Brolga Ultra-Prop

[eastmeg2]

Hi,

 

Has anyone had any experience with the Brolga Ultra-Prop from the USA?

 

Brolga Ultra-Prop | Composite Propellers for Ultralight Aircraft

 

How would they rate against the Previously Australian made product, or even against the new Brolgas being made by Bolly?

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Should I posting this in the USA section of the website? USA members might have had more exposure to this product . . .

 

 

[Guest 172M]

When Aerofibre (Brolga Oz )ceased production in Qld the tooling went to the US (Ultra the Hub supplier) the product they are offering should be identical to the original oz product

 

There is a cost disadvantage with Bolly blades. If you are thinking of direct import don't forget +20% for the Exchange rate, and allow at least $150au for freight if the total consignment cost is over AU1k add customs clearance $140 and GST @10%

 

It easy to get caught (Been there!!!)

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Thanks,

 

If they are the same quality as the original Oz product and the published prices on their website are anything to go by then they are value for money and won't be tipping the scales over AUD1k.

 

I've sent back their form late yesterday and called them at midnight last night. Their response was interesting, saying that it's not a prop they normally sell but they will chase up the technical details and pricing and email it all to me but it might take a little while as most of their technical staff are in Oshkosh this week.

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

 

[eastmeg2]

I must be feeling a bit slow this week. Just realised that I have someone at Oshkosh this week and that the company selling the Brolga Ultra-Prop have a booth display at Oshkosh. I'll call him tonight ;-)

 

 

[Guest 172M]

If you can't get a hold of him let me know I have a mate KOSH now who is a an inspector for the HGFA an owns a "912 fast-weight shift thing" ( no offence) He has been around since the year (0) and driven every thing from a 447 to a 912S Apart from that he drives his 182RG when it gets cold. Oh to be retired!!! and a Gyro (that is frightening!)

 

Rgds

 

 

[Guest 172M]

Hi Glen,

 

Just spoke to JW @ KOSH he is happy to "suss" it out tomorrow and get back. Probably Mon our time.Although it was midnight he is having a ball!!?? at the Uni....hmmm.....sympathetic cold one for me. thumb_down:censored:

 

rgds

 

Leigh

 

 

[eastmeg2]

Hi Leigh,

 

Thanks for the offer but I managed to talk to AM last night. Perhaps coincidentally I've received overnight emails from both Competition Aircraft and Leading Edge Airfoils saying that only Bolly can provide the blades for the Brolga prop, but they can still provide the hub.

 

AM's phone seems to be switched off this morning, so still unable to confirm with him what the emails from CA and LEAF are saying, though I don't expect any different.

 

Cheers,

 

Glen

 

 

[Ron5335]

Maybe Good News for some !!!

 

I contacted aeroprop in the U.S & (Lucky for me) he had a set of 60" LH Brolga Blades & the complete Prop Set, plus 2 additional sets of Pitch Blocks are being sent out (or back to Oz) for

 

AU$538.00 incl freight

 

That's a lot better than a Bolley for $1632.00

 

Maybe, he might have other sizes !!!!!!!

 

Aeroprop, who sell Ultra Prop, only make blades up to 59", for longer blades 60" & over, they used to buy them from aerofibre in Qld, who used to sell them Brolga Props over here,(Using aeroprops hub & pitch blocks).

 

In the Global Financial meltdown, the Au dollar was about 63 cents when aerofibre stopped, so I assume aeroprop would have brought the Brolga blades pretty cheaply at the time:clap:. Now the Au dollar is up in the 90's it's pretty cheap to buy them back !!!!

 

As I said, Good news for some, & for those who have Brolga's, Look after them, cause there ain't no more !!!!!!

 

 

 

[pylon500]

When I changed from a 582 to a 912 in my personal aircraft, I didn't have any props or blades that turned the right way.

 

I had been using a Brolga on the 582 and was happy with it, but couldn't get new blades from Brolga (out of business) and the Bolly ones seemed a bit too expensive so I thought I'd have a go myself.

 

I'm playing with composites at the moment so it wasn't such a big deal, took a bit of experimenting, but I got there.

 

Check out My Site pictures.

 

Only got about 7 hours on it so far but, so far so good.

 

No I don't intend to go into production.

 

Arthur.

 

 

[Yenn]

G'day Arthur. Havn't seen a post from you for ages, I assume the homebuilt plane must be flying now. It's a pity the Brolga props are out of business, I had a great one on my Thruster.

