Sun 'n Fun is, as ever, the perfect start to a spring full of flight, as everyone brings their A-game to dominate headlines in the sport aviation scene. The newest contender for best-of-show is Ultra-Prop and their Ultra-Prop II, a new, lightweight design aimed at ultralights and experimentals.
Building on the original Ultra-Prop from the 80s, Ultra-Prop (the company) had plenty of know-how to work with. The original design was limited to 4 blades at most, but now variants sporting as many as 6 blades cover a range of high-power applications. The new prop sports an improved pitch block and hub design, allowing them to pack in a more efficient, longer blade over the original model. It's even more durable thanks to advancements in material science and engineering: Ultra-Prop tested it to the required 2X loads and consistent overspeed tests without failure. Thanks to the carbon fiber composition of the new Ultra-Prop II, it manages to slot a tad cheaper than legacy options like the original Ultra-Prop or competing offerings of wood ultralight propellers.
The new Ultra-Prop II aims to strike the optimal balance between efficiency, weight, and performance in all phases of flight. The Ultra-Prop II sports enough adjustability to fine-tune the pitch as desired, with a variety of pitch blocks offered from 8 to 13 degrees. Ultra-Prop adds no twist to its blades, so those block measurements are essentially comparable to blade angles on traditional offerings. On the installation side, the Ultra Prop II is a good fit for Rotax 447s, 503s, 582, 912ULs, Hirth 2702/2703s, MZ201s, Kawasaki 440s, and HKS engines.
FMI: www.ultra-prop.com
