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Comment by brad cohen on November 25, 2013 at 10:45am

I have yet to fly, But I have a Lyc O-235L2C and bought a Catto 3-bladed prop.  I called Craig and we taked about engine RPM, HP, A/C weight and then he sent me a "custom" prop-cheaper than an off-the-shelf Sensenich.

 

If I recall, the prototype XL has a Lycoming installed and QSP out in Cali is flying it now. You might benefit from calling them and seeing what prop they are swinging

Comment by Bob Pustell on November 16, 2013 at 1:12pm

A friend with a flying 601XLB/Lyc O-235 has a wooden Sensenich prop on his. Works well, seems to be a good match to the the airframe/engine combination. It is a little to the "cruise prop" side of the spectrum so the plane loafs along very comfortably at cruise. Because the O-235 is a lot of engine for this airplane, it still has very reasonable take off and climb out performance, even with the disadvantage of a cruise oriented prop. I do not know the model number of the prop, but I recall him saying he just called Sensenich and also chatted with them at Oshkosh. They suggested the prop model to go with that combination and it has worked well for him. The prop is not certified but is made in the same shop that makes the certified wood props and is made to the same standards.

The O-235 makes for a very heavy 601XLB -- be sure to build the airframe as lightly as you can, you will need the light weight airframe if you want to have any usefull load to speak of. You will also most likely need to put some heavy stuff (battery, ELT, etc) back in the tailcone area to avoid needing to ballast the back of the plane to get the CG within limits. It is easy to have a nose heavy bird with the heavy Lycoming.