MT Prop: How much rain is too much?

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Pascal
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MT Prop: How much rain is too much?

Post by Pascal »

Last week-end while flying over mountainous terrain, I flew though misty rain which did not affect visibility.

The MT propeller has a metallic leading edge and thus is not affected/damaged as much by rain as the Sensenich propeller that came with the airplane.

That was one of the reasons why I installed the MT propeller, in addition to the reduction in vibration and the additional speed it provides.

So my question to you is how much rain is too much? Or, put another way, if you see water droplets aerodynamically running on the canopy, is that already too much humidity for the propeller in your opinion?

Thank you,

Pascal
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CFIDave
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Re: MT Prop: How much rain is too much?

Post by CFIDave »

MT propellers are designed to be flown in the rain. The wood core is surrounded by carbon fiber or fiberglass sheathing that's intended to keep moisture out of the core. And as you noted, it also has a metal leading edge.

I've flown my DA62 (with a pair of MT props) through rain so heavy that it peeled some of the vinyl decals off the side of the fuselage -- the heavy precipitation showed up red on weather radar (on a cool day where there was no convective activity, so it was smooth air safe to fly through). And yet there was no damage or erosion to the MT props.
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Pascal
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Re: MT Prop: How much rain is too much?

Post by Pascal »

Dave, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question. As always, very informative!
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RMarkSampson
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Re: MT Prop: How much rain is too much?

Post by RMarkSampson »

I dropped of the planet for a bit - will try and get back into the DA20 Forum community.

My DA-20 has an MT prop. Rehab of the prop was part of my last annual effort. The rain would take all the paint off - mostly at the tips. Last annual my IA said "it needs real love" - so it went off to Deland FL to MT Prop for a full factory rehab. About 2K for the rehab - about 1/2 the price of a new prop. It came back absolutely looking impeccable. While I have not flown it through a bunch of rain, it is certainly not as vulnerable to the rain as a non-MT rehab. Never fun to drop 2K on fix, but in hindsight I am very happy that I bit that bullet.
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