Butch
Active Member
I loaded up my bensen and headed to Bieber Ca to try out a set of blades that I just had purchased. Bieber has a lot of open flat land and a nice long public runway. The runway is used very seldom and it is the perfect place to practice with very little wind. When I purchased these blades the seller told me that they were a spare set for his benson and that they were new. I took his word for it and it cost me a lot to have them shipped from Florida. When I received the blades I noticed that they were longer , wider and much heavier then my original ones. I am no blade expert so I assumed them to be ok. I posted a question a while back ago asking if 24 foot blades would be ok on a benson but did not get much of a reply. I was exited to try them out and the wife and I headed out. When we arrived it was a beautiful day and I proceeded to unload. The blades were much too heavey for me to lift up on the rotor head so I had constructed a lifting system using a winch. I installed them and proceeded to do my pre flight check. I started up the McCulloch and proceed up the approach to the runway and headed down to the far end. I do not have a pre rotator so I proceeded to try and start the blades by hand. I could barely get them spining at all by hand. Something told me that this was not right. I spun them up as fast as I could by hand which was very little. I thought I would make a slow pass down the runwa to see if they would increase rpm. They gained very little and I know through experience that if your speed is to fast and your rotor rotation is too slow then the blades start flapping with the stick in the back position. I also noticed at this time that with the stick in the rear position the blades were very close to stricking the ground. I aborted everything shut down the motor put the stick in the foward position and waited for the blades to stop. These blades are definately not made for a single place benson. Too bad as they are aluminum and have no rivets and I am sure that someone could use them. I messeged the person that sold me them but have not gotten a response yet. I can not attend the Ken Brock fly in now because I have no blades. I will list them for sale and mabe someone wants them or has a set to trade. I was really looking foward to the fly in especially that the last time I went I was not experienced enough to fly in such a high wind but now I am