Prop tape - good or bad idea???

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Learjet
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Prop tape - good or bad idea???

Postby Learjet » Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:35 pm

I fly out of a farm strip which, thanks to ants, pigs and sheep, has become more stoney gravel than grass - and my prop is starting to suffer from stone-chips :(
I'm thinking of sticking some rotor tape or similar over the prop's leading edges - is this a good idea? If so, what tape is recommended and should I anticipate a significant impact on prop efficiency / performance / balance etc? :roll:
nicow
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Postby nicow » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:40 am

I have tape on my prop for more than 100 flying hours.They call it high speed vinyl.You can buy it from signwriters.
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Vertical Tango
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Postby Vertical Tango » Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:02 pm

I had tape on my Magni and never realised that it was slowly coming off.
One day one of the blade's tape came off in flight and at every revolution was hitting the bottom kill and wrapping in the process the rudder cables.
Nothing dangerous but when you don't expect it, it gave a heavy vibration on the rudder pedals that lasted 30 secs. I thought I lost my rudder and did an emergency landing. Needless to say that it was the last time I used tape on my prop.
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Learjet
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Postby Learjet » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:40 pm

Thanks for the advice & feedback guys.
The good news is that it looks like the grass is making a comeback!

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