New Years Day Hatz Flight

A general discussion area where you can talk about the various flying characteristics of the Hatz and Kelly-D.
M Lightsey
Posts: 112
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:10 pm

New Years Day Hatz Flight

Post by M Lightsey »

What a nice way to start the new year.
http://www.youtube.com/v/JYuoxiQF-is
Mark
Bill Rusk
Posts: 81
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:06 am

Re: New Years Day Hatz Flight

Post by Bill Rusk »

What a great way to start the new year! Thanks for sharing. The only thing missing is a grass runway. Great looking Hatz. What is the prop?

Bill
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dougm
Posts: 498
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:39 pm
Location: Douglas, MA
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Re: New Years Day Hatz Flight

Post by dougm »

Looks like the prop is an Aeromatic.

Mark,
Can you provide some feedback on its performance?
Doug
Building Hatz Classic s/n 093 & Rotec R3600
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M Lightsey
Posts: 112
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:10 pm

Re: New Years Day Hatz Flight

Post by M Lightsey »

Hi guys,
The prop is an Aeromatic. The O-290-3 has the same 8 bolt flange pattern as a Franklin engine, so they're something you see from time to time. I picked up this prop from Ed Marquart's estate sale. Even though it had been yellow tagged and overhauled by Univair, it was over 25 years old, so we sent it to Tarver Propellers who now owns the T.C. They checked it out, replated the hub,repainted the blades, balanced it and set it up for the horsepower and rpm of the O-290.
Once the prop is installed on the plane, there's still a whole set-up procedure to adjust the static and in-flight rpm. Right now it's set up so the engine turns 2600 rpm for take-off which gives great climb performance, about 800-900 fpm at 65mph indicated. Once pushed over into cruise, I normally pull the throttle back to 2300 rpm and the airspeed will indicate about 80 mph. If I push the rpm up to 2500, the speed goes up to 90-95mph.
One nice thing about the Aeromatic is the ability to adjust it for elevation. It will lose rpm as altitude/elevation increases, so if you're on a trip that takes you from sea level to higher elevation airports, you can remove some of the counter weights so you'll still have full rpm for take-off. I did that last summer on the way to Blakesburg and it was pretty handy.
The other really nice thing about Aeromatics is that they're extremely smooth running. The down side is that they need fairly frequent inspections to make sure the bolts that hold the blades to the ferrule are not loose or broken.
All in all, I really like it and wouldn't hesistate to use it again.
http://aeromatic.com/
Mark
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