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What Catto prop in recommended

ron sterba

Well Known Member
I have a IO 320 D1A in my RV9A. What model three bladed CATTO prop would you recommend that would allow me to get 2600 RPMS.

Thanks Ron in Oregon.
 
You seriously need to ask Craig. They are smoking busy right now with Reno but give him a few weeks and all will be back to normal....
Anything else you get here may be of iffy value but, hopefully, other's experience offered will be with EXACTLY the same setup. If you're stock it's easier both ways. Good luck, great Props!
 
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For sure. Craig is Da Man ... he's forgotten more about props than most will ever know. Not to mention one of the nicest guys in the business. :)
 
Pretty much the same combo. Mine is the 3 blade with nickel leading edge. It's a 67x71. Built by Craig last fall. Going to be mounted on my engine, a 160hp IO-320-E1A, in a few weeks.
 
Keep in mind that every time Craig changes his design just a little, dia/pitch relevance changes also.
 
Thanks Mel, Mel are you able to get 2600 rpms out of your o-320?

Scott have fun building that ship,sounds like you have a good combo of machinery.

Ron in Oregon RV9A
 
Although I got my Catto 2003 (which means my prop is a couple of generations old), Craig asked me questions about my engine/airframe combo (IO-360-A3B6D/RV-8) and designed a 3 blade 66x78 for me.

WOT @8000 gives me 2750RPM and 190kts.

Now, being cheap, I normally run 2400RPM for 165kts LOP, but that is beside the point :D
 
Thanks Mel, Mel are you able to get 2600 rpms out of your o-320?
Scott have fun building that ship,sounds like you have a good combo of machinery.
Ron in Oregon RV9A

My RPMs top out at 2750, WOT @ 8,000' DA.
This is what I asked for and this is exactly what I got.
I have no problem getting out of my 1500' strip @ gross weight in the Texas summer.
 
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Mel and Mark thanks for the feed back. Do you find that the 3 blade prop slows you down faster when you pull the throttle back,,,,,say in the pattern? I understand the 3 blade also runs smoother less vibration in the cockpit.

Cheers
Ron in Oregon.
 
Mel and Mark thanks for the feed back. Do you find that the 3 blade prop slows you down faster when you pull the throttle back,,,,,say in the pattern? I understand the 3 blade also runs smoother less vibration in the cockpit.
Cheers
Ron in Oregon.

Slowing down is NOT a benefit of these props. I takes a little discipline to slow down. Extremely smooth and quiet. And did i mention "sexy looking"?
 
I have a 2010-vintage 3-blade, 68" dia, pitch 70. I got it just before the first generation of nickel leading edges were offered. Per Craig's rating, in cruise it will spin to 2800, even at 8000' PA. Gives me all the performance I had desired or expected. :D
 
Higher altitude

So have a question if you are getting 2750 wot @ 8000 da, what happens at 14000 da? Do you gotta pull back the throttle or does rpm come down? I am planning the same setup in my rv9. But plan to cruise higher.
 
Thanks Terry, now there's two Rv with the same prop, sounds like this is model to get but with the nickel leading edge. I hope to hear more experience on the Catto 3 blade, Terry is it really quitter and a less vibration?

Cheers Ron in Oregon. RV9A
 
So have a question if you are getting 2750 wot @ 8000 da, what happens at 14000 da? Do you gotta pull back the throttle or does rpm come down? I am planning the same setup in my rv9. But plan to cruise higher.

No idea. I have never been above 9000' (my home field is at 400' and the highest hills within 500 miles are less than 4000').

If I had planned to fly at that height with any regularity, I would have mentioned that to Craig and I'm sure he would have done his magic to make it work :)
 
Catto

Catto Rocks ! I cant tell you enough how awesome his whole staff is. Call him up, tell him what you have and what kind of flying/expectations you want and let him work his magic.
 
Thanks Terry, now there's two Rv with the same prop, sounds like this is model to get but with the nickel leading edge. I hope to hear more experience on the Catto 3 blade, Terry is it really quitter and a less vibration? RV9A

To be honest, I don't know. :rolleyes: it's the only prop I've flown behind in my RV, so I have no basis of comparison for noise or smoothness. My transition training was done in an RV7A with O-360 and metal two blade. At that time it didn't seem much different than my bird is now in noise or smoothness, but at that time I only had several hundred hours in spam cans. The RV thing was quite a change and a helluva thrill. I can only say I'm VERY happy with the performance of my Catto 3.. . It performs exactly as Craig said. :D
 
Since I started this thread I have learned more exceptional comments about CATTO props. Did you know NASA picked CATTO to design and build props for their experimental aircraft, and CATTO exceeded the design requirements for performance. That's a BIG selling item in my book plus all the comments you have posted. CATTO for me !! Plus what sounds like a happy staff.

Iam open to to additional comments,,,oh I did here this comment from a fellow pilot say that when you have a four cylinder engine and a two bladed prop you have harmonics generated by pulses of the two blade prop in sequence with the firing of each cylinder where as in 4 cylinder and three bladed prop all the pulses are out of senq meaning a total of 7 pulses become individualized and don't capitalize or increase with another pulse to make a louder thud. Thus making the vibration from up front seem smaller. I hope I said this right. (can't quite understand mechanics of the vibration ,maybe you can help me ) but if it's true then your posts seem to fit your description of a smoother running prop plus as a EAA member also mentioned the advantage of better ground clearance and less likely hood of stirring up less gravel toward the prop and that's a good thing.

SO ITS A CATTO FOR ME!!!

Ron in OREGON rv9A
 
We put a 3 blade Catto on an RV-9 a few years ago, one of the nicest props I've flown behind! SMOOOTH as can be (we also put a balancer on the front to help out the idle). I can't tell you exactly which Catto to get other than to say call Craig, tell him what you want it to do (and be honest about both the plane, the performance and the engine) - then he'll make you exactly what you asked for.

