When I was actively flying, I never heard of required overhauls for fixed-pitch propellers; only constant speed ones. Now I’m seeing times since prop overhaul in ads for airplanes with fixed-pitch propellers more often than not. I sometimes see that a certain brand (Sensenich?) that are not subject to TBO.
Was there an airworthiness directive for certain fixed-pitch propellers?
I think it depends on what kind of prop wash you use and how often you use it.
IIRC … Fixed pitch props require overhaul at an interval not too far from the corresponding engine’s factory TBO. It’s more of an inspection than what we think of as an overhaul.
But … They inspect the blade for nicks & bends & creep. Nicks get blended or maybe filled with weld. If you operate off unpaved runways expect them to trim a bit off the tips which become too bunged up to save. Which may eventually require a new prop.
Back in the glory days of GA we had a flight school C150 which went to the 2000 hour TBO almost annually. And about every 5th engine it needed a totally new prop as the old one had been ground & patched & trimmed to the limit.
They have to be balanced, don’t they?
I don’t recall dad ever having the prop balanced on his Skyhawk; only overhauling the one on the Skylane.
The Skyhawk lost about six inches when it was being flown up to him, and he got a new prop with his ‘new’ plane. Maybe it just hadn’t reached TBO before he sold it.
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