Design Improvements for the Zenith 601 HDS: Propeller

Propeller

The Zenith kit had a 3-bladed GSC propeller. We used it for many years. It runs very smoothly, requires little maintenance, and after 1200 hrs was still in excellent condition. But the propeller is not so efficient. For mountain flying with takeoffs at high density altitude, it had to be repitched such that cruise performance was dismal.

In 2009, we switched to the Sensenich 2-blade composite propeller, which is light-weight, strong, and very efficient. A simple yet effective method for setting blade pitch of the propeller is described in the blog post Setting Blade Pitch for Sensenich Composite Propeller .

Both cruise and climb performance are excellent.