I've used most all of them (Sensenich FP, Hartzell CS, Carbon Fiber CS, etc..) and whilst all are good, that one is particularly nice!

Just my 2 cents as usual!

Cheers,
Stein
 
3 Blade

You may find Craig will recommend a two blade unless you are specifically requesting a 3 blade. That is what he recommended for my 150 hp RV6.
 
less vibration with 3-blade but worse glide ratio

...when you have a four cylinder engine and a two bladed prop you have harmonics generated by pulses of the two blade prop in sequence with the firing of each cylinder where as in 4 cylinder and three bladed prop all the pulses are out of seq ...
All I know is that when I switched from a two-blade Aymar-Demuth to a three-blade Catto in front of my 140 HP O-290-D2, the vibration was much less. Whether that was due to the increased mass of the three-blade, or three vs. two blades (or both), I don't know.

The downside was that my power off glide ratio was much less with the Catto.
 
All I know is that when I switched from a two-blade Aymar-Demuth to a three-blade Catto in front of my 140 HP O-290-D2, the vibration was much less. Whether that was due to the increased mass of the three-blade, or three vs. two blades (or both), I don't know.

The downside was that my power off glide ratio was much less with the Catto.

I've always had the three blade Catto on my -8 so I can't comment on it's glide ratio compared to anything else. What I can say is that I can slow down quite quickly while in the circuit. I keep reading about guys who complain how hard it is to slow with a fixed pitch prop in an RV; that may be, but it certainly depends on WHICH prop. I don't have that problem.
 
wow

Had my three blade Catto and 9A going east to Denver last week at FL190.
I made Prescott to Centennial in 2:41
Beat the airline option by far. I top at 2750 rpm and the engine is happy happy. In the high speed descent... I pulled back a bit since the Dynon was alerting the high RPM.
 
Hi flightlogic, Well took my RV9A UP TO 7500 feet msl with the new Catto 3 bladed prop. My rpms top out at 2590 rpms, 9.3 gals per hour, and TAS 163 mph. I have a io-320 lycoming. To all who have that Catto 3 blade and the io -320 does that seem about right? Now I have flown for 43 years mostly C172's every month. So if everything was in the GREEN on the gauges you flew. Other than losing a mag and another time losing the alternators. Things went well. Now that I have the Dynon skyview 10" I have so much more info. My CHTs are with 12 degrees of each other. ( 398 to 410 ) the coolest are my # 3 & 4 cylinders. So what does manifold pressure have to do with any of this? (

Ron in Oregon
RV9A
 
First off, I have the same engine/prop combination. Running ROP (9.3gph) at 7500MSL seems awfully rich for that altitude, and may result in your reported RPMs. At that altitude, and properly leaned to around 100F ROP, I would see 2700+ at full throttle and be very close to 165ktas. Anytime I run fast at that altitude and ROP, I have to throttle back to keep the RPMs under 2700.
 
Hi Terry thanks for the statistics. Maybe next mid week I'll try some more runs at different power settings. My question here is, could my lower speed and higher burn be that I have the Vans factory cowl to your Saint James cowl? I'll check today on the pitch of the prop.its printed on a label at the hub base. One thing I like about the engine is when it starts. Usually 3 blades go by and it's started. Oh my static rpm is 2200 rpms.

Ron in Oregon
RV9A
 
I don't believe the cowl makes that kind of difference. Take a look at the CAFE test of the RV-9A. That airplane had a Vans cowl and topped out at 8000ft at 167ktas. I recall it had a 2-blade prop. I use the CAFE test as my bellwether reference for 9A performance.
One thing you didn't mention is whether you have wheel pants and gear fairings installed. That makes a huge difference in speed. Assuming you do, are you leaning at altitude? .... to somewhere around 100ROP?

cafe.foundation/v2/pdf_cafe_apr/RV-9a.pdf
 
MP-not much

At 19000 feet IFR... I had very little manifold pressure. But I had a nice tailwind. And the mountain wave in the Rockies was down at 16000.. hence my profile. (GS 232)
As mentioned.. communicate with Catto for the specs you want. It will be worth the wait.
 
Ohhh, Rupester, I think you NAILED IT ON THE HEAD��. Duh ,,maybe exactly what you said IS THAT I DON'T have my my wheel pants nor my gear leg fairings installed yet!!! �� Feel somewhat dumb with my post! Ok I'll look at it as positive way. Let's say we are going to run speed,rpm and fuel burn tests WITHOUT gear leg fairings AND WHEEL PANTS. OK NEXT I WILL INSTALL them parts and rerun the tests. Then we will have comprehensive testing done with my plane. Would like to have them installed in a week or two.

On another note iam not a Harley D RV9 guy but a RV9A muffler guy and floor soundproofing. When I went flying the other day in my RV9A on those tests,well when I shut down to put it in the hangar I noticed I NEVER turned on my BOSE 10 headset. Quiet ,,yep the way I like.

It would be nice for other CATTO drivers to sound off. I know some of you guys are knots guys and I,,,,well in a sense a MPH guy. I find it funny that the guys describing their knots are always guessing at the MPH conversions. Oh well, no offense,their planes are all reusable and still have great dialogue on the radio!����

Ron Sterba
 
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Is there a maker of intersection & leg fairings

Got a RV9A ,about 8 hrs now. No enthusiasm to build gear leg and intersection fairings. Are there after market makers.

Thanks
Ron in Oregon RV9A
 
Hey Ray I ordered those five fairings. She said she would have those at the post office in a hour.Whoa,,,,,,, can't thank you enough man! I'll repost when I get at he house.
Thanks
Ron n Oregon RV9A
 
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