Did Erik get a new prop???

[tony]

Eric, do you hold the STC or does MT?

[Openwheeler3]

Neither. He had to do a field approval as MT does not have an STC for the mooney rocket.

[carusoam]

Very high tech!

- four composite structures

- metal leading edges

- D-Day inspired stripes

- anti-ice devices

- lightness

good luck with the rest of the test flights, Erik!

Best regards,

-a-

[KSMooniac]

Beautimous! I'm glad to see they didn't paint all the way to the leading edge of the blades too. That is my only gripe with MT as their paint sheds easily and they should let that stainless shine.

Very nice upgrade for a nose heavy Mooney!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[aviatoreb]

Thank you all!!!

Eric,

Welcome to club MT!  It looks awesome.  I'm not sure if it's a spinner size issue or your forward mounts are sagging.  The small gap between the spinner and cowl is the same as my 400.

Clarence

Clarence, I would love to see a picture of your Comanche 400 and the prop - is it 3 or 4 blades?  Clarence....someday I want to come down there to Kitchner and bumb a ride with you in that beast.  I always was really intrigued by the 400.

Thanks for noticing - I don't think the engine is sagging - and I think the cone is properly fitting - and that it is just a trick of picture angles?  I'll go take a second look.  But as for sag - I did have a bit of sag when I got the airplane 5 years ago, and we replaced the shock discs at that time, but also I learned that there is a tiny bit of sag when static on the ground, but under power the prop stands up just a bit, and I have observed that watching the prop (from outside) right after we replaced the discs.  It could be resagging after just 5 years....  I think its fine, but I'll look again.

[aviatoreb]

Eric, do you hold the STC or does MT?

Hi all - btw Erik with a k.  :-)  Clarence that's for you too.

Tony, there is an STC for the ovation and the acclaim for this prop. MT the company leveraged that and managed to get me a field approval for this prop.  So only my specific tail number rocket has right to hang this prop right now.  I met the 3 principle engineers from Germany, including the founding engineer while at Oshkosh as they came out to fond du lac to look at my airplane and take measurements.  It was MT USA that handled the paper work for the field approval.  They were wonderful to work with and nice people.  My guess....there will be an STC eventually.

[tony]

You're fortune that you had a company willing to work with you a good FSDO.  So many parts of the FAA are just risk averse.  

Noted Erik with a "K".  

[bonal]

I'd love to see a video with full sound from start up to a full power run up 4 blades look so cool.

[aviatoreb]

You're fortune that you had a company willing to work with you a good FSDO.  So many parts of the FAA are just risk averse.  

Noted Erik with a "K".  

Thanks - its a k - as in M20K.

Yes I was fortunate, and I was actually surprised when the MT USA test pilot/engineer said he could process it through FISDO, since I had heard that field approvals were all but impossible.  But he knows what he is doing since he is the guy who is processing stc's all the time for MT USA.  So I paid for his time in processing the paper work, but I held back on making deposit on the actual prop until the paper work was successful and I had the field approval signed and stamped in my hands.  If I had to do it again on another airplane, this time I would go ahead and make the deposit right away, since it slowed the final installation down several months.

[aviatoreb]

I'd love to see a video with full sound from start up to a full power run up 4 blades look so cool.

You got it!  I will find a time and way to do it - usually it is a sleepy little airport and often there is no one else around, but maybe the medical air lift guys across the way will enjoy doing that small project for me since the are always there.

[Hank]

Erik, that prop is gorgeous! I never noticed the turbo hump on the side of your cowl before. It looks like the prop is further away from the cowling, too. But it looks bad ass, and I bet it performs the same way. Now that you know how the Field Approval process works, are you going to further P-51-ize your Mooney, say with a B model canopy? Should be too hard to paint it to look like one . . .  

This is what you need to film yourself doing a runup. It should also work for a fly by, I think, even though it says something about 2000' range.

http://shop.soloshot.com

the new, improved model is even on sale right now, 39% off. Being a CB myself, though, I didn't check the price. After all, I'm trying to spend your money, not my own.  

Flight report requested, with panel shots. After all, it's not bragging if you can really do it.

[aaronk25]

Is it for sale????

[aviatoreb]

Is it for sale????

:-) Thanks for asking.  Nope!  :-)

[aaronk25]

Ha! Isnt everything always "for sale"?

[aviatoreb]

Erik, that prop is gorgeous! I never noticed the turbo hump on the side of your cowl before. It looks like the prop is further away from the cowling, too. But it looks bad ass, and I bet it performs the same way. Now that you know how the Field Approval process works, are you going to further P-51-ize your Mooney, say with a B model canopy? Should be too hard to paint it to look like one . . .  

