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Sensenich GA Prop

pilot28906

Well Known Member
Does anyone have experience with an RV7, IO-360 (180 HP) with the Sensenich ground adjustable prop? If so, what was your experience?

Thanks,
 
I have one, but i am still in the build phase. Unfortunately, I don?t have any data to share. Once the thing is flying, I?d be happy to do so.
 
Does anyone have experience with an RV7, IO-360 (180 HP) with the Sensenich ground adjustable prop? If so, what was your experience?

Thanks,

Mark Dickens went from a Catto to Sensenich GA with his RV-8. Perhaps he could provide an update.
 
Good to hear someone has one. Which RV and engine combination will you be putting it on?

RV-8, with a Superior IO-360 9:1 pistons.

Like you, I did a search prior to purchasing the prop, and couldnt find much info. I bought the Sensenich over the WhirlWind because of the pitch pin system. I hope its worth the extra money!
 
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I have one on my RV4

I have a sensi GA prop on my 0320 RV4

I am very pleased with the performance.. I had to have the index pins changed to the 180hp setting to allow enough pitch. I believe the blades are the same for both engines just in different hubs.

I find the performance was very close or slightly better than the sensi metal prop I had. I suspect if you can find some data on the metal prop it will be close.

Cm
 
I have a sensi GA prop on my 0320 RV4

I am very pleased with the performance.. I had to have the index pins changed to the 180hp setting to allow enough pitch. I believe the blades are the same for both engines just in different hubs.

I find the performance was very close or slightly better than the sensi metal prop I had. I suspect if you can find some data on the metal prop it will be close.

Cm

How do you like the adjustment process? Do you have to fine tune the adjustment after using the pitch pin? How long does the process of changing the pitch take?
 
As Springer said, I changed over last summer and so far, very happy with it. Smooth, good looking, love the ability to adjust it, getting book speeds with it on a Titan IOX-370 (190hp). Very light prop. The spinner is very nicely made and is ready to install out of the box. Nothing against the Catto. That was a great prop too. A bonus for me was going to 2 blades from the 3 blade Catto which made cowl removal and replacement easier. I'd do it again.
 
Adjusting the pitch

Using the pitch pin system is very easy and acurate.
You can probably download the manual as a pdf or check their website for a video. Basically you loosen the clamp bolts, twist the blade so that the index pin is against the pitch pin and torque the bolts. You have to take the spinner off to do this and also do a final retorque after 5 hours. Only check is to check the track. The whole thing takes 30 mins or so.

Cm
 
As Springer said, I changed over last summer and so far, very happy with it. Smooth, good looking, love the ability to adjust it, getting book speeds with it on a Titan IOX-370 (190hp). Very light prop. The spinner is very nicely made and is ready to install out of the box. Nothing against the Catto. That was a great prop too. A bonus for me was going to 2 blades from the 3 blade Catto which made cowl removal and replacement easier. I'd do it again.

Have you made many adjustments to it? Or, did you figure a good setting, and leave it?
It sounds like my engine will be very comparable to yours in HP. Which pin did you use?
 
As Springer said, I changed over last summer and so far, very happy with it. Smooth, good looking, love the ability to adjust it, getting book speeds with it on a Titan IOX-370 (190hp). Very light prop. The spinner is very nicely made and is ready to install out of the box. Nothing against the Catto. That was a great prop too. A bonus for me was going to 2 blades from the 3 blade Catto which made cowl removal and replacement easier. I'd do it again.

Mark, did you notice any change in your pitch forces with the lighter GA prop? That would be my main reason for getting rid of my metal Sensenich and the 25lbs of sand I lug around in the aft baggage compartment.
 
On my upgrade list

I'm planning another trip to Chinle, AZ this June, and hope to install a Sensi GA and one of those Anti-splat cowl vents before the trip. High temp operations out of places like Gallup, NM are not fun with the fixed Sensenich cruise prop.

Does the GA prop use the same prop extention as the FP prop? John
 
Thanks all.
Has anyone had any problem with W&B? How much weight is needed on a 7 with the GA prop? I think the only way to add weight with this prop is flywheel weight?
 
