Panther Sport Aircraft Forums

Rick,

From a Aug 2014 Kitplanes article written by Craig Catto:

"but the problem with ground-adjustable props is this: ideally if you increase the pitch one degree at the tip, halfway out should be about two degrees, and four degrees nearer the hub. But on ground-adjustables, you change the whole blade the same one degree. This changes the spanwise loading—it can be all over the place, so you never have an ideal spanwise loading."

Twenty-four pounds stuck on the front end of a Corvair would make for an interesting battery location.

What benefits of a CS prop would you be looking for?

Tony

Has anyone considered the IVO inflight adjustable with the electronic constant speed governor mounted on the Corvair?

http://www.ivoprop.com/inflightmediummodel.htm IVO inflight adjustable

http://www.ivoprop.com/constant.htm electronic constant speed governor

At the very minimum, IVO's baseline ground adjustable propeller seems like a good starting point, as it can be tailored for the airplanes performance. The 2 blade prop is only 11 pounds baseline ground adjustable, and $900. The electric adjustable 2 blade propeller jumps up to 24 pounds, and $2800. The governor is an additional $350. The electric adjustable and governor features are retrofitable without cowl modifications.

To me, the ground adjustable offers the most bang for the buck. It is lightweight, affordable, and easy to adjust blade pitch to tailor it for conditions, mission, or payload. It would also reduce the flight test trial and error of finding the correct propeller. One propeller purchase should be able to be dialed in for maximum performance.

The governed constant speed in-flight adjustable propeller is intriguing, but a little expensive and heavy for my taste and budget. But perhaps I might upgrade down the road. I would be very curious to hear other peoples thoughts on this. The Panther and the Cougar might react very positively to a constant speed prop.