Jeff,
I just looked at the manual and under Maximum diameter they have 72" / 183
cm, but then under that they state the weight and in brackets "Data shown
for 64" diameter and 10" spinner"
So.... I don't really know. You would think that you get a reduction in
diameter for increasing the number of blades for a given HP capacity.
My interest in this whole topic is two fold. John Hurst once told me that
the Whirlwind propeller was good for an additional 20 knots at 17,500' over
the Airmaster. At first glance this doesn't make much sense, usually a
multi bladed propeller is more efficient at altitude. John agreed but
seemed to think that the Warp drive blades were just not very efficient.
Given that no A:B comparisons were made as a controlled experiment, then its
just an opinion.
Most of my flying is long cross country trips, typically in the 500 ~ 800 nm
range. A propeller that would give me 20 more knots at altitude is
seductive.
My other interest in the whole topic is service, 6~8 week cycle times isn't
very good. I suspect that from the US the issue same issues would exist for
the European sourced products. So, am I about to spend +6k for another
propeller that might go faster and can provide local service.... probably
not, but I am just curious as to why the MT has never caught on in the
Europa community.
Cheers, Paul
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