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Whirlwind 300-72 on RV-14A

MS19087

MS19087

Well Known Member
I understand that there may be a few -14As flying with the new 300-72 prop. WW has now approved this prop up to 220HP which makes it an option.

RV-14 owners flying this prop, Please share you experience . . .

Besides the challenges of cowl removal (which i had on my 3 bladed -9A), how did you deal with the W&B. This prop is 36lbs - the Hartzells are 42lbs (composite) & 54lbs (metal). That is a huge difference in weight on the nose. Did you add weight firewall forward? Are you limited in baggage capacity? Kind of defeats the one of the advantages of the -14.

Thanks
 
W&B

I ordered the 300-72 after many hours of W&B calculations. I have 2 Earth X?s on the firewall and a second alternator and could not find an issue. Sure for acro no baggage is allowed but would you be flying acro with baggage? Utility W&B not an issue.
 
dmattmul said:
I ordered the 300-72 after many hours of W&B calculations. I have 2 Earth X?s on the firewall and a second alternator and could not find an issue. Sure for acro no baggage is allowed but would you be flying acro with baggage? Utility W&B not an issue.
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I sent you a PM about your battery setup.
 
Mark,

I see no adverse affects from a lighter prop on your RV-14. Calulating 18 lbs. less weight approximately 63 inches forward of the empty center of gravity moves the empty CG aft about .25 inches. This would actually be advantageous. at least for my airplane, because it is possible to exit the forward CG envelope with a very light pilot, and not possible to exit the aft CG envelope at GW with 100 lbs. baggage by a large margin.

However, I personally prefer a two bladed prop for performance reasons.
 
Tear Down Cost?

Whirlwind shows the Teardown time on the 300 as 650 hours. Any idea what that costs and what is involved? That seems really low compared to the Hartzell options.
 
Fit and Finish

Although not flying (And not yet even installed) the fit and finish of the prop looks spectacular. Hopefully get it mounted in the next few weeks.

i-x6LzV2H
 
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I had an RV200 rebuilt a little while ago and spent about 2100 including shipping.
 
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RV6-KPTW said:
I had an RV200 rebuilt a little while ago and spent about 2100 not including shipping.
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Dennis, how many hours were on the prop when you had it rebuilt? I've been told by several RV200 owners that they have only inspected the prop and it has worked flawlessly to past 1000 hours and many more.
 
RV6-KPTW said:
I had an RV200 rebuilt a little while ago and spent about 2100 not including shipping.
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I’m curious what the life cycle cost differential for the Whirlwind turns out to be versus the Hartzell composite. When you factor in a couple of 650 hour overhauls, shipping, installation costs, downtime, etc., is the cost of a certified Hartzell prop really that much more?
 
KatanaPilot said:
I?m curious what the life cycle cost differential for the Whirlwind turns out to be versus the Hartzell composite. When you factor in a couple of 650 hour overhauls, shipping, installation costs, downtime, etc., is the cost of a certified Hartzell prop really that much more?
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FWIW, I was bringing one of my club's props to get overhauled and was at a prop shop that was doing a couple of Hartzell composite prop overhauls. These were MASSIVE 3 blade props I think for fedex caravans??... anyways the owner of the shop said that the main line composites were JUST expensive enough when you overhauled them that replacement might not be a bad option. They just hadn't gotten cheap enough to make it worth the benefit.

Here are some pics of blades. THIS is what happens with composite props when pilots continue to use beta at slow speeds and let the FOD eat their blades up:


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Now this isn't stopping me from getting a composite prop... it's just going to remind me to play nice with my things!
 
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