Weight

I used a Lanndoll balancer. Worked great. Smooth, only tweak was to add more pitch beyond the supplied pin. Added one degree of pitch with Don at AFP to get the MP up to an efficient cruise RPM. The pitch adjustment pins supplied by Sensenitch don't provide sufficient cruise pitch. They are to focused on climb, as a result the cruise RPMs is maxed out and top IAS is never obtained.

Steve
 
Thanks Steve. Are you flying a side by side and did you get the new pins from AFP? Where can one get at Lanndoll ring?
 
Mark, did you notice any change in your pitch forces with the lighter GA prop? That would be my main reason for getting rid of my metal Sensenich and the 25lbs of sand I lug around in the aft baggage compartment.

No...since I went from one light prop to another, I didn't see any noticeable change
 
I didn't get new pins. You can adjust the prop using a protractor/angle finder. It has instructions in the user manual.

Landoll rings are rare, occasionally one shows up for sale. You can also just use a steel ring for weight it you need it.
 
I didn't get new pins. You can adjust the prop using a protractor/angle finder. It has instructions in the user manual.

Landoll rings are rare, occasionally one shows up for sale. You can also just use a steel ring for weight it you need it.



Sabre mfg made an oversize and solid extension for me. I think it weighs 11lbs versus 2.5 compared to the one sensenich supplies

Cm
 
A little late chiming in, but I have the Sensenich GA prop on my -9A, spun by a de-rated ECI OX-340. IIRC, I used pitch pin 4 and nailed the performance off the bat. 2700RPM at 7500-8000' and an initial climb rate of 1800-2000FPM depending on atmospherics.

The only downside I have found, is after 100 hrs, the black coating on the back side has thrown a few patches off. Nothing major, but I will touch it up at some point, but I didn't expect it after only 100hrs. Guess that's what comes with being one of the early adopters.
 
Thanks KRviator. How is the W&B with this prop? Did you have to add any weight to the front?

Thanks,
Nothing specific, no. The -340 weight helped, but I haven't changed a thing since completion. And I have a lightweight Shorai battery too. I was labouring under a 1320Lb MTOW requirement when I was building - still have that limitation 'smatter of fact, and until the SAAA pulls their finger out about the MPC I need to sign off on a W&B and MR, I will not be paying a LAME to weigh or certify my plane so I can use the full gross weight...

My BEW produced the following numbers:
Left main: 368.5
Right Main: 369.0
Nose gear: 244.0
TOTAL: 981.5 and a BEW CG of 76.57.

If anything, I would need to add a little weight to the tail end to minimise trim drag in flight, but as things stand at present, I can't go outside limits in any conceivable condition.
 
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Catto three blade VS Sensenich GA prop

As Springer said, I changed over last summer and so far, very happy with it. Smooth, good looking, love the ability to adjust it, getting book speeds with it on a Titan IOX-370 (190hp). Very light prop. The spinner is very nicely made and is ready to install out of the box. Nothing against the Catto. That was a great prop too. A bonus for me was going to 2 blades from the 3 blade Catto which made cowl removal and replacement easier. I'd do it again.

Hi Mark,

That's interesting. I was leaning heavily towards Sensenich GA Prop, but after talking to a few people who know a lot more than I do about props, I'm now leaning in the direction of the 3 blade Catto for my new -7 build. Other than having an easier time getting the cowling on and off, can you elaborate more on your decision to remove the Catto and to go with the Sensenich? I know that having the ability to adapt to flying in different parts of the country with different elevations and different DA would be beneficial, but I would think that once you got it dialed in to your liking, you'd leave it there most of the time. Thank you ahead of time for anything you can enlighten with.

Mark
 
I too have had both.

Too each his own and the three blade catto looks good
But the two blade props are more efficent and the plus on the Sensi GA prop is that you can tweek it for best all around performance. Its a larger dia prop and gets great performance in the normal rpm range of your engine. My sensi is very smooth and I really like it.

Catto props are great too but they arent the end all be all of propellors. Ive been very pleased...
Cm
 
Too each his own and the three blade catto looks good
But the two blade props are more efficent and the plus on the Sensi GA prop is that you can tweek it for best all around performance. Its a larger dia prop and gets great performance in the normal rpm range of your engine. My sensi is very smooth and I really like it.

