Starduster Too, first flight, busted prop

Ian Stirling wrote:
Al wrote:
Well, a friend finally got his starduster too in the air. He finished it
this last winter, and has been preparing for his first flight, The flight
went well, apparently normal until shutdown. There was about 6 " of prop
missing from each end, and what was left was shattered back another 6-8".
His landing was in full stall attitude and no pieces were found on the
runway, no one heard anything, so we've pretty much ruled out a ground
strike. The videos show a perfectly normal flight although in one of the low
passes, one of the observers heard a whistling sound. I've got pictures
heading this way, and should have them posted by tomorrow. The pilot was as
surprized as the rest of us by the lack of vibration, and evidently what was
left of the prop continued to produce thrust.

I can only suppose this to be torsional vibration?
At some RPM, the propeller is twisted so hard in such a way to make the
ends of the prop wiggle off.
This sounds modereately unlikely - I would expect much more of the blade
to break off.


While that is certainly a possibility, there is something else that can
be checked
quickly and easily...

Question to OP...

In three point attitude, how much prop clearance IS/WAS there?
and
How deep was the grass?

Folk, you would not believe what grass can do to a wood prop unless
you see it for yourself.

Just a thought.

Richard

Now, if this already stated to be a paved runway, well, I'm on via
Google Groups
at the moment. Haven't figured out how the threads work yet.
Rx