POWERFIN FEATURES:
The following paragraphs will provide details for the features listed below.
PROFESSIONALLY DESIGNED BLADE PLANFORMS
There are a few companies out there trying to make one blade planform work on everything from a 28Hp to a 100Hp engine by trimming the diameter, varying the pitch, or adding blades. Their propellers may be efficient on some applications but cannot be efficient on all of them. Each type of application requires a specific design to maximize efficiency. Powerfin Inc. has commissioned the services of professional aerodynamic engineers in order to produce a number of specific designs. For instance, a powered parachute requires a very specific design to maximize static thrust. The other flight configurations of climb and cruise are basically irrelevant for these types of vehicles. We have a propeller specifically designed for these types of vehicles, which produces 398 pounds of static thrust on a 65Hp engine with a 2.59 reduction ratio. That's about 50 pounds more than the other manufacturers have produced. There won't always be that much difference between the competition's propellers and ours but there is always some difference due to the professional engineering of specific, targeted designs.
FULLY PITCH ADJUSTABLE
The above paragraph highlights the reasons why it is necessary to have a specific design for your application. Even when that is done however, there is usually some imperfection to the design. In other words, if you were to order a fixed pitch wood prop and the person making it was the best in the business, the variables that must be accounted for are so numerous and uncontrollable that rarely can the prop maker make a propeller absolutely perfect for your application. This is especially true in the ultralight category where small two-stroke engines can vary widely in horsepower and torque from engine to engine of the same make and model. The result of these variables is frequently a propeller that loads your engine slightly too much or too little and prevents you from running your engine exactly where you need to in order to use all available horsepower. With a fixed pitch prop you are stuck with what you have. With a fully pitch adjustable prop you can set the blades such that you load your engine to whatever RPM you choose. This also gives you the luxury of choosing whether you'd like to have better cruise or climb performance - something you can't do with a fixed pitch propeller. All Powerfin propellers are fully pitch adjustable.
SIMPLE ASSEMBLY WITH THE APEX SPEED SET HUB
Assembling the Powerfin
propeller and setting the pitch is no more difficult than putting the
blades in the hub halves, putting the hardware in, selecting a proper
feeler thickness (we give you a chart for that), and turning the
blade solidly against the feelers. We call this our Speed
Set (
NEW 2, 3, 4, &5 BLADE APEX HUB - HIGHEST QUALITY PROPELLER HUB AVAILABLE
The new Apex series,
fully ground adjustable hubs are the finest crafted hubs available to
the ultralight and experimental market. Made in-house on our new Haas
VF4 CNC vertical milling station, these hubs offer features that are
unavailable on other hubs. By nature of the fact that we own the
machine, we can take the time to pack features into these hubs that
we couldn’t afford to buy from an outside vendor. They are
highly sculpted solid 6061-T6 aluminum and are made to the finest CNC
machining tolerances in the industry. In fact, we specifically
designed the machining process to insure a perfectly balanced prop
hub. The hubs are anodized to a luxurious black finish you will be
proud to display. It takes longer to make Apex hubs, it’s true,
but there is no comparison between these hubs and any other offered
by our competition.
The multi-blade
configurations offered with the new Apex hubs allow us to take
advantage of the large reduction ratios offered by Rotax and Hirth in
their gearboxes. Also, more horsepower can be loaded into more blades
so this may be a solution to some applications that have limited room
to turn a propeller. See pictures of the Apex series hubs here.
SUPERIOR COMPOSITE STRUCTURE
The goal of those who design aerospace parts with composite materials is to create a part that approximates metal in strength yet remains very light. In order to accomplish this the optimal fiber to resin ratio of the chosen fiber must be controlled so that the published mechanical properties of that fiber can be relied upon. If this ratio isn’t controlled, the strength, weight, and consistency of the part will be suspect. High-tech aerospace companies normally use pre-preg composite materials to help them do this. Pre-preg means that the fiber manufacturer lays the resin into the fiber mechanically. The fiber to resin ratio is controlled perfectly. It comes to the end user frozen so it will not cure. The end user will cut the pre-preg into specific shapes and lay those shapes into the mold cavity. With pressure and heat the molds are cured to produce wonderfully uniform parts. The result of this level of control is to eliminate the use of more material than is necessary to do the job and therefore, forego useless weight. Fiber placement is perfectly controlled. Fiber to resin ratio is perfectly controlled. Void content is perfectly controlled. Weight and strength is perfe