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Heino & Deanne Weisberg
November 5th 05, 02:08 PM
I have a Stitts SA-3A playboy I picked up recently. It has an A-75
Continental and a 67" Fottorp prop with a 47 pitch. The plans indicate this
machine should fly around 120 mph with this engine; no mention of prop. A
previous owner I spoke to said it cruised around 118mph for him. For me, it
cruises around 95mph; I verified this with GPS. On run-up, I get about 2250
max RPM. On take-off it easily red-lines, suggesting to me the prop is not
a good match, but then I know next to nothing about this. It flies
beautifully, feels very well rigged. I won't pretend I know what the
problem could be; but I do know it is flying a lot slower than it should.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you
Heino

.Blueskies.
November 5th 05, 03:01 PM
"Heino & Deanne Weisberg" > wrote in message ...
>I have a Stitts SA-3A playboy I picked up recently. It has an A-75 Continental and a 67" Fottorp prop with a 47 pitch.
>The plans indicate this machine should fly around 120 mph with this engine; no mention of prop. A previous owner I
>spoke to said it cruised around 118mph for him. For me, it cruises around 95mph; I verified this with GPS. On run-up,
>I get about 2250 max RPM. On take-off it easily red-lines, suggesting to me the prop is not a good match, but then I
>know next to nothing about this. It flies beautifully, feels very well rigged. I won't pretend I know what the
>problem could be; but I do know it is flying a lot slower than it should. Any suggestions would be greatly
>appreciated!!
> Thank you
> Heino
>

Is it knots on the GPS?

Frank Stutzman
November 5th 05, 03:09 PM
Before you start messing with the prop, I'd recommend making sure that
your tach is reading right.
--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Hood River, OR

Montblack
November 5th 05, 07:19 PM
(".Blueskies." wrote)
> Is it knots on the GPS?


95 knots = 109 mph

....which would help (half way to the wall) but he's still then missing
another 10%, from 109 mph up to 118 mph -120 mph.


Montblack

Cy Galley
November 6th 05, 01:29 AM
The A-75 gets its 75 HP by turning 2600. The Manual recommended cruise rpm
is 2350. I would check the timing as it is 29° for the top plugs (right
mag) and 32° for the bottom plugs. It is NOT timed the same as the A-65.
--
Cy Galley - Aeronca Aviators Club
Newsletter Editor & EAA TC
www.aeronca.org
Actively supporting Aeroncas every day

"Heino & Deanne Weisberg" > wrote in message
...
>I have a Stitts SA-3A playboy I picked up recently. It has an A-75
>Continental and a 67" Fottorp prop with a 47 pitch. The plans indicate
>this machine should fly around 120 mph with this engine; no mention of
>prop. A previous owner I spoke to said it cruised around 118mph for him.
>For me, it cruises around 95mph; I verified this with GPS. On run-up, I
>get about 2250 max RPM. On take-off it easily red-lines, suggesting to me
>the prop is not a good match, but then I know next to nothing about this.
>It flies beautifully, feels very well rigged. I won't pretend I know what
>the problem could be; but I do know it is flying a lot slower than it
>should. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
> Thank you
> Heino
>

Heino & Deanne Weisberg
November 6th 05, 12:59 PM
ASI is calibrated in mph, GPS is set to mph.
Heino

"Montblack" > wrote in message
...
> (".Blueskies." wrote)
>> Is it knots on the GPS?
>
>
> 95 knots = 109 mph
>
> ...which would help (half way to the wall) but he's still then missing
> another 10%, from 109 mph up to 118 mph -120 mph.
>
>
> Montblack

November 6th 05, 06:22 PM
The prop should be pitched to achieve redline RPM at full
throttle in level flight. Redlining in takeoff is not a good sign of a
suitable prop. And check that tach; most tachs any more than a few
years old tend to under-read as the magnet within tends to weaken as it
ages.

Dan

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