Great News about Props!

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Aeromatic blades are being made again!

http://www.aeromatic.com/

I've always heard they were a hot prop to have. It could jerk you out of the smallest hole and then cruise better than the rest. Anybody have personal experience behind one? I'm seriously thinking about putting one on the Champ.

nkh

[jim pacquin]

years ago a buddy bought a piper super cruiser with an aeromatic. One day on takeoff it went into flat pitch (taking off from from a 1600 ft. field near his house, out over a major highway!) I was in the back seat wondering what had happened, in the front was the owner who later said he didn't see how we made it! SLOWLY......he banked a little and got us back in to the strip. It was VERY close! He had alot of time even though we were both young, and KNEW the airplane well. He took the prop off and sold it immed. It really was close. !! I remember , at that time they had a bad reputation for coming apart. I think they were of ply construction with a plastic type covering. I know nothing about the new ones.

[Paul Agaliotis]

I was involved with a Skybolt that had one installed. The engine was a O-435 Lycoming. The only problems were in the adjustment of the pitch weights. On take-off the angle of climb was quite steep to keep it in low pitch, when you lowered the nose to look around the prop would shift to high pitch. You almost had to stall the airplane to get it to shift back to low pitch. We tried alot of combo,s of weights and never got it perfect. I don,t think it is a bad prop but will require a bit of adjustment to get it right. The TC owners at the time were very helpful.
The Bellanca Cruiseair and Cruisemasters use these props and are happy with their operation. I dont know if the blades are for purchase or if the company will only install a blade into your shank and hub.
Paul

[Nathan K. Hammond]

I think he will sell the entire assembly (blades and hub assembled) or just blades if you have a hub already.

I have heard stories about them pulling blades but always took it with open eyes. Figured there was another side to the story, like poor maintnance, abuse, etc. ON the other hand, I talked with a guy who had one on a Fairchild 24 with a Ranger and thought it was great. Would leap off the ground, and then scream in cruise. He said it did things a Fairchild wasn't suppost to do.

Unfortunately, it's only approved on the 7AC and S7AC.

nkh

[Jerry Eichenberger]

Be wary, though, if you want your Champ to be LSA compliant. With the prohibition against in-flight adjustable props on LSA, it just might throw a Champ out of compliance, even though the adjustment is automatice.

Something that the rule writers maybe didn't think of.

[Ron Babos]

Seems like if you can dial them in to your set-up they work great, however if you live in a climate where it's humid and then dry with constant cycles of this, I would not trust the wood maintaining it's integrity at the attachment. This is what shut them down in the first place. Maybe the glass covered blades have taken care of this. Personally, I doubt it.
Ron

[Paul Agaliotis]

I went to the site Nathan linked to, they seem to be doing a good job. The only negitive side is the price. The blades are new manufacture but the hubs and shanks appear to be used unless I am reading it wrong. Would this be sold as a new propeller or a servicable propeller? I would be willing to try another aero-matic if they were able to bring the cost inline with other fixed pitch props.
I wish Tarver the best of luck in marketing their prop, it brings another option to the industry.
Paul

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Yeah $4000 for new blades and an overhauled hub is really pricey. Just blades are still $3000. But you have too look at what your getting, a basic constant speed prop.

Ron makes a good point about heat/humidity and the integrity of the blades, but the same elements work against ALL wood props.

What keeps bugging me, if it's a good prop, why don't you see many of them around?

nkh

[Paul Agaliotis]

I think the prop was not as accepted due to timing. The constant speeds were making their way into the smaller high performance aircraft and the light aircraft didn,t gain from the prop. Most of the applications are for four place cabin types that had a need for this type propeller.
The prop is basicly a two position prop. You have no direct control of blade angle as you would in a constant speed prop. There was one model of the aero-matic that had limited control. It used engine oil to hold the blade into low pitch, if I remember correctly. When you wanted to shift you opened a cockpit controlled valve that allowed the oil to drain back to the crankcase.
If you look at the way the blade shank is secured it seems a bit odd. They use about a dozen lag bolts to screw it to the wood blade. While strange, the blades don,t have problems flinging themselves off.
Paul

[Ron Babos]

Nathan: Not quite the same thing. A normal wood prop usually show's it age with cracks , and shakes your teeth out. The problem area is the wood to knuckle fit. Lose the fit, and then you will lose the blade. In time the swelling and shrinking will deteriorate this area, unless they have a cure for it now. I went through the same thing with the GSC ultralight props. Same kind of failure mode. To me, the prop is a very clever design and works like crazey, but I'm personally sick of having to baby a prop from rain, moisture and sunlight which is a problem with woods and composites. I am quite happy to now have a big hunk of aluminum on the front of the engine. It don't care about sun, raindrops, or what position it sits when you go home. I really think the best blade for the Aeromatic would be composite , and lose the wood component, but then again, I'm only a welder . The other things I could live with considering how much better it would work than a fixed pitch. Wood is problably a certification requirement.
Ron

[WWhunter]

Nathan,

I know this is an old post but I have recently been researching the Aeromatic props for my Champ and was wondering if you had found out anything else about them on a Champ.
I'm on floats and have an O-235 but every bit of performance gains helps.

Keith

[CptKelly]

I had a Aeromatic prop on a Clipped Wing Cub 30 years ago, and it was the best prop I ever owned. My Cub had a C-90 engine, and I even flew into the Williamson several times. Nathan, years ago, they had a little paved section around the gas pump at Williamson. It measured 50' long, and my Cub would fly off of it, and never touch grass, and that was with two aboard and a full gas tank. At cruise, I have seen 115 mph many times, and yes, it did run out of down trim before reaching that speed.
The Aeromatic really performed for me. I'd have one on my Smith Kit Supercub if it could handle the 0-360 engine. Best prop I ever had.

Mike

[Jody Wittmeyer]

I have a Beech Roby to put on my champ. Set the static where you want, then in flight, you can increase the pitch 7 1/2 degrees for cruise.
Sensenich used to make the "Sky Blade" 2 position prop. Operated with a push/pull cable. It was a great prop on a culver "V"

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Keith, I never followed through for my Champ, although it's still a thought. It's the story's like Mike's that keep in interested. As best I can tell, unless you have a 7AC (according to paperwork), it will take a field approval to install one.

nkh