Daily Archives: 04/07/2019

Propellor, Water System

Thursday 4th July 2019

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Music: Reverend And The Makers

The main job today is to fit the propellor blades. Luckily the Aeroshell Grease that was supposed to have been delivered next Monday was delivered a couple of days ago so I can get on with it. Once fitted I can purge the oil system and add the antifreeze.

I had a call with CFS Aero who have now acknowledged that it would be a good idea to change the floats before I first fly the aircraft as Rotax have had a problem with sinking floats that leads to flooding of the engine and the possibility of engine failure. They will be sent in the post in the next couple of days. They have also confirmed that Halford OAT antifreeze is ok to fill the coolant system.

Once the protective seal has been removed it reveals the pitch change mechanism. It’s been greased after manufacture but needs a further coating as per a service bulletin.
I think I may have ordered the wrong size tin of grease 🙂 It was at a bargain price which was cheaper than smaller tins.
The hub is liberally coated with grease before being installed.
Each blade is simply screwed in…
…the set screws are unscrewed to leave around 4mm showing.
A special ‘C’ spanner is fitted on the set screws which is used to tighten to the specified torque setting using a torque wrench.
Job done, looks quite good. A quick test of the pitch system confirms it’s working as expected. Now for the oil system purging and filling the coolant system which has taken a lot more than the 1 1/2 litres that Rotax advertise to fill the system so I’ll need to get some more tomorrow.