This is what you need to film yourself doing a runup. It should also work for a fly by, I think, even though it says something about 2000' range.

http://shop.soloshot.com

the new, improved model is even on sale right now, 39% off. Being a CB myself, though, I didn't check the price. After all, I'm trying to spend your money, not my own.  

Flight report requested, with panel shots. After all, it's not bragging if you can really do it.

Hi - thanks!

That bump is only on the left side, which is what rocket engineering did to shoe horn a big engine into a place originally designed for a smaller engine.  It is the only change on the shape.  Its for the cylinders.

Cool camera.  Tempting.

My next p51 mod will be wing mounted machine guns.  That will probably be harder for the field approval - but worth it.

[aviatoreb]

Ha! Isnt everything always "for sale"?

:-)  Nope.

[Hank]

Ha! Isnt everything always "for sale"?

only for "the right price," which is often not related to reality. I could be talked into selling my C, for a price that would buy me a Missile . . .

[aviatoreb]

only for "the right price," which is often not related to reality. I could be talked into selling my C, for a price that would buy me a Missile . . .

Ok ok, I'll trade N10933 for a tbm900 plus enough money for operating costs - which I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise, plus enough money ... to upgrade the prop.

Otherwise - Nope!

[Seth]

Erik-

Reviving the old threat.  Is this also a full feathering prop like the old one you had on the Rocket?  

 

-Seth

[yvesg]

You got it!  I will find a time and way to do it - usually it is a sleepy little airport and often there is no one else around, but maybe the medical air lift guys across the way will enjoy doing that small project for me since the are always there.

Erik, I could make myself available to help you with this some coming up week-ends.

Could be nice if you agree to make a high speed low pass before the camera!

Yves

[aviatoreb]

Erik, I could make myself available to help you with this some coming up week-ends.

Could be nice if you agree to make a high speed low pass before the camera!

Yves

That would be really fun Yves.

Maybe that should include some hamburgers....and I could show you the new house we moved in to a few months ago (1.5 miles just to the right of the rwy24 depature).  Maybe we should do the next edition of the St Lawrence Seaway "fly in" and take pictures of each others airplanes?

[aviatoreb]

Erik-

Reviving the old threat.  Is this also a full feathering prop like the old one you had on the Rocket?  

 

-Seth

Hi Seth, Good question.  Short answer - no it is not full feathering.

Long answer - it was my choice in the end and here is why. Larry Schlasinger who arranged the prop sale and made the Field Approval Application.  MT USA, told me he could arrange the field approval for the full feathering prop just like their STC 4 blade for the Cessna 340 - matching the source of my rocket engine STC.  But he convinced me to think twice about a full feathering prop on a single engine airplane.  There is a failure mode I had never considered, which is the prop governor can go bad - at full power take off, and then it could go to full feather - then even though the engine is running full power you loose all thrust - at the most vulnerable moment - upon take off.  A standard prop governor can't do that and if it fails it still has pitch to make thrust.  I had never considered that before!  On the other hand, then you loose the superb glide of full feathering if you loose engine in cruise - something I always felt great about.   He convinced me that if you can stop the prop from windmilling, then you get back a large fraction of that same glide ratio.  He says he has test that numerous times - to test it you actually need to shut the engine off in flight, not just idle thrust - not for me.  Anyway, I went with this argument since I decided that yes, the risk on take off problem is more important than a risk in cruise - which can be somewhat mitigated by stopping the prop.  (How to do that - a discussion for another day - will I be successful to do so if it ever happens to me - I hope so - its an easy procedure in theory).

Besides that - and less important than the safety discussion above: the prop and governor I got saved 30lbs.  The full feathering version saved only 10lbs, and remember it was trying to save weight off the nose that got me started on this project.  Also the full feathering was $3k more, but again that was not the deciding factor.

That said if you go with the MT, there is no STC for a rocket conversion yet so it would be by field approval and go for which every you want.

[Houman]

That would be really fun Yves.

Maybe that should include some hamburgers....and I could show you the new house we moved in to a few months ago (1.5 miles just to the right of the rwy24 depature).  Maybe we should do the next edition of the St Lawrence Seaway "fly in" and take pictures of each others airplanes?

I'm in... let me know when !!!

[aviatoreb]

I'm in... let me know when !!!

Maybe we should take this off public - or maybe keep it public and start a new thread?

Sooner the better so we can enjoy this gorgeous autumn a bit more.  This weekend is no good since I have to go to my sisters baby shower in DC.  (And all bets are off if she has her baby due in mid Nov). I suggest the weekend after next or the weekend after that.  Probably like Sunday the 25th as a trial if weather is decent?

[Hank]

Share the good pictures,and the high speed pass video???