What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Fitting Spinner

T

T.O.Craig

Well Known Member
:)Hi to all,
I'm currently fitting the spinner to the prop. I have made the cardboard pattern and made the initial trim of the spinner around the blades. My question is: now they want me to change the pitch on the prop and make a second trim on the spinner with pitch changed, but how do we make the pitch change without bolting it to the motor. This is a hartzell constant speed prop.
Thanks for the advise
 
On my 7, I have the Hartzell composite prop. I tried to rotate the blades and doing this solo, so took a different path. I mounted to the engine, made a governor adapter plate with a hole that mated to the prop oil supply hole. A 1/8 pipe adapter and air pressure regulator supplied the pressure to cycle the prop pitch. It only took about 30 psi.

You could do the same with a plate bolted to the face of the prop, but would have to be careful not to damage the surfaces. I was able to use the gov gasket.

It sounds like a lot of work, but the precision and ease of adjusting pitch was worth the 30 min spent to make the rig. YMMV

Having the prop on the engine allows one to rotate the prop and check runout of both the backing plates and the resulting fit of the spinner.

Have fun!
 
I made a plate with a 1/4" hole in center and bolted to prop, then used a rubber tipped air gun to rotate blades. It does not take much pressure as I recall. I was never able to rotate blades by hand.
This image is from Bob Newman's photo log.

P9040178.JPG
 
Last edited:
You can also turn the blades by hand on the bench, but you need a little assistance.

Pad the blade well with a towel or similiar soft material. I then used a pair of 2x4s, one on each side of the blade, clamped together to form a lever. It was pretty easy then to move the blade through it's full range of motion.

Put the same on the other blade and with another person, it's even easier.
 
Bill.Peyton said:
I made a plate with a 1/4" hole in center and bolted to prop, then used a rubber tipped air gun to rotate blades. It does not take much pressure as I recall. I was never able to rotate blades by hand.
This image is from Bob Newman's photo log.

P9040178.JPG
Click to expand...

Sweeeeeeet adapter!! I don't have any 1/2" aluminum scrap laying around :(

Mine is, shall we say, less professional.

Yeah - 20-30 psi and it can be controlled mid pitch to avoid the possible contact grind issue on an expensive blade root. Glass fibers are very abrasive!!
 
If I elect to use air pressure, is there spring pressure that will retract the blades when I lower the pressure?
Thanks again for your help!
 
I did turn the blades on my Hartzell as previously stated with two persons. For this I used padded wooden "handles". You will need your helper until the cutouts are complete, because it takes many cycles and small adjustments on the spinner and may be the fill-ins.


 
This may be stating the obvious, but Hartzell does have templates you can download off their web site. Sometimes they are to find, but their tech support can give you the URLs.

After using the one for the RV-10, I didn't need to make any adjustments.

If you need the RV-10 version, drop me an email (no PMs please).

bob
 
Thanks

Thanks again to all! Great photos and advice. Bob, I will get on the Hartzell site for their info. It didn't cross my mine
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top