Wooden props - keep them on your plane when you store it?

[Paul Taylor]

So say you are going to be storing your plane for a few weeks before you fly again. Do you remove your wooden prop to keep from crushing the prop hub?

Paul

[Clint Ormosen]

I store my planes with the props on them. I sometimes take them off for transport.

[Marvin Denny]

  I loosen them whether they are wood OR composite.  I loosen them sufficiently so I won't inadvertently try to start the engine with a loose prop. 
  If you don't loosen the woodies,  there is a good chance that sooner or later you will try to start the engine without first retightening the prop, and that is the time Mr Murphy will up and bite you.  The wood will have crushed down slightly and when the engine starts it will backfire and kick the prop off right into your face.
  On composites,  I do it to avoid Stress corrosion from cracking the shaft  (Hardened Ground shafts).

  Bigiron

[Joe Gilbert]

Yes loosen the Prop if wood better for prop and store flat if.

[Paul Smith]

This is a moot point, due to Global Warming, as described by the learned Nobel Laurette and Academy Award winner Dr. Al Gore.  Here in Michigan, we now plan to fly all year since the season formerly known as "winter" no longer exists.

As Doctor Al says, Americans have the power to manipulate the Earth's climate at will, simply by buying hybrids and flouescent light bulbs.  If your lifestyle precluds actual conservation, you can still buy into green by (like Al) contributing to a windmill in Uganda and proclaiming yourself carbon-neutral.

Unfortunately, somebody lit a match to southern California and released enough heat and smoke to cancel out the next five year's of Docter Al's campaign. 

There's always a bright side:  No need to loosen props this season or any time soon.

[Wayne Collier]

 

[Bob Disharoon]

What exactly is Dr. Al's core temperature?..I cannot find the answer because there is no rectal thermometer large enough to measure it.....Bob

[SQ8s]

OK....here in the Portland Oregon area. I try to keep the props on my planes. NOW..If you are going to travel to lets say Airizone or Nu-Mxico I wood take off the prop to make sure that I don't have any problems. OH HARD wood props are less likely to give you any problems, however, BY-O soft wood props you have to tighten them every hour...... or time zone ......lol.

Read post LEO NOSE

[Steve Helmick]

I do have a GMA tuned engine purchased used off an undisclosed (SSW!) Classified Forum that has a crusty/rusty crank in front of the prop driver, as possibly caused by a wooden prop. Maybe the prop was soaked in saltwater before use? Anyway, I bought a new crank for it. The engine did come out of the Lone Star State, OBTW. I probably should have sent it back, or made the seller pay for the crank, since he claimed it was in excellent condition, I paid what he asked, and a pretty nice chunk of $ it was. He still might step up and pay for the crank, don'tcha think?  Steve

Edit: I'm not a big user of wooden props, so far, but I suspect that you'd be way better off to take them off, put them in a cozy place in your flying kit, and put them on at the field. Otherwise, the 'hanger rash' alone will not be kind to the props & the props may not be kind to the shaft. Still, if you use a spinner, it would be a hassle, and I'm not into hassles. I have not found many wood props that come close to being as good as APC, Thunder Tiger Cyclone, and Graupner props...and they hold up better to clipping through the grass at our cow pasture.

[Bill Heher]

When I'm done flying I usually leave the prop on the plane. Next time I go out to fly I take the prop off and put one on that still has both blades intact!

[Dick Byron]

What exactly is Dr. Al's core temperature?..I cannot find the answer because there is no rectal thermometer large enough to measure it.....Bob

Now that's funny. True too!

[Shultzie]

HEY LEO!!!
If you have been reading this post....I would bet you a BudLight and a BAGLE...THAT NOSE OF YOUR IS ACHIN' just from the visual of all this?

HEAL THY NOSE....BROTHA LEO!

Again....it is always a good idea to retighten any wooden prop after its been sittin for a while and if you're not goin' flyin with that winged-kudgle' for a while....why not back off the pressur to keep that prop from compressin-n-stressin'?