The Prop Machine

    In any story there are two sides.  Most of us can remember the man and the woman on 60 Minutes (I know I'm getting old - I've forgotten their names!) who argued different sides of an issue at the end of the program each Sunday.  Even today, you can watch Crossfire or any of the other political shows and watch two people, who no doubt have respect for one another and understand the value of each others opinion, battle it out on a subject that they both have a passion about.

    And so it was at the February meeting, when Curtis asked for volunteers to write stories for the newsletter, that Kevin and I decided to write one together about prop making.  And yes, there are two sides to this story too; I'll let Kevin go first.

    KEVIN

    Making props is fun for a moment; but work for hours.  It takes about 20 hours to duplicate a prop and 50 hours to make a prop from scratch.  The cost can run from 40 to 60 dollars for a half VW prop. 

    When duplicating a prop, the first step is to laminate the pieces of wood together, which takes about an hour and a half.  Next, you need to center mark and cut out the blank, which takes another hour and a half.  Then it will take about another 8 hours to rough cut the prop.

    Rough cutting is done by placing the laminated blank on one side of the prop duplicator and putting the guide, which is a prop that is already completed, on the other side.  The process involves tracing the form of a prop onto the blank (laminated piece of wood) using a router. 

    Once the prop is rough cut, you then sand the prop and adjust the pitch with additional sanding.  This usually takes another 8 hours to complete.  You will then need to cut the bolt pattern and varnish the prop, which usually takes 2 to 3 hours to do. 

    The best type of wood to use is a maple or ash laminated together in combination with walnut, cherry or fir.  Props that perform with a lesser quality than factory made props are sold for decoration.  The rest perform as well as or better than factory made props.  Right now I have a home made prop on my new Minimax, which performs very satisfactorily.  I also have a home made prop on my old Minimax which is working well too.  Right now these are the only two planes on the field using my homemade props. 

    Prop making is fun, but the bust part comes after the prop is done, when I get to fly the plane with the new prop on it.  So Stop by my hanger or better yet, catch me in the air to check out the new props.

    LAURA

    First I want to thank Bret and Robin Shirley for allowing Kevin to take the "prop machine" off their hands.  I owe them both a great debt, and I've told them both I would pay them back for sending such a wonderful piece of machinery home with Kevin.

    We brought the bundle of joy home (AKA the prop maker) and after we hauled it up two flights of stairs and twisted ourselves like pretzels to get it through the upstairs doorway, Kevin was ready to try making his first prop.

    He put on the ear protection.  (Oh did he forget to mention the SOUND the machine makes when you make props?  You need to try to imagine what it would sound like to run a circular saw up against the microphone of one of those karaoke machines and turn the volume up to 10.  Then multiply that sound by 50 and you will have a pretty good idea of what it sounds like.  I wasn't kidding about the protective gear.)  Where was I?  Oh yeah, then Kevin bolted some wood to the duplicator and proceeded to make a prop or at least start making one.  The sound is so loud when he makes props that it wakes Kevin's daughter Vicky from a sound sleep.  Depending on the time of day Kevin is working on props, it has even prevented her from sleeping at night.  Mind you Vicky is 16 years old and goes to sleep with ear phones on playing music that is somewhat loud to begin with and even with all of that music in her ears, the prop maker kept her up.

    Some of you might be thinking, "Yeah all of that is a hassle, but you have access to good looking props to decorate with."  Not so fast.  Kevin has had the prop duplicator since October or so.  I have asked for a prop at least once a week since he brought it home.  He has made some 12 props and I finally got one just two weeks ago.  I had to stand in line behind a lot of people before I got one.  You know who you are.

    It's been quite an experience, but I have to say Kevin has made some beautiful props with the duplicator.  As the weather gets warmer, he starts thinking more about flying and less about what to do with his time when he can't fly and this winter it was tough to find flying time even for Kevin and his Minimax.  So, it looks like Vicky and I are safe for another 6 month or so.  Just another reason to dislike winter.  It's also prop-making season.