A week ago there was good discussion of metal props, proper installation of same, and vibration. I followed the string of e-mails and found it interesting. I have a McCauley Met-L-Prop which I belive to be installed correctly. But have longed to be as free as possible of vibration. Does anyone have any experience with both wood and metal props for comparison? Sensenich Wooden Propellers states that wood naturally dampens vibration, and is by it's nature, is incapable of creating harmonic vibrations. The airfoil of Sensenich wood props was changed a few years ago and with the new wood airfoil, the model numbers recommended for current Sensenich props are different from the ones specified in the 1940's which came on the Ercoupes. Back in the 40's, the back of the wood prop blades were flat like a Clark-Y airfoil, but in the late 50's a Sensenich employee named Mr. Rose redisigned the airfoils. The ones currently being specified for the Ercoupe are different from the pitches recommended in the 40's. I read that the new wood props, according to Sensenich, are now "almost" as efficient as the metal ones. Can anyone shed the light of personal experience on this subject? If new wood props are almost as efficient, and smoother than the metal props, I may want one at half the price of a new metal one. I once weighed a wooden Lewis Prop and a McCauley metal prop and the wood was 11 lbs. lighter. 11 lbs. is a lot on an Ercoupe. Drawbacks are that, unlike metal props, wood needs to be protected from the weather. But if a wood prop will make my Ercoupe seem vibration free, I may like to have one; especially if you can't tell much in performance going from metal to wood.
What do you think? Grover 99398 ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
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