Originally Posted by bose-x
As I fly most days backwards and forwards to work I tend to see lots of different weather from clear blue sky to snow. Rain is not a problem to fly through but it does play havoc with the prop. Snow gives poor viz but does not seem to have any marked effect on the prop.
The erosion on my metal prop due to flying through rain was very noticable. I had the last prop come back from overhaul and within a week of flying through rain most days the metal was already visible. It has a significant effect on the life of the prop. I now have a new prop and that has started to show signs of erosion. Even though I do my best to fly around rain some days it is just unavoidable. Yes I know I could just drive but that takes the fun out of it!!
Interesting - one thought here is to examine seaplane pilots and how they attempt to protect the prop in what is a high spray environment...and props on seaplanes suffer badly - water is rock hard and does untold damage - but there again you are throwing a piece of metal at a droplet at several hundered mph...
