www.PSFmagazine.com | March-April 2018 | 21 20 | March-April 2018 | Powered Sport Flying Trike Upgrades A New Prop For My Trike Kevin Szalapski talks about his research into a new propeller for his trike. I recently bought a new prop for my trike. My existing one works just fine; however, in the 14 years since it was installed on the trike there have been many advancements in newer, lighter props that deliver more performance. I was made aware of E props by Larry Mednick from Evolution trikes. He had always installed Sensenich props on his Revo Trikes. There are no issues with these 2-bladed aircraft props and they work just fine, but the two blades are big, thick, and heavy compared to the E props. Larry contacted several prop manufacturers to see if he could find a better choice than the Sensenich. Several companies sent him their models designed to bolt onto the Rotax 912 drive shaft. They work well on both the 80 HP and 100 HP Rotax engines. He installed several of these props on his Revo trike to see how they all performed. He really liked everything about the Excalibur prop by Helices, which is made in France, and they stood out beyond all the others. Details about the Prop This model comes in 3-, 4-, and 6-blade versions in a pusher configuration for many Light Sport Aircraft. They also have a Durandal model for tractor configuration. One big advantage I liked about these props is that they come factory balanced, so I do not have to pay a prop balancer guy to balance the prop after installation. The hub is color coded so both halves will go together the correct way. I bought the 4-bladed version, and every blade and slot is also color coded, so the prop goes together exactly the way it was balanced at the factory. Setting the pitch of the blades is very critical to getting a smooth-running engine. I was always intimidated by this setup process, and I knew it had to be very precise. Larry made an instructional video that was very helpful for installation and pitching of the prop. One nice addition to the prop kit is that the Helices company sends you a digital protractor with every prop that is mounted on a bracket, and it has a lip A six-blade version of the Excalibur prop on a gyroplane. by Kevin Szalapski Support Our Advertisers Left: Four blades on half of a prop hub, notice the color coding between the blades and the positions on the hubs. Above: Carbon Fiber Hub.
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