I’ve been flying, repairing, and maintaining RVs for a while now, and I observed that most RVs with Constant Speed props aren’t adjusted correctly. They just bolt them on out of the box, maybe set max RPM with the governor screw or worse, the cable length. I just wanted to throw this out there, most pilots don’t even know the prop isn’t adjusted right (or they don’t know there is any such adjustment)
If you get any surging on takeoff, your low pitch stops aren’t adjusted right. You shouldn’t have to throttle in really slow, although that’s a great technique. If you were to advance the throttle quickly, you shouldn’t get any surging or overshoot past rated (2700) RPM. Preferably, you only get 2650 static at under, say, 20 knots. Then as you accelerate, the rpm creeps up as the airspeed approaches liftoff, at which time the governor is able to control it to 2700rpm. Also if your plane falls out of the sky, that’s another sign that the low pitch stops are not set correctly. Once you get them set, the plane glides much better.. if you are flying around with the low pitch stops set too low, and if you have a governor failure, you are risking a massive overspeed. If you were to have an engine failure, your glide will be like a rock.. but set correctly, you’ll have a fighting chance with either scenario.
The last two planes with a Hartzell CS prop took 2 1/3 turns in on the low pitch stop Allen screw. It was night and day easier and enjoyable to fly after that!
If you get any surging on takeoff, your low pitch stops aren’t adjusted right. You shouldn’t have to throttle in really slow, although that’s a great technique. If you were to advance the throttle quickly, you shouldn’t get any surging or overshoot past rated (2700) RPM. Preferably, you only get 2650 static at under, say, 20 knots. Then as you accelerate, the rpm creeps up as the airspeed approaches liftoff, at which time the governor is able to control it to 2700rpm. Also if your plane falls out of the sky, that’s another sign that the low pitch stops are not set correctly. Once you get them set, the plane glides much better.. if you are flying around with the low pitch stops set too low, and if you have a governor failure, you are risking a massive overspeed. If you were to have an engine failure, your glide will be like a rock.. but set correctly, you’ll have a fighting chance with either scenario.
The last two planes with a Hartzell CS prop took 2 1/3 turns in on the low pitch stop Allen screw. It was night and day easier and enjoyable to fly after that!