Last summer I changed over from the NSI VP prop to the Airmaster. Whilst the
NSI prop was well made the company backup was dreadful. Even David Hunter
(the main contact for NSI in the UK) has had difficulty in his dealings with
them. Airmaster on the other hand were fantastic. As my aircraft had been
grounded by the problem that David Bowie had had with the NSI Airmaster
managed to build my prop and ship it to me from New Zealand in 16 days.
Every time I had a question my e-mails were answered within the next working
day. Whilst my aircraft was temporarily grounded William Mills kindly lent
me a standard ground adjustable Warp Drive prop which I only managed to use
once due to the speedy delivery of the Airmaster.
My Airmaster is the latest feathering type. This has the added advantage of
being able to vary the cruise rpm in-flight whilst maintaining CS operation.
The engineering is superb. Unlike the NSI, the blades can be fitted or
removed without removing the hub and the pitch stops are easily accessed and
adjusted. If panel space is limiting the very compact control box minimises
the space needed. As well as being the best product available, the Airmaster
had the only controller that would have fitted into my crowded instrument
panel at that time. This may be a consideration for those who are
considering retrofitting. I haven't seen the Arplast controller yet but it
is probably very similar.
In use the rotary switch to select between Take-off, Climb, Cruise, Hold and
Feather minimises the need to look inside during high workload stages of
flight. The benefits over the basic VP prop mean that full power is
available for the whole of the take-off and the fine pitch on final approach
and flare helps to minimise the landing distance required.
Nigel Charles
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