 

 

[boleropilot]

g'day all, resurrecting this thread because I am currently communicating with Ultra-Prop about a replacement for the Brolga 4 blade on my Drifter

 

it has done over 3,500 hours and I have to say that their original pricing seems very reasonable = complete 4 blade kit $350 USD

 

I am aware of extra dollars to be spent with exchange rates and shipping + import duties, once I have all that information and a final price I will re-post here

 

in the meantime, any information on those who may have dealt with this company since 2009 would be much appreciated

 

BP

 

 

[pylon500]

g'day all, resurrecting this thread because I am currently communicating with Ultra-Prop about a replacement for the Brolga 4 blade on my Drifterit has done over 3,500 hours and I have to say that their original pricing seems very reasonable = complete 4 blade kit $350 USD

I am aware of extra dollars to be spent with exchange rates and shipping + import duties, once I have all that information and a final price I will re-post here

 

in the meantime, any information on those who may have dealt with this company since 2009 would be much appreciated

 

BP

It will be interesting to see what the blades are like.

Are you actually getting 'Brolga' blades to suit your 'Ultra-Prop' hub, or the plastic 'Ultra-Prop' blades?

 

As I mentioned, when the Broga manufacturer retired and sold the business to Bolly, they said they updated the blades, and with it the price.

 

Not saying they are a bad blade, in fact they ARE better, but at $1,200 for three blades, I decided to make my own.

 

 

 

I don't even have an Ultra-Prop hub anymore, just the blocks.

 

 

[boleropilot]

g'day Arthur, thanks for the input - as far as making my own, I have trouble making a cup of coffee - does that kettle button go up or down - why won't it start?

 

I see your 'bottom of page' info lists your status as 'semi-retired' - does that mean you have a little spare time on your hands and would like to make a few dollars?

 

the Brolga prop hanging on the wall of my batcave looks a little worse for wear, perhaps all it needs is a good clean up but there are a few little dings in the blades...the hub's not pretty either

 

I may be able to get some help from my fellow Flying Tigers members with the epoxy repair for the dings and just get a hub from Ultra-Prop for $70 (which appears to be the same as the Brolga)

 

just did some reading of my downloads from Competition Aircraft :

 

"High performance Brolga blades are no longer available through Competition Aircraft - we still carry the hubs, pitch blocks, spinners, and hardware"

 

and

 

"our standard blades are made with glass reinforced nylon" - I assume these are the plastic blades you mentioned? they are listed on the pricelist at $75 USD each

 

with the Drifter I am limited to 60" for clearance, but I may have options for either a three or five blade setup - Bolly recommend a three blade and I believe they have good reviews from Drifter drivers (as you say - a bit dear)

 

one other issue is the fact that 0455 is 25 registered, but the next custodian would need to do a few 'other' things anyway if they wanted to retain that for training dolphins (porpoises)

 

(you have to say it out loud to get it) (with apologies to the late great Robin Williams : "you did that on dolphin") (on porpoise)...

 

cheers

 

BP

 

 

[boleropilot]

bugger - forgot to say - your props look awesome !!!

 

 

[pylon500]

one other issue is the fact that 0455 is 25 registered, but the next custodian would need to do a few 'other' things anyway if they wanted to retain that for training dolphins (porpoises)

Yeah, there is that problem.

 

High performance Brolga blades are no longer available through Competition Aircraft

I suspected as much.

The original plastic blades, although they look primitive, actually work fairly well and can easily be cut to length.

 

You avatar talks of a WB582, I would have thought you should be using a four blade prop for that power and diameter?

 

No, I don't have the time to make/repair props, sorry.

 

A friend had the three blade Bolly on his Fisher 503 Drifter, very nice, and quiet.

 

Had a minor hub issue, but Bolly sorted it, a good prop.

 

 

 

[robinsm]

Unfortunately, although Bolly props are good, the price is a problem for the average working pilot.

 

Does the "plastic props" refer to the original brolga props, the 3 blade I use has fibreglass blades, dont know where the "plastic" came from...???

 

 

[boleropilot]

I've received an email from Bob Davis at Competition Aircraft about the 'new' high performance blades they have been working on for some time - they are now shipping these propellers.

 

Info: http://www.competitionaircraft.com/Ultra_Prop_II.pdf

 

At this point in time they only have data for 66" props but Bob has said he will commence dyno testing for my setup = 60" - Rotax 582 - 2.62 ratio - pusher config, to determine the optimum blades/pitch

 

He has quoted me $425 for 3 blade and $500 for the 4 blade, with shipping about $100 - buyers would need to consider the exchange rate and local taxes.

