If the blades are the same size but don't weigh the same then the thickness must be different (not unusual). So thinning the heavy blade shouldn't cause a problem if both blades wind up the same thickness. The best answer to the pitch gauge problem is to get a better pitch gauge! The one that Tim Goldstein sells works great.
----- Original Message -----
From: calgoddard
To: Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 8:00 PM
Subject: [Indoor_Construction] Ikara Props
Our team has trouble with the Ikara props in that they are
usually unbalanced and therefore often make the stab of the plane
shudder. We have purchased many Ikaras over the years and all but
one or two were out of balance in terms of weight.
If the team balances the Ikara props so that each blade weighs the
same, that is not the end of the problem. If they snip off a slight
amount of the tip of one blade, the blades have unequal areas and
therefore they produce unequal thrust. If they sand one blade, it
gets thinner and may flare more, giving unequal thrust. I assume
that sanding is better in terms of achieving weight balance.
Now the blades must also have the same pitch. We have two pitch
gauges, but the blades of the Ikara are free to move a good amount
when they are in the pitch gauges. All you are really doing is
eyeballing each blade in terms of how it sits up against a 45 degree
fence or reading degrees off a scale. How do you determine whether
the pitch is identical for each blade given the relative lack of
accuracy of these pitch gagues? Moreover, the pitch may only be
identical at that radius, but not at all radii.
Is this just hit or miss? Is the vibrating stab really not a big
deal in terms of reducing flight times so our team is wasting time
on this issue?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Received on Mon Oct 29 2007 - 18:47:17 CET
This archive was generated by Yannick on Sat Dec 14 2019 - 19:13:45 CET