I had my forth flight yesterday.
I am still just circling the field. Everything
was going well. Temps and pressures were all well
in the green and I was "playing' (ok, a kinda
cavalier term for testing) with prop pitch, trim
and power settings when I suddenly felt a
distinct, slight to moderate vibration coming from
the rear of the plane. I called the tower and
with calm winds was cleared for any runway. I did
a tight right turn to 22 and landed. Has it been
mentioned that these canards really don't want to
land...I floated quite a bit down the
runway...gotta not try to bleed off speed by
slightly lifting the nose.....damned bad Cessna
habits ;-)
Anyway, I landed and taxied back
to the hangar, the vibration had stopped. I got
out and did my quick inspection and it
was immediately obvious that one of the prop
leading edge tapes had departed the craft and
another was starting to tear off. Well, at least
it seems I quickly discovered the problem...kinda
what testing is all about.
This is an IVO in flight
adjustable prop on my Velocity. I have been using
the stainless steel prop tape as provided by IVO.
I used the same tape during ground testing, but
replaced it all just before first flight.
Interestingly, it was pretty difficult to get
off...as in it required quite a bit of force. I
did have some issue with the tape un-attaching a
bit during ground testing at the edges but had
hoped it would be okay once I replaced it and
secured it better.
IVO has an online video showing
how to install. It is quite straight forward, but
I did note they now add some superglue to the
edges of the tape. I do not recall that being a
part of it when I got the prop, however, I did see
the video before the latest tape replacement and I
DID add the superglue to the leading edge. I also
was very thorough when cleaning the prop before
adding the tape....I think I used Acetone for this
step.
Anyway, I have not had success
with the method in the video. I was thinking of
masking off the prop except where the tape goes
and applying some of the 3M Super 77 (I think it
is the 77...red can) to attach the tape. I had
good success with this when sticking sandpaper to
long I-beams for sanding my wings, needing heat
to ultimatley removing it...alas, sanding blocks
and props are two different creatures.
So? What say ye? Ideas, comments
etc. I had one person mention that they don't
like the tape but understand its use to help
protect the prop. Do we know if it is doing more
than protecting from minor fod and, I guess rain??
Thanks in advance folks.
Chris