and delam looking straight down. Possible there was a prior tip repair which let go in the rain. I debated repairing or sending back to Craig Catto. Emailed him and he answered on the weekend. He said he can easily repair, repaint and add prop tape all for a very reasonable price and only needs about a week to complete. Why risk a marginal job on my own with service like that from a professional. Kudos to Craig!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flybuddy/
Click to expand...

This prop needs more than just a file and repaint! I want to STRONGLY reinforce Pierre's advise that you send this prop to Craig.
The minor downtime and expense will be well worth it!
Good Luck!
 
DAGO said:
Mel,
For a Catto 3-blade prop, what width would you recommend cutting the tape?
Regards,
Click to expand...

The "Prop guard" tape comes already cut in width. Just get a 2-blade kit and cut it into thirds. That will give you 21.6" for each blade.
 
Last edited:
The factory applied tape by Catto is less than an inch from leading edge, so fairly thin.
YES...Craig Catto already has the prop--shipped Fedex yesterday.
YES...IFR on first flight--that wasn't the plan, the forecast was for 1500' plus ceilings and scattered light rain. Plane is in great shape and capable. PIC had 5000 hours and right seater was a CFI RV6 owner so we were up to the task. Still, a lousy way to start out.
 
If...

you don't mind me asking, what was the Fed-Ex Cost? How did you box it up?


Flybuddy2 said:
The factory applied tape by Catto is less than an inch from leading edge, so fairly thin.
YES...Craig Catto already has the prop--shipped Fedex yesterday.
YES...IFR on first flight--that wasn't the plan, the forecast was for 1500' plus ceilings and scattered light rain. Plane is in great shape and capable. PIC had 5000 hours and right seater was a CFI RV6 owner so we were up to the task. Still, a lousy way to start out.
Click to expand...
 
LifeofReiley said:
you don't mind me asking, what was the Fed-Ex Cost? How did you box it up?
Click to expand...

Here's a cost chart with Fedex and UPS (PO won't take due to size)
I pulled prices off of shipping sidekick website.
Next Day
$306.51 - Fedex $493.19 - UPS

$399.23 - UPS (2nd day)
$202.45 - Fedex

$284.92 - UPS (3rd day)
$165.98 - Fedex

$129.40 - UPS (4th day)
$87.72 - Fedex

A lot is going to depend on how you're packing it since they both do dimensional pricing (the weight alone would be a heck of a lot cheaper)

Packing wise, I used a lot of bubble wrap over the entire prop. I used a large box where only about 12 in of each blade stuck out (It's a 3 blade). I put more wrap over the tips covered with cardboard and then a tube type box over each blade.
 
TCONROY said:
I fly a DA-20 with a composite covered wood prop. I've also had issues when flying in rain. My RV-7A is going to be full IFR. I didn't want to build a plastic airplane (Lancair) nor do I want a plastic prop. I've heard good things about MT and Catto, but it just makes no sense why an IFR flyer would want something other than metal.
Click to expand...

The Beech 1900 has full composite blades and it operates commercially in IFR weather conditions. "Plastic" props offer allot more then you can imagine. Heck, even the Boeing 777 with the GE-90 engine has composite fan blades...

Here's a Hartzell propeller with nickel leading edge erosion shield. It will go through rain as well as any aluminium prop yet it has less rotating weight then the former.

http://www.hartzellprop.com/pressroom/pr_htm/pr_06_07_95.htm
 
Flybuddy2 said:
...YES...IFR on first flight--that wasn't the plan, the forecast was for 1500' plus ceilings and scattered light rain. Plane is in great shape and capable. PIC had 5000 hours and right seater was a CFI RV6 owner so we were up to the task. Still, a lousy way to start out.
Click to expand...

Let us get this straight. On the first flight of this aircraft you not only went IFR but you also had a passenger with you?

The third strike must have gone foul.
 
N941WR said:
Let us get this straight. On the first flight of this aircraft you not only went IFR but you also had a passenger with you?

The third strike must have gone foul.
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If I've got this correct......

This is Pierre Smith's airplane, which he sold and replaced with a RV-10


RV6A (Sojourner) 180 HP, Catto 3 Bl (502Hrs), going, going..GONE and delivered

L.Adamson
 
L.Adamson said:
If I've got this correct......

