Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

Prop care - What do you recommend?

Well, of course we know about the importance of the prop – I´d like to put a question about prop care here:

What do you use for prop care? Clear water? Special cleaning (products)? Polish?

Txs for your comments and experiences!

TB20 Airman
Borkenberge EDLB, Germany

Polish for the spinner and water for the prop. I’m careful with the deicing boots.

EBST, Belgium

To care for the prop on my Cessna (in addition to cleaning and inspecting it), I always taxi and takeoff as though I’m over loose gravel. Full up elevator and ten flap the entire time I’m taxiing. (The ten flap makes the elevator just a little more effective in holding the nose a bit higher while taxiing). During takeoff, I apply full up elevator until the nose rises, then hold that attitude to keep the prop high off the surface. When I bought my Cessna in 1987, the prop was on the thin side from a life as a trainer. I vowed to take care of it, and have very rarely needed to dress it very small amounts since. 3000 hours of flying that prop with no erosion nor damage – the blades are still the same dimension, and within limits.

Home runway, in central Ontario, Canada, Canada

WD40 and paper towels.

Don’t know if u can use that on deiced props

I use all purpose clearner (vehicle) and wipe down . Every so often I put a paste wax on

A paper towel you have just wiped a dipstick with. I am serious – I’ve seen a recommendation for a gentle wipe-down with engine oil in at least one manual – sorry, can’t remember which one.

Last Edited by Ultranomad at 14 Aug 22:19
LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

@Ultranomad that’s an old classic car owners trick. The best is used engine oil sprayed underneath the car and in the areas where rust is likely. Some even used to fill the doors with engine oil, attach some a plastic sheet to stop it coming out and then drill holes and plug the bottom. They would then drive round for a little while before unplugging and draining the oil.
Their reasoning was that you never see rust above the prop shaft. It seemed to work, many were multiple concours winners.

France

I don’t do anything to the propeller. Self cleaning, by flying

For sitting around a long time, a coating of ACF50, or maybe something thicker like LPS (?), would be a good idea. But then the engine gets a corrosion risk, which is a much bigger thing.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
8 Posts
Sign in to add your message

Back to Top