The PFA meanwhile issued a caution to owners of the CAP 140 while they waited for NSI to do this. The cau-tion limits the life of blade cuffs to 25 hours when operated on a 912S engine. It also cautioned that any looseness of the blades in the hub could be a precursor to breakage. None of this was told to Gary Walsh when he had first called NSI to find out about play in his own blades, long before the actual breakage.  

On October 27th, 2004, I called Lance to get an update and was told that there would shortly be a third version of the blade cuff and that it would be made thicker, and from stronger 7075 material, instead of the previous 2024. In this conversation, Lance agreed to issue an AD on the CAP 140 and dictated the details that are printed at the end of this article. When asked, he admitted that the sharp inside corner would not be changed in this third version of cuff, but expected that the thicker 7075 would prevent any future breakage. He also admitted that there would be no actual testing done on the new part before sale to the public and that he was relying on finite element analysis. I next called an engineer for an opinion on this "upgrade" and received a warning that 7075 can be more prone to stress cracking than 2024.  

RAA Canada immediately distributed the details of Wheeler’s AD to Transport Canada, PFA, EAA, COPA, UPAC, MD-RA and to other national organizations around the world, with the request that they publish the warnings. An RAA member sent out the warning to various newsgroups, and this brought e-mails from customers who had experienced related problems. Most of these involved waiting for return of deposits or refunds for defective parts, plus finding that there is little or no means of contacting the company’s principals or safety officer for information. There appear to have been blade cuff problems in other countries, and the correspondence is on file at the RAA office.  

The NSI website is www.nsiaero.com. At this printing,  there is still no information on that website about the AD that lance dictated in late October. There is a form to

collect customer satisfaction information, but it errors out when submitted. Lance had earlier told me that the 912S was not approved for use with the CAP 140 prop, but on the website the 912S is one of the supported engines. I also noted that there is no caution about low rpm operation for any of the Rotax engines.  

If you own or are considering the purchase of a plane that has one of these NSI CAP 140 propellers installed, you should consider making your own investigation about its condition and its suitability for the engine. There are not many manufacturers of in-flight adjustable propellers, but perhaps a ground-adjustable unit might do what you need. At this writing, Gary Walsh’s hub and blades are still in Arlington, WA, and he has given up on receiving any satisfaction from NSI. 

Gary Wolf
President, RAA Canada             wolfpack@sentex.net

After fueling up in Brampton, near Toronto, Gary Walsh and his 12 year old daughter departed, only to return moments later, dead stick..