Home from Iraq/Aeromatic Spinner Question

M

mplstim

New member
Bellanca Drivers:

I've just returned home to snowy, frigid Minnesota from another 3-month tour in Iraq. I flew about 50 surveillence missions this trip and I can tell you we are seeing major gains in security around Bagdhad. Peace seems to be breaking out everywhere there... encouraging to say the least.

After searching many months for a spinner for my new Aeromatic Propeller, I found one on Ebay last month and purchased it. I consider it a near "holy grail" find - never used, with the proper 8-hole back plate for the Franklin 150/165. The markings on it say it is an Airtex 6567 with a manufacturing date of September 1965. It is 12" in diameter and a nice bullet shape. The back plate metal seems quite a bit thicker and beefier than the old backplate that went on my McCauley spinner.

The spinner appears to have no method of securing the front side in any way, shape or form. Kent Tarver sent me some photos of a spinner mounting bolt that attaches to the front of the Aeromatic hub and then to the nose of the spinner. I believe this was for the original Hampton spinner. My new Airtex spinner doesn't appear to be set up for anything like this. Do you think the back plate alone is enough to support the spinner in flight without deforming the backplate?

Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

Tim
1947 14-13-2 Cruisair Sr.
 
Tim
I did saw some spinners in the past with only a back plate, no blukhead in front of the prop. But the spinner looked also quite beeffy and rolled over around the edge at blade openings to give strenght.

Alain.
 
Tim,

Welcome home!
When I had a spinner on my Aeromatic (since replaced with a metal prop, and the airplane subsequently grounded for rotten wings), the spinner had a hole in the front, so a tube mounted on a plate on the front of the propellor could pass through it and add support. This is the only Aeromatic installation I've ever seen myself, not having seen many other Cruisairs with Aeromatics up close!

Mike
 
It's been years since I owned a 14-13-2 but I had the -H aeromatic and there was a rod that passed from the front of the hub and inserted into a hole in a small cone shaped bearing that was at the tip of the inside of the hub and held in place with three screws. My hub self destructed and I bought and STC'd replacement (as I recall) and I think it is still in my hangar somewhere. The replacement was only about 8 inches in diameter (as I recall) and had no foreward attachment. Just a cone and a backplate.
 
Hi Tim and welcome home! My spinner has a hole in the tip and a rod that runs from the tip of the Aeromatic prop throught the hole. I think yours will look better.
 
Tim I have a Airtex Aeromatic spinner. It came with my 14-13 project. Was new in a airtex box. 14 screws hold it to back plate no alignment pin. I installed it and have over 700 hours on it with no problems.

Norm
 
Tim
One more thing. When you put the spinner on check your RPMs. I ran mine up on the ground once with the spinner off and lost 50 RPMs. I think the Aeromatic works better with a spinner, no air getting pulled into the weights by the prop.

Norm
 
Norm:

Thanks for the info - I was concerned that perhaps we had missed something but no worries now. After the install, I did notice I was about 50 RPM low on the take off roll. I'll make some adjustments when I get back again. I only got one flight in before I shipped out again for Iraq. Im back at Al Sahra airbas (COB Spiecher) here in lovely Tikrit, Iraq. I'll be back in May - just in time for some great flying weather and a summer off to enjoy it!

Thanks again

Tim
 
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