The Mistress got a nose job! I finally gave in and had the prop rebuilt. My reasoning:

• The required ECI AD was 11 hours away,
• I got tired of being hassled by my A&P and the prop techs,
• There was a humongous nick in one of the blades and
• On my trip out and back to Las Cruces the prop could not hold speed.

I called Gary Jordan of Jordan Propeller in San Antonio (he came highly recommended) and contracted to have it done. Gary does a run from San Antone out to Abbeville Lousiana every so often to pick up and drop props off. He stopped off in Beaumont, which is on the route, to pick mine up and then brought it back to me! Talk about service and saving shipping too.

Unfortunately, since the prop had not been touched in thirty some years, the hub was grody and corroded. I needed to get a serviceable hub, but it wasn't too bad. Gary also applied Hartzell's AMOC, or Alternative Method of Compliance, to get rid of the ECI AD. What this did was fill the hub with a red dye oil. If I get any cracks they will show up as bloody red seepage--no more yearly ECI!

When I got the prop back I could not believe how gorgeous it was, like brand new. I was shamed into polishing the spinner. Now my baby is more beautiful than before. I took her up last Saturday and that new prop hummed like a bee. I think I am getting an extra few knots on climb ;-)