The Propless C210
Ref Thread: Prang at Livingstone
My Fellow PPruners.
Yes I would like to start an new thread away from the terrible sadness of the accident.
However I would like to appeal that this be limited to the two question I am going to pose.
The Prop and Engine are on their way to USA for Forensic Analysis. Hopefully this will yield some answers as to why the separation occurred. I don’t think we should speculate on this aspect, although I would be interested to receive reports of similar incidents. Note that the separation was the prop hub separating from the engine flange. There was no snapping of the shaft.
I was told last week of a C210 at Lanseria about 15 years ago where the prop snapped off the shaft due to an unreported prop strike 2 weeks previously. This is definitely not the case here.
Anyway the 2 questions are:
1. What happens to the C of G and thus the glide and speed ratios?
2. What happens to the engine when the prop disappears?
1.With regard to this, here are the figures for the IT pilots to put into their computers. The BEW is 2300 lbs. Front Seats 363 lbs. Middle Seats 328 lbs. Rear Seats 289 lbs. Rear Shelf 20 lbs. Rear baggage 30 lbs. Fuel 414 lbs. MAUW 3744 lbs (3800 lbs is max)
Prop weight 77 lbs and equipment list shows the prop Arm Ins of -44,5.
How radical would the shift of the C of G been? How could this be duplicated in a test flight. Could one have some ballast in the front seat that could be shifted rearwards to simulate the change in C of G?
Having stabilized the aircraft into a glide what are the new stall speeds? Can the trim cope with the new C of G or would there have to be continuous forward pressure on the Control Column? Full flap handling? It is known that the actual decent rate was 900 fpm
3) Engine. Two opinions. On separation the engine races off and goes within seconds. Or it is controlled by the Governor and only goes when the oil is gone? In this instance the engine kept going for another 2 / 3 minutes but could this be due to the throttle being pulled back? Don’t forget that you have no forward vision due to an oiled up windscreen. You have an engine still going, but no power. Do you know you have actually lost your prop?
Thank You for your help
FB