This is Pierre Smith's airplane, which he sold and replaced with a RV-10


RV6A (Sojourner) 180 HP, Catto 3 Bl (502Hrs), going, going..GONE and delivered

L.Adamson
Click to expand...

Thanks Larry, I missed that part. I was thinking it was a first test flight. Good to hear that was not the case!
 
Gosh, I was thinking you guys were overly conservative. Guess I didn't mention it was not a new plane. I use to ferry aircraft and had my share of IFR first flights in unfamiliar aircraft.
 
Saw a bumper sticker today... loved it, "Wag More and Bark Less".


Flybuddy2 said:
Gosh, I was thinking you guys were overly conservative. Guess I didn't mention it was not a new plane. I use to ferry aircraft and had my share of IFR first flights in unfamiliar aircraft.
Click to expand...
 
Mel said:
The "Prop guard" tape comes already cut in width. Just get a 2-blade kit and cut it into thirds. That will give you 21.6" for each blade.
Click to expand...
I just replaced the tape on my Catto a couple months ago. I carefully removed one of the old tapes to use as a template. The strip of tape is 19" long, and is factory cut at 2" wide. Starting at 8" from the tip, it tapers down in a straight taper to 1/4 inch wide at the tip. In other words, the inner 11" are straight 2" wide, and the outer 8" are tapered down. This makes it much easier to stretch and wrap around the crescent shaped tips. Start the tape 1" from the tip of the prop (which is actually on the trailing edge of the crescent shape.

Does this make sense?
 
Ask "Radar"

TCONROY said:
I fly a DA-20 with a composite covered wood prop. I've also had issues when flying in rain. My RV-7A is going to be full IFR. I didn't want to build a plastic airplane (Lancair) nor do I want a plastic prop. I've heard good things about MT and Catto, but it just makes no sense why an IFR flyer would want something other than metal.
Click to expand...

Can't speak for the other composite props, but I fly my Whirlwind 200RV composite prop at full throttle in all sorts of weather and have no erosion problems. It does have a nickel leading edge. I do wonder why anyone would put a wooden prop on an RV. What's the point of having a 165 knot airplane if you have to slow to 2200 RPM every time you encounter rain? Wooden props, with the exception on those selected for very specific purposes such as raceing, belong on J-3 Cubs and the like.

(The above is solely my opinion and is worth exactly what you paid for it! :D)
 
ronschreck said:
I do wonder why anyone would put a wooden prop on an RV. What's the point of having a 165 knot airplane if you have to slow to 2200 RPM every time you encounter rain? Wooden props, with the exception on those selected for very specific purposes such as racing, belong on J-3 Cubs and the like.
(The above is solely my opinion and is worth exactly what you paid for it! :D)
Click to expand...
Because wood props are inexpensive, light weight, very smooth, and pretty. And if you check history, before most of Van's offerings were customer driven, that's what he recommended.
And just as an aside, many of us fly very little in rain.
 
Got a pic of this tip taped?


sprucemoose said:
I just replaced the tape on my Catto a couple months ago. I carefully removed one of the old tapes to use as a template. The strip of tape is 19" long, and is factory cut at 2" wide. Starting at 8" from the tip, it tapers down in a straight taper to 1/4 inch wide at the tip. In other words, the inner 11" are straight 2" wide, and the outer 8" are tapered down. This makes it much easier to stretch and wrap around the crescent shaped tips. Start the tape 1" from the tip of the prop (which is actually on the trailing edge of the crescent shape.

Does this make sense?
Click to expand...
 
Unfortunately no. I can take one next time I'm at the airport, but that may not be for a week or so. Winter has arrived with a vengeance here in the tropical midwest.
 
Mel said:
Because wood props are inexpensive, light weight, very smooth, and pretty. And if you check history, before most of Van's offerings were customer driven, that's what he recommended.
And just as an aside, many of us fly very little in rain.
Click to expand...

Well said Mel.
Not much rain here in FL and most is avoidable. The not avoidable, is something I care not to fly thru. Too much lightning.
 
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