 

Obviously there has to be consideration of a brand new product that would also (in my case) alter the 25 rego of my aircraft, but at this point in time I am willing to consider this product

 

BP

 

 

[pylon500]

dont know where the "plastic" came from...???

The 'plastic' blades referred to are the original 'Ultra-Prop' propellers.

The plastic blades were a bit of a compromise between production and performance.

 

Enter 'Aerofibre', a composite blade maker in Queensland, who produced the 'Brolga' blades to suit the Ultra-Prop hub system.

 

Upon his retirement, the Brolga blades were produced by Bolly.

 

I've received an email from Bob Davis at Competition Aircraft about the 'new' high performance blades they have been working on for some time - they are now shipping these propellers.

Interesting looking blade, and if I read right, they will be moulded plastic like the original Ultra blades...

 

Obviously there has to be consideration of a brand new product that would also (in my case) alter the 25 rego of my aircraft, but at this point in time I am willing to consider this product

Hopefully the MARAP process should sort this out.

 

 

[boleropilot]

hey pylon, funny you should mention the MARAP process - it has (kinda) been sorted it out but apparently "because RAAus has spent $25 thousand dollars on the process, that expenditure is now being passed on to members (such as myself) who want to change to a Bolly prop"

 

In my case, I WAS willing to part with $1,635 + $40 freight for a Bolly Optima Series 3 60" 3 blade, the prop that has MARAP approval. Only tiny little problem is that Peter Tapp (Bolly) just told me that if I fit that propellor without getting the MARAP certificate from RAAus then the aircraft (certified - 25 rego) would be immediately grounded by anyone from CASA or RAAus who asked me for the certificate and I couldn't provide it - easy to fix, MY copy of the certificate will only cost me $550....

 

WTF is going on here - if I didn't know better I would think that someone is trying to price my little dinosoar out of the sky...I can understand the user pays principle but $550 - fkn hell.........

 

Bottom line is I'm not going to spend two thousand dollars on a fifteen thousand dollar aircraft - can anyone please put me in contact with someone who can provide a basic refurbishment of my Brolga 4 blade prop (please don't say Bolly....)

 

BP

 

 

[boleropilot]

further to the above post (I have made this comment on another thread here) I have been in contact with Dave Frederick of Aerofibre Industries (Kingaroy) who has some history with Brolga props

 

I am going to post him my Brolga and he is going to check it over, it if it is still serviceable he will recondition it for me - I love it when a plan comes together...

 

BP

 

 

[pylon500]

Yeah, I was afraid it would go that way.

 

My problem is worse in that I own the original 912 conversion Lightwing, which supposedly had been approved for a two blade bolly.

 

The aeroplane got pranged and part of the rebuild was to upgrade from the 80hp 912 to a 100hp ULs, and fit a three blade Bolly (would prefer a Warp), only to be told by RAAus that according to their files my Lightwing should have a R582 in it.

 

They said I could do the mods, but it would have to become a 19-.

 

End result, $32k's worth of aeroplane that only did about 120 hours, now sits in a trailer waiting for me to decide whether to take it to the tip or not.

 

The irony is that the aircraft was previously owned by a prominent RAAus official that had done some bad repairs on it, added assorted extras, and modified the engine with aftermarket high compression pistons.

 

I always wondered why it flew so well

 

 

[boleropilot]

who wooda thunk that a bunch of people sitting around a table could make (so many) decisions that negatively affect the members of their organisation? sounds like guvment to me....

 

well, they know what's best for us....don't they? I just had a thought - if I changed my Drifter to a 19- would I still have to pay the $550 MARAP fee to use the Bolly prop?

 

 

[boleropilot]

prop has been sent to Kingaroy and checked - blades are good, will refurb nicely. hub has cracks, so must be replaced. quote is approx. $600 inc. delivery to BrisVegas in assembled condition (to avoid losing balance after another disassemble/assemble) - I'm happy

 

BP

 

 

[nomadpete]

BP,

 

I'm doing the MARAP thing right now to fit a Bolly three blade prop to my Lightwing. Give tech Man a call and ask him directly about the process. If it's been done previously by someone else (MARAP), for the same prop on the same aircraft type with the same engine, he'll probably offer you a cheaper deal and simpler process. Just ask.