P-Prop pleasure

[Chris Liebenberg]

My Bushbaby ZU-BTB was officially the first BB to fly with a Jabiru engine in South Africa.

Everybody I talked to, including old Monty, was skeptical about the Jabiru as power source for the Bushbaby, beacause of the direct drive andthe absence of a reduction gearbox to enable the swinging of a longer prop.

Without mentioning the brand of the 2 different props I used on the Bushbaby before, I must say that their performance was so inefficient, that I started to believe the Jabiru was not ideal for the Bushbaby.

After reading about the Explorer built by Stefan and Rick of Kitplanes for Africa, and their satisfaction with the Jabiru / BB combination, I contacted Pieter de Necker to find out about his P-Prop, since that was the only difference between the my BB and theirs.

The confidence that Pieter showed in his product, together with the promise to replace the prop he supplied to me with another one with different specs should I not be satisfied, convinced me to place my order with him.

After fitting the P-Prop to the Bushbaby, I now really start enjoying the Bushbaby for what it is.
Climb rate of 450 ft/min at 5500ft, two up, and cruise speed of 80 MPH.

Apart from the performance the P-Prop gives me, the smoothness of the prop is remarkable. Absolutely NO vibration at all!!!

Thanks Pieter, you and your P-Prop put the pleasure back into flying my beloved Bushbaby.
And I must also give credit to Jabiru for such a well designed, light weight, low cost engine.

Anybody considering the same combination, feel free to come fly my baby, you will also be hooked!

[KFA]

Hi Chris, thanks for your answer. I just asked you under one of the other treads how the P Prop was doing. I am glad you went this route. P Prop is king
Did you go for the same pitch that we did?

[Morph]

As a point of comparison, my 80hp 912UL Explorer, with Warp Drive, gives me 700fpm climb
80mph (4800rpm), 14l/hour
85mph(5000rpm - 75% power) 16l/hour

dual

Solo I get
1000fpm climb
85mph (4800rpm), 14l/hour
90mph(5000rpm - 75% power) 16l/hour

so you are in the ballpark