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Eric,
I have been flying the Aero Composites (AC) prop for about 2 years now. I have always been impressed by the leading edge. Every Hartzell that I have had and most other props that I have seen have had nicks in the leading edge. After more than 250 hours of flying, my AC prop leading edge is as smooth as silk. Not one scratch. I am impressed. The Nickel leading edge must work.
As far as performance goes, that takes much more to evaluate. I have waited for 2 years to make a judgment. You have to either fly in both cold and hot weather and many other conditions in order to determine if performance has been changed or fly next to someone with a similar aircraft immediately before and after the change to determine exactly what has happened. After 2 years of flying with the AC prop, I believe that the AC prop has added between 5 and 7 knots to my aircraft speed.
AC has always claimed that because of the small "flaps" on the inboard trailing edge of the prop that the climb would be one of the props best features. I have no way of evaluating the before and after climb performance other than to say it sure seems like it climbs like hell.
My plane, which is not any cleaner than any other O-320, came in in 1st place in the 2004 Redmond 100 race. In 2004 at Sun-N-Fun, I flew 5 miles off course and came in 2nd in a field of 8 or 9 planes. OK, OK... Bill Harrelson came in first. My plane weights 1,180 lbs empty and for both races I carried camping equipment and additional, unnecessary fuel totaling more that 240 lbs. My race weight was 1,710 lbs. Had I needed to go faster, I could have safely taken the weight down to 1,470 lbs. I attribute the speed to 3 factors. In order of relevancy they are: 1) the AC prop, 2) A good pre-race wax job and 3) platinum plugs.
If you decide to get the AC prop, make sure to take note of the fact that it is 17 lbs lighter than the Hartzell.
Matt Hapgood <hapgoodm94@alum.darden.edu> also has one to these props flying. I believe that he has an IO-360.
Where are you located and what is your telephone number. If you have any other questions, feel free to call or eMail.
Sincerely,
Lorn H. Olsen
Hi. Is any one using a Aero Composites prop and if so your impressions of this unit. Good? bad? Let me know .
Thanks
Eric 360
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Lorn H. 'Feathers' Olsen, MAA, DynaComm, Corp.
248-345-0500, mailto:lorn@dynacomm.ws
LNC2, O-320-D1F, 1,000 hrs, N31161, Y47, SE Michigan
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