Blades

[Gubni]

My M20K had a very minor low speed prop strike. One blade had a bend less than 1/2". I sent it to Cody and he suggested to replace my blades and sent the originals back to me. He did mostly straighten the bend. He said a straightened blade can't be used. He sent them back to me. What can I do with them? One is perfect and one had a minor bend. Should I toss them in the scrap pile? Is there any value? I'd love to recoup a little of my money.

Lots of great replies on what I can do with them. I have too much clutter. Who wants to buy them? Lol

BTW, yes I am having the engine rebuilt.

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by Gubni

[A64Pilot]

Hang them on the wall?

This was my prop strike, at least your hub is still good.

[Gubni]

5 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

Hang them on the wall?

This was my prop strike, at least your hub is still good.

That was my first thought, but without a hub two blades aren't that cool.

[A64Pilot]

Maybe make wind chimes? 

Other than decoration I don’t think they have a use, or I can’t think of one anyway, the can’t use for Aviation I take to mean not Experimental either.

‘I’ve see an Avia prop straightened with a pipe wrench on a flying airplane before, but on a Crop Duster and those guys will do anything, he was proud of himself because he used a piece of leather to keep the wrench from marking the prop.

An Avia prop is unusual as you literally screw the blades in and a clamp holds them from turning.

I take that yours wasn’t a Hartzell, because I think pretty much anything that condemns a blade also condemns the hub on them, but maybe it’s just the bigger props.

[Will.iam]

Use the bent blade as the stand to your mailbox?  

[81X]

If you’re good with metal work and the bend isn’t really noticeable, you could (should) make a really cool ceiling fan for a large space.  

[N201MKTurbo]

Aluminum is going for a $1 a pound!

See if Cody has a scrap hub you can buy cheap. You can make a cool ceiling fan or a nice wall hanger.

 

[carusoam]

Find the airboat market and see if they can work there…

In aviation…

If the end of the blade falls off…. The difference of centrifugal forces at the hub calculate out into the thousands of pounds…. Yanking on the hub… as it rotates…

One would have to be very quick shutting down the engine to keep it from destroying the engine mount, causing a huge WnB challenge if the whole thing departs…

Props are pretty strong… but, once damaged… they are no longer a known entity following the norms….

Another place a good looking prop goes… makes Great Wall art…. 
 

This would be a great question for Cody…

I would think the alloy has a few dollars worth of material…. Ask the prop company how they recycle all of their machining chips…

PP thoughts only… not a prop guy…

Best regards,

-a-

[EricJ]

I've seen them used just as stands, stood up on the floor, holding a sign or a hat or something.    One on each side of a door or entryway, something like that. 

[A64Pilot]

On 8/7/2021 at 7:38 PM, carusoam said:

Find the airboat market and see if they can work there…

In aviation…

If the end of the blade falls off…. The difference of centrifugal forces at the hub calculate out into the thousands of pounds…. Yanking on the hub… as it rotates…

One would have to be very quick shutting down the engine to keep it from destroying the engine mount, causing a huge WnB challenge if the whole thing departs…

Props are pretty strong… but, once damaged… they are no longer a known entity following the norms….

Another place a good looking prop goes… makes Great Wall art…. 
 

This would be a great question for Cody…

I would think the alloy has a few dollars worth of material…. Ask the prop company how they recycle all of their machining chips…

PP thoughts only… not a prop guy…

Best regards,

-a-

Most airboats are pushers, so they need a pusher prop

Edited August 9, 2021 by A64Pilot

[Will.iam]

37 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

Most airboats are pushers, so they need a pusher prop

Details details.

[Hank]

42 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

Most airboats are pushers, so they need a pusher prop

Put it on backwards . . . .  

[Will.iam]

1 minute ago, Hank said:

Put it on backwards . . . .  

Exactly. Better cooling for the engine anyways. 

[Guest]

I have a nicely polished prop blade mounted on a nice teak base in our living room. It’s a neat conversation piece.

Clarence

[EricJ]

9 hours ago, Hank said:

Put it on backwards . . . .  

Upside down! 

 

[jaylw314]

On 8/7/2021 at 4:30 PM, A64Pilot said:

Maybe make wind chimes? 

LMAO, I nearly died laughing at that, man!  

[A64Pilot]

1 hour ago, jaylw314 said:

LMAO, I nearly died laughing at that, man!  

I’ve actually seen that done, I don’t know how well it worked though

[A64Pilot]

10 hours ago, Hank said:

Put it on backwards . . . .  

As a kid learning to fly string control line models that was a trick to de power the airplane for training, putting the prop on backwards makes the trailing edge. the leading edge. it will still develop thrust, just not as much. I had a Cox PT-19 that was held together with rubber bands and was pretty darn tough.

‘Anyone else fly control line models?

[Hank]

1 minute ago, A64Pilot said:

As a kid learning to fly string control line models that was a trick to de power the airplane for training, putting the prop on backwards makes the trailing edge. the leading edge. it will still develop thrust, just not as much. I had a Cox PT-19 that was held together with rubber bands and was pretty darn tough.

‘Anyone else fly control line models?

I flew control line. Then free flight, then RC. Then nothing. Now full scale! 

Put a regular prop backwards on a pusher engine, see what happens. That way the same face of the prop will be forward as when it was on your plane, and it will "tractor" air over the boat and shoot it out behind. Think that's not much air? Come stand behind me at run-up . . . .

[jaylw314]

28 minutes ago, A64Pilot said:

I’ve actually seen that done, I don’t know how well it worked though

I imagine that would REALLY annoy the neighbors! 

[TomH]

About the comment above where the small difference in weight would put tremendous stress on the hub - a story is in order. 
A few weeks ago during an dyna balance, I was in the mechanics hanger and was wandering and looking at the planes in process - usually 5-6 - everything from 310s to TBM to ratted out pipeline patrol. 
In the corner was a Lance that had the engine off. Looking under the wing, the prop was removed. One of the blades was missing the last 2”. Curious I asked what I’m the world had happened. 
Mechanic told me the wildest story. Owner pulled plane out, had to run errand, came back and fired up with tow bar still attached. 
Amazingly, he did not suffer the prop stroke on startup, taxi or takeoff. He flew the plane to an airport 100nm away, retracting the gear (and tow bar,partially???). Only on landing did he have a strike throwning the tow bar after shearing the 2” of the tip of one blade. 
The amazing part of the story for me, is that the owner assessed the situation, ran the engine up, decided it was good enough and decided he would rather his local mechanic fix it than the capable shops present on the field. 
My mechanic of course would not work on aircraft without an engine tear down. When examined engine cam was beyond wear tolerances, but no structural damage from strike or unbalanced operation was noted. 
Not sure what the point is of this story,

except that our planes can be amazingly tough (until they aren’t)
 

And that there are a lot of pilots out there with different decision making processes different from mine

Anyway - I don’t post a ton, read quite a bit and value the community. The prop strike mentioned above in thread reminded me of this story and thought some might enjoy the crazy mess that is our fellow aviators. 
 

[carusoam]

3 hours ago, TomH said:

 

except that our planes can be amazingly tough (until they aren’t)

 

Tom, you don’t post much… but, you have great insight!

Best regards,

-a-