Mark said, "I meant 54x52. . . . wanted to be able to cut it down . . ."
Just coincidentally that Sterba 52 x 52 I had that I sent back to Ken Cottle started life as a 54 x 52. He originally had a HAPI 1835 on my KR-1? so cut one inch off of each tip to get more speed back when he and Jim Faughn were terrorizing the countryside in the late 80's, early 90's. That prop went with the plane when Steve Bennett bought it and Steve just left it on the plane when he replaced the HAPI with his 2180. Steve just flew it with reduced throttle at lower altitudes. The 52 x 52 didn't suit my kind of flying at all but for short periods the plane would sure go like a bat with it. I soon took it off and put the Prince 52 x 54 on. Since it was just sitting I sent this prop back to Sterba to refinish and hopefully "put a little more pitch" into it. When I got it back this 25+ year old prop looked like new but it still turned way too fast so I was glad that Ken needed it for his current KR (one of Sam Bailey's three KR's, now much improved by Ken). This prop wound up back where it started almost 30 years before. That prop, as well as my current 52 x 56, has what Sterba calls his "Sweptback" profile as opposed to his "Race" profile. The former has a straight leading edge that makes a sharp narrowing about halfway to the tip. My Prince has the same profile. Sterba's "Race" profile has a long curving leading edge more like the typical Sensenich. It would be interesting to put the two Sterba planforms, same length and pitch, on the same engine and measure thrust at a given RPM and see which one produces more thrust. Ed must have done that comparison somewhere along the way . . . it would be interesting to ask him about it. Both of my Sterbas have been the maple/cherry alternate lamination thing that he does. Makes for a really nice looking prop at great prices. BTW, Ed refinished that prop and didn't charge anything. The Prince needed refinishing ($300+) after I went through some significant rain on one of my trips back east. When I got it back from Lonnie I just left it in its shipping box where it still sits. Really gorgeous prop, but useless. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Ally Bank, Member FDIC Consistently competitive rates, 24/7 customer care, Member FDIC http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/567c4abf10c3d4abe1cb8st01vuc
