John Slade wrote:

losing the engine if you lose a prop blade; my understanding
is that the vibration will usually tear an engine off the firewall
before you can get it shut down.

The cable might be a good idea. However, I only know of one lost prop blade
incident. Dave Dormier's heat muff went through the prop and took out a
blade on his Cozy IV. He said the canard was vibrating so fast he couldn't
see it, but there were no reported engine mount problems. He dead stick
landed safely at a nearby field.

A lot depends on the motor mount and how it is fastened to the fuselage.
>From what I have seen of Burt's EZ motor mount designs I would not
count on the wimpy aluminum angle bonded into the fuselage
stringers to withstand the extreme loads. I can't say about the Velocity or
the Cozy. Use a cable to be safe.

Paul Lamar

Charlie and Tupper England wrote:

Of course, if you don't trust the al angle, where do you
anchor the cable?  :-)

Thick aluminum angle is OK. Wimpy 1/8 thick is not.
Two holes in the plywood and glass firewall.  Or wrapped
around a steel tube fuselage. PL

Loss of a blade (& engine) is a lot more common than you
might think. Several people died in Thorp T-18's & Mustang
II's when their cut-down metal props shed part of a blade &
the engine followed. I met one of the few to survive it in
Oklahoma City 9 years ago. It also happens to Certified a/c.
One of the members of theSwift Magic Aerobatic Team lost a
blade during an airshow, & only the bed type mount of the
Continental IO 360 kept it on the plane. He managed to land
with the engine sitting vertical on the mount.

F-1 Reno racers are required to have the cable.

I have lost part of a wood prop TWICE in 11 years of flying.
Both times it was only an ounce or two, & it felt like the
engine was coming off.

Charlie England

 
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