Quote Originally Posted by WESTERNAERO View Post
I don't know who Harold is. But maybe he should be paying royalties to somebody. Somebody was doing it before him.
Things advance mechanically because somebody is always copying somebody and improving on it. Key word, "improving" that's the important part. Not copying like China to produce something to sell cheaper.
Harold Kindsvater is a leading prop maker for v-drives. He also does aircraft propellers, so I've been told and is definitely not just copying other's work. Can he make two ears that are identical? I don't know. But, he can definitely make props that work and work well.

So we agree that copying is wrong when it comes to China, but disagree on it being wrong for Grose to copy a prop. You do realize that some consider a part being more affordable an improvement even if it isn't as reliable over the long haul?

The best prop we ever ran on our hydroplane was an accident. The chain wasn't put on correctly and the prop shaft backed out and the prop hit the rudder. Our Carry 12 X 20 1/2 became an 11 1/2 X 18 3/4 or something like that, with the cupping reworked and the whole prop re-balanced. It made our 280 come alive and everyone that asked got to try it. It had the same effect on numerous boats. Dad wouldn't sell the boat and nobody could copy the prop exactly back then. Many racers had prop builders build them props that were as close as possible, which is good to go in my book. Some worked better than others and the man that did the work on our prop, made several of the new props (his payment for coming up with something that worked, based on his years of experience and hard work).

No two boats are identical, so why do you need an identical prop to someone else's? Why should someone that works to perfect their trade skills be denied an opportunity to profit when they finally get one just right? And why should someone else profit because they have the ability to copy the craftsman's work without paying the craftsman his fair share? These are my chief complaints about copying props. It's not about someone wanting a backup, but more about compensating the person that figured it out, when it does work. Just like the China copies take income away from the rightful designers and manufacturers, so does copying props. IMHO