Prop Selection

I have been doing some research on what's the best choice. My concern is W&B issues. I like the 2 & 3 blade whirlwinds as they are light, but have very low TBO times compared to a Hartzell, which is very heavy and has a much higher TBO.

Can any RV-10 owners who have Whirlwinds, what's your W&B like, and have you any thoughts on the low TBO

ANDY B

I have the two blade metal Hartzel, and cg is just right. That is, solo I need 20 lbs ballast in the baggage area. Remove the ballast and I can put people and bags in the back and stay forward of aft limits. My useful load is 1092 lbs, or 732 lbs with full fuel.

Prop selection

I new about the ballast issue, I have a 38 lbs Airconditioning system to contend with, so the Whirlwind is giving me a 26 lbs decrease up front. So I am hoping for a roughly balanced plane, if I use the Whirlwind. I am also completely glass, so I am hoping for a little pickup in weight there too, over the standard steam guages.

Anyone have a whirlwind who can shed some light on this issue?

Andy

With the weight of the A/C in the tail, you would probably be better off with the Hartzell.

Jesse said:

With the weight of the A/C in the tail, you would probably be better off with the Hartzell.

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Agreed. I'd be worried about too much weight in the tail.

It's fairly easy to pull the CG aft with ballast, but if your tail heavy, it's going to be hard to fill the plane up with people and cargo and stay in the CG range.

Put the battery on the firewall to help balance that light composite prop and a/c.

Well that maybe answers one question, one or two blades. I was not aware that the A/C would knock me back so far. Part of the A/C is an extended flywheel, a belt and the compressor, and they are all in front of the engine. The rest of the A/C is aft of the luggage compartment. So how the 38lbs of weight is distributed is what I am unsure of. My guess is that a great deal of it is forward not aft.

I have sent a email to Bill Geronimo the retailer of the A/C to get a handle of the weight allocation. Does anyone else know the answer to this question?

Thanks Andy