We sent our dimona prop in for service in early August to Eric Weston & he had it the usual 6 weeks plus.
It came back mid September and was hard to change usually dropping back out of cruise but in a few goes we got it. The dimona went to Burketown and slowly got harder to get a cruise change & finally was impossible to change. Just threw out when revs got to 2 400 revs or more. I looked at the other 5 similar props at Burketown and all had less rotational blade play than ours which was out of service from Eric. I then made prop into a fixed pitch prop midway between cruise an climb. It has S2500 93hp engine so this worked well and they were able to fly home from Burketown without issues. Once back the prop was removed 9th October and sent to Eric Weston again and there it sat for 8weeks as Eric did not know what the issue was. Then Eric ordered an exchange hub and finally arrived mid January. He then fitted same and John Williams picked it up at Bankstown last Wednesday & we fitted it Friday. It is now perfect and never ever misses a change. The exchange hub cost $250 so in the total bill is not much. I would recommend if you have any play consider getting exchange hub. No iffs or buts. Actually our prop has probably done more hours than any other prop in Australia. I strongly believe never let a sprog touch the prop change. Do it yourself and let them WATCH as most pull it too far and have no hope of ever getting a good gear change. I believe ALL pilots should have a look under the spinner and see how it works. If they do not fully understand then they should NEVER touch prop change handle and never fly solo. I feel strong on this one as they MUST understand. I pass this experience on for all. Ian mcphee
