Our thanks go out to the eagle-eye of one of our students, Leo M., who discovered a nick in the propeller of Cessna 20U. 20U has been grounded pending refurbishment or replacement of the propeller.
During a preflight, it is an easy thing to run your fingers across the edges of the prop blades, and feel for any rough spots. The prop should be generally smooth, although with our rough tarmac, nicks are inevitable -- but a nick that is enough to poke your hand, or that is visibly out of "line" in the prop is bad news, and should be looked at. Remember that the forces acting on the propeller are measured in tons, and that the weight of the aircraft (including you) is hanging on this 40 pound chunk of aluminum. Give it an eyeball on your next preflight.
More as we know it from the prop wizards.
Also, in a stroke of obvious aircraft collusion, Cessna 68U has been taken down for her 100hr inspection. This means the 172Fs are out of comission for likely the remainder of the week, with 20U likely to return (hopefully) before the weekend, and 68U sometime next week. Sorry, all -- the schedule has been adjusted accordingly.