Catto props are great too but they arent the end all be all of propellors. Ive been very pleased...
Cm

Very interesting!!...thanks for the good input Chris.

Mark
 
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...but I would think that once you got it dialed in to your liking, you'd leave it there most of the time. Thank you ahead of time for anything you can enlighten with.

Mark

All true, and a lot of this is subjective. If I was heading out on a long cross-country trip and wanted to tweak the prop for more cruise performance, I can do that, I like that flexibility. I had a 3 blade Catto and comparing it to a 2 blade Sensi is a bit of apples and oranges. Very subjective! The Sensi came with a carbon fiber spinner ready to install and I liked that. So far, I am happy with the Sensi and plan to keep it, but I can't say that I can truly quantify why.
 
Thanks for all the great info. My main reason for the post was to try and decide between the Sensenich metal and GA. I want to use the bundled discount with the Van's engine. My main concern with the GA is W & B as you can not use a crush plate to add weight and the metal prop probably doesn't need added weight. My concern with the metal prop is that it may not be as smooth as the GA and the pitch is what it is.
 
....My main concern with the GA is W & B as you can not use a crush plate to add weight ..

That?s exactly my concern and is primarily why I?m leaning towards the Catto three blade prop. If there were a way to add a crush plate, then I?ll sure I?d go with the Sensenich GA.
 
That?s exactly my concern and is primarily why I?m leaning towards the Catto three blade prop. If there were a way to add a crush plate, then I?ll sure I?d go with the Sensenich GA.
Could you not put it between the Sensenich hub and the engine prop flange, with longer prop bolts?

TBH, I didn't even consider the weight and balance aspect of the GA prop when I ordered it, figuring I could deal with any issues later if they arose. So far as I can see, unless you have a Rotax or maybe an IO-233 up the front, anything else is likely to be sufficiently heavy that extra weight on the nose isn't essential.

In my specific case, even with 2x250lb crew, and 75lbs of baggage, the ZFWCG is still ahead of the aft limit. 85Lbs of baggage puts you on the limit at your ZFW, and 91Lbs in the baggage area with 45min fuel remaining has you at the limit.

This is with an OX-340, Sensenich prop, 2 P-Mags, Rotec TBI and a Shorai lithium battery.
 
Could you not put it between the Sensenich hub and the engine prop flange, with longer prop bolts?

TBH, I didn't even consider the weight and balance aspect of the GA prop when I ordered it, figuring I could deal with any issues later if they arose. So far as I can see, unless you have a Rotax or maybe an IO-233 up the front, anything else is likely to be sufficiently heavy that extra weight on the nose isn't essential.

In my specific case, even with 2x250lb crew, and 75lbs of baggage, the ZFWCG is still ahead of the aft limit. 85Lbs of baggage puts you on the limit at your ZFW, and 91Lbs in the baggage area with 45min fuel remaining has you at the limit.

This is with an OX-340, Sensenich prop, 2 P-Mags, Rotec TBI and a Shorai lithium battery.

You very well could be correct but I guess I may just be a little gun shy. I'm planning on running the S.J. extended cowling, so I'll also need the Saber 4" extension. When I talked to Saber they told me that a crush plate wouldn't work with their extension along with the Sensenich GA prop. They said that they could make a custom brass extension for me if I needed it, but it would be very expensive. I'm also going to be running a complete EFII setup along with a second battery, which I'm planning on mounting aft of the baggage bulkhead, so W&B issues may be a little more difficult for me to deal with.
 
All true, and a lot of this is subjective. If I was heading out on a long cross-country trip and wanted to tweak the prop for more cruise performance, I can do that, I like that flexibility. I had a 3 blade Catto and comparing it to a 2 blade Sensi is a bit of apples and oranges. Very subjective! The Sensi came with a carbon fiber spinner ready to install and I liked that. So far, I am happy with the Sensi and plan to keep it, but I can't say that I can truly quantify why.

Resurrecting an old thread.

Mark, do you recall which pin you used? I am currently on the 4 pin, and wondering if I should do some experimentation. I currently get about 2350 rpm on takeoff.
 
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