Whirlwind prop service letter

[RDavidson 183]

Fellas,

I just got a Service Letter from Whirlwind about a 78" prop I bought from them that I have on an O-320.

They found a crack in a hub on an O-340 swinging the 78" prop with 80 hours on it. I'm guessing it was on a cub crafters cub, that is the engine and prop setup they are pushing now.

The Service letter mandates an immediate inspection of the hub, then an inspection every 10 hours.

It was an isolated incident.

The Service Letter affects the GA200L series prop hubs with IO and O -320, -340, -360 engines.

I'm going to try to attach the service letter (haven't tried to attach a file here before)

By the way, the 78" prop is awesome! I bought it for my biplane when I moved from 1000' MSL to a field at 4700' MSL. With my 76" metal McCauley prop I was barely able to make it to 10,000 MSL and it took all day. Now I can climb to 13,000 and higher in half the time! (Half a day! Ha!) My top end speed suffered by about 10 mph, but now I can cross these Rocky Mountain ridges.

I plan on using the same engine and prop on my Magnum...O-320 D2C with 78" Whirlwind Prop.

See ya,

Ron

I couldn't attach the file from my iPad, I will try from my PC later. Here is the Whirlwind phone # if you need it now (619) 562-3725. I checked their website and their Service Leter page is under construction, so calling is the only option right now.

[EDMO 1078]

Fellas,

I just got a Service Letter from Whirlwind about a 78" prop I bought from them that I have on an O-320.

They found a crack in a hub on an O-340 swinging the 78" prop with 80 hours on it. I'm guessing it was on a cub crafters cub, that is the engine and prop setup they are pushing now.

The Service letter mandates an immediate inspection of the hub, then an inspection every 10 hours.

It was an isolated incident.

The Service Letter affects the GA200L series prop hubs with IO and O -320, -340, -360 engines.

I'm going to try to attach the service letter (haven't tried to attach a file here before)

By the way, the 78" prop is awesome! I bought it for my biplane when I moved from 1000' MSL to a field at 4700' MSL. With my 76" metal McCauley prop I was barely able to make it to 10,000 MSL and it took all day. Now I can climb to 13,000 and higher in half the time! (Half a day! Ha!) My top end speed suffered by about 10 mph, but now I can cross these Rocky Mountain ridges.

I plan on using the same engine and prop on my Magnum...O-320 D2C with 78" Whirlwind Prop.

See ya,

Ron

I couldn't attach the file from my iPad, I will try from my PC later. Here is the Whirlwind phone # if you need it now (619) 562-3725. I checked their website and their Service Leter page is under construction, so calling is the only option right now.

Ron, Jack, Randy,

Lets be careful that we are not talking Apples and Oranges - The Whirlwind props are far different and far more expensive than the Whirlwind blades for the Warp Drive Hubs - 2 different factories by the same owner - bet he is talking about the expensive, and probably not the Warp Drive one. Whirlwind also makes constant-speed hubs for the certified engines.

The GA200 Hub is not the Warp Drive Hub. Nice to hear a good performance report tho.

ED in MO

Edited 21 Feb 2013 by Ed In Missouri

[RDavidson 183]

Ron, Jack, Randy,

Lets be careful that we are not talking Apples and Oranges - The Whirlwind props are far different and far more expensive than the Whirlwind blades for the Warp Drive Hubs - 2 different factories by the same owner - bet he is talking about the expensive, and probably not the Warp Drive one. Whirlwind also makes constant-speed hubs for the certified engines.

The GA200 Hub is not the Warp Drive Hub. Nice to hear a good performance report tho.

ED in MO

Thanks Ed you are right...I think it is "Whirlwind Propellers" vs. "Whirl Wind"

Sorry for any confusion...I was referring to Whirlwind Propellers for My situation, a Lycoming O-320.

I forgot to mention that adjusting this 78" prop is a PITA!

You are provided a plywood tool that attaches to the blade close to the tip. You put a digital protractor on the plywood and adjust the pitch. The problem I run into is that when you tighten the hub the blades like to rotate slightly screwing up your adjustment! Frustrating as Hell especially when you are fine tuning it. I'll attach a pic of it.

My question is why don't they just mark the hub and the prop root so you just pick the marked setting?

Here are some pics from there website of the 78" prop and one of the prop on my Starduster.

[EDMO 1078]

I think all Ground-adjustable props have that same problem - maybe some more than others -

the only solution I know of is to alternatively tighten the bolts less and less until you reach the specified tork -

ED in MO

[dholly 718]

I think all Ground-adjustable props have that same problem - maybe some more than others -

the only solution I know of is to alternatively tighten the bolts less and less until you reach the specified tork -

ED in MO

All except the IVO G/A prop with it's single screw adjuster, which sounds like a great idea to me! Both the GSC and Warp props on my planes suffer from 'pitch creep' when tightening. What makes it even more frustrating is that the creep is not consistent for each clamp.

[RDavidson 183]

FYI...Whirlwind sent everyone, with the 78" prop, new, improved hubs to solve the problem...they suggest checking for cracks in the new hub every 25 hours.

The original cracked hub is still an isolated incident with a cub, O-340, 78" prop.

I'm super pleased with Whirlwind! Great customer service and company responsibility!

Ron

[1avidflyer 1983]

If you guys remember my laszer prop pictures I posted a few months ago, that is a very helpfull tool for seeing the blades twist when you tighten the hub bolts. By only tightening one side until the blade starts to twist and then doing the other bolts you see what's happening right as it starts to twist. Jim