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deejayel
11-12-2012, 06:41 PM
Called ivoprop today

I knew from their website that ivoprop recommended a medium 2 blade. And thats exactly what they told me over the phone.

I do like the looks of a 3 blade. I thought the gsc 3 blades looked great

Options? Thoughts?

t j
11-13-2012, 10:21 AM
I have a Classic 4 with a 52 hp 3:1 geared 503 Rotax. First had a 68 inch 3 blade GSC. Very smooth at all rpms, looked good and pretty respectable climb considering the low power engine. I had a prop strike that shattered all three blades but didn't kill the engine. I sent the engine in to a Rotax service center for tear down and inspection. Everything was still within new specs.

Wanting the best possible climb performance out of the low power engine I called warp and asked. Ther recommened and I bought a 72 inch 2 blade square tip Warp. Better climb than the GSC and cruse at 85 mph. Smooth at all rpms except a slight vibration at 3000 rpm and kind of ugly.

deejayel
11-13-2012, 11:29 AM
I'm kinda leaning to the 3 blade 72" Ivoprop Ground adjustable UL

I was having a hard time getting IVO to tell me where the performance degradation would be if I went with the above rather than their recommended 2 blade medium. They never did tell me.

My mission: 1200' grass strips, sand bars farm fields etc... Not really going anywhere but around the neighborhood so a fast cruise is not necessarily required

fred colman
12-23-2012, 02:52 PM
Hi Deejayel I recently fitted a 72" coarse pitch 3 blade ground adjustable IVO light prop to my mk2 Kitfox,582 c/w 3-1 C box.Adjusted one turn coarse from neutral,it gives great performance,over 1000ft per min climb,80mph cruise @ 5000rpm.Have yet to fly with a passenger but there is lots of scope for adjustment,and as you know,so quick n easy

deejayel
12-25-2012, 08:43 AM
Great Review! Thanks!

I wish IVO recommended the 3 blade UL for my combo. Alas, they have the medium 2-blade set up for the 618/3-1...

So if I "have" to go with a 2 blade, I decided to run a few more tests. I sent Culver and Tennessee props an email with my specs to see what they come up with. Waiting their reply...

I do like the "old fashioned" look of wood. I'll take a bit of a performance hit to have the "look"

Geowitz
12-25-2012, 09:04 AM
Deejayel - Just in case... I have an IVO Medium In Flight Adjustable for sale that will work on your 618. 6 hours total time. It has and can be configured with 2 or 3 blades. Also includes 2 blade spinner. I loved it and it performed really well in climb and cruise, but it was a little on the heavy end for the HKS as far as inertia. Your 618 should handle it fine though as IVO recommends. Easily saw about 1200 fpm climb with the HKS. May be beter with your high ratio gearbox. The in flight adjust makes for wonderful performance across the pitch range.

One more thing - I really wanted a 3 blade, but trust me. Once it's spinning you can't tell . And the in flight adjust is so nice. I really hate to not be able to use it.

Dave F
12-29-2012, 07:14 PM
any prop will be decent
IVO Med 72 "
IVO 3 blade 68" - Make sure the tape is SS tape and not Alum like some have done......

WARP 2 blade 70 to 72" Both warp get Niickel LEAding Edge
WARP 3 blade 68 "

GSC 2 or 3 blade -- Get urethane leading edge
GSC in flight prop with WARP blades

I find 618 a bit differnt toadjust than the 582
power band is a bit higher and the exhasut valve do no open till I think 6000 to 6500 if I recall.
What do you have for exhaust on it "? Send a pic....... The 618 pipe is differnt than what they used on the 582 -- It is a sidemount muffler with a cut made in it and ree welded to fit. Works good and simple.
The y pipe is also shortened as well as the elbow -- you loose about 5 HP or so. This is one reason the 582s go 500 plus hours in Kitfox. Easily.

deejayel
06-20-2013, 06:43 PM
Fun while it lasted....

So I installed an Ed Sterba wood prop and got one of those little skull cap spinners. Nice classic touch. Well today the spinner departed the airplane and it was encouraged with a kick by my nice wood blade.... BANG and then rough running limping back to the airport. Blast.

The blade that was struck didn't splinter, but it did sustain some nice cracks. So it's a hangar wall ornament now..

The spinner was quite cheap. All it has was a PK screw into a tinnerman. I replaced that with an an bolt and nutplate. But the vibration and the slight off center of the spinner really must have put some torque on it.

So I'm back looking at other props again. I sure would like to find something on the shelf somewhere. I have been keeping my ear tuned to the reports on the IFA ivoprop. Seems like someone always has an issue at some time or another with the control.

So that leaves me thinking the Medium IVO ground adjust would be the simplest way to go? Looks like the spinner is very similar to the skullcap that took me out of commission today? If so, I'd sure like to avoid it. I do want a spinner....

Geowitz
06-21-2013, 12:38 PM
I swear I'm not saying this because I have one for sale, but I think the dependability issues with the IVO IFA is way overblown. Of all the cases that I am aware of, the malfunctions were on the "light" version which has a smaller motor and overall smaller setup. The medium version has a much better and stronger motor which in my experience and others I've talked with works wonderfully with little maintenance other than a brush change every once in a while.

deejayel
07-04-2013, 05:51 PM
Installed the warp drive 3-blade 70" HP-L hub and composite spinner.

I set the blades to 10deg for the first run. Static was right at 6500. Not good. Test flew her around the patch. Yikes. She really struggled to stay in the air!

Bumped up the pitch to 15deg. Static run indicated 6000. Much better! She really jumped off the turf. I didn't fly her too long straight and level because i was having so much fun with the nanco "tundra" tires i just installed. I'm sure ill find myself in places i shoudn't be....

So, warp users, I'm running 15deg, 6000rpm static. Since she jumps off the ground so quickly, I'm thinking of adding another few degrees to pick up the cruise a bit.

Thoughts?

SkyPirate
07-04-2013, 08:05 PM
Watch your egt's, tapered or square? I had the tapered on my 582 model 2 , 3 blade, think i had it set at 13.5 maybe 15 in the end, but the egt's would climb if i did a 2,000 ft climb out at 5800 with ambient around 70 +

deejayel
07-04-2013, 08:10 PM
Thanks. Ill keep an eye on the egts. These are the square tips. I'll run it for a few hours as is and see what i get. Im experimenting with my cruise power to get the fuel flow down without losing too much speed.

SkyPirate
07-04-2013, 08:14 PM
I do know the square tips work better for cruise then the tapered, the tapered is quieter, and a little less tip weight when shut down time, but all in all i was pleased

SkyPirate
07-04-2013, 08:16 PM
I like the GSC's too i have a 2 blade right and a 3 left

Dave F
07-05-2013, 02:20 AM
I would not worry about the degrees on the IVO.
Since the blades all adjust evenly just loosed the nut and play with it to get static RPM 6000 to 6500 rpm then try it and watch your EGTs.

I would be curious to see some pics of your exhaust set up on this Kitfox.

It sounds like you are close now and just tweak to keep EGTs in line at cruise.

deejayel
07-05-2013, 04:18 AM
Here is a pic of my fwf

Dave F
07-05-2013, 11:16 AM
interesting mounting.

Any idea is the pipe length has been changed from the OEM 618 muffler?

Looks like a 